Ford Ranger EV
The Ford Ranger EV is a battery electric compact pickup truck that was produced by the Ford Motor Company and was the automaker's first all-electric production vehicle. It was produced starting in the 1998 model year through 2002 and is no longer in production. It is built upon a light truck chassis used in the Ford Explorer. Most vehicles were sold with nickel–metal hydride batteries. A few vehicles with lead-acid batteries were sold, but most units were leased for fleet use.
, an active owner's community continues to maintain and upgrade these trucks.
History
Cost
The above the line cost of this vehicle was. Ford Motor Credit supported a generous 3-year lease program that would, along with AQMD funding and Federal Tax Credits, allow for a RangerEV 3-year lease payment as low as per month.An example is the Lawrence Livermore/Berkeley Labs, in eco-friendly Northern California, signed on for 20 units from Ford Motor Credit, with a total lease cost to the Labs of $0 over the 3-year lease term. Thanks to overwhelming financial support from government-funded Clean Cities programs and AQMD Grants, when applied towards an APP version of the RangerEV commercial lease the resulting lease became Paid In Full.
The Ranger EV qualified for a California Clean Air Vehicle decal, permitting the use of carpool lanes for single-occupant vehicles through 2018.
Design
The Ranger EV was essentially a Ford Ranger XL 4x2 regular cab featuring an electric vehicle powertrain instead of the Ranger XL's standard I4 engine. The only difference between a Ranger XL and a Ranger EV was that the Ranger EV had no engine, so the tachometer that was on the Ranger XL was replaced by an estimated range remaining gauge on the Ranger EV, the oil pressure gauge was also replaced with an On/Off indicator, and the voltage gauge was replaced with an economy gauge. Other than these minor differences, the Ranger EV included the standard features that the Ranger XL 4X2 Regular Cab included as standard: an AM and FM radio, two speakers, fifteen-inch alloy wheels, a bench seat or bucket seats trimmed in cloth, air conditioning and a heater, an automatic transmission, two airbags, seating for either two or three passengers, a passenger airbag on/off switch activated by the vehicle's ignition and door key, and vinyl flooring. Additional options, such as a spare tire, a cassette and/or CD player, two additional speakers behind the front seats, power windows and door locks, and keyless entry were also available for all Ranger EVs. Most Ranger EVs were painted in Ford's standard Oxford White Clear Coat with a Flint Gray interior; other exterior colors included: Bright Red, Medium Platinum, Light Denim Blue Metallic, Boysenberry Blue Metallic, and Pacific Green Metallic. No other interior color options were available.Exterior
The principal identifiers of an electric Ranger are the appearance of the front charging door in a grille location that is open on ICE Rangers, the missing tailpipe, and the visibility of the EV's unique rear suspension and the traction motor from behind the vehicle. From the side, the vehicle is almost indistinguishable from the ICE Ranger except for a modest script Electric on the side. Only the slight projection of the battery tray below the frame rails is noticeable at a distance. Vehicle height is close to that of four-wheel drive vehicles despite being only rear-wheel drive, due to the vehicle being built on a 4WD frame, and utilization of the heavier duty 4WD front torsion bar suspension.Component layout
The front under hood compartment contains the charger, an electric air conditioner, the power steering mechanism, the power brake unit, a radiator for the air conditioner, and a vacuum pump and reservoir for the power brakes, a reservoir for the windshield washer, and a reservoir for the motor/inverter coolant.To the rear of the rear axle is the AC motor controller. The spare tire could be secured by a hold down within the truck bed, apparently on the centerline approximately 30 inches from the cab wall. it was not possible to carry both a spare tire at this location and cargo in this central space.
Bed cover
To improve aerodynamics, the bed is covered by a vinyl snap on cover supported by aluminum bows. Snap receivers slide within aluminum channels. A rear bow allows the tailgate to be opened without removing the cover. The cover can be quite difficult to re-snap under cold conditions due to shrinkage and stiffness of the vinyl material. The unmodified cargo bed was compatible with after-market tonneau covers produced for gasoline engine models.Interior
Instruments
From left to right, the instruments are:- A charge indicator in the lower left corner, in the place of the normal fuel gauge.
- A rate indicator in the upper left corner, showing energy usage and recovery.
- A miles to go indicator, replacing the tachometer.
- An speedometer with odometer in place of the ICE's speedometer.
- At the upper right corner, an off-run electric gauge will come up to the run position in a few seconds after Start is commanded by a key switch turn. This does not indicate the pack voltage; it is only an indication to the driver that the vehicle is enabled. The vehicle's main contacts will not close until the pre-charge is complete.
- At the lower right corner, a temperature gauge monitors the liquid coolant temperature.
Controls
Ford attempted to make the driving and operating experience as similar as possible to that experienced in an ICE vehicle with an automatic transmission. A column shifter style selector operates similar to that for an automatic transmission with the following positions: P for park, R for reverse, N for neutral, D for drive, and E for economy..A conventional switch arrangement is used to provide key inserted detection at Off, Accessory, Run, and Start. Other controls are identical to that of the ICE version.
The heating system uses a ceramic core resistance heater. Air conditioning is provided with an electric-motor driven compressor-condenser-evaporator system.
Chassis
The Ford Ranger EV was built upon a Ford Ranger four-wheel drive chassis.Front suspension
Dual A arm with torsion bar suspension, since 4wd frames are used for the Ford Ranger EV.Rear suspension
The rear suspension consists of a De Dion tube that located the wheels and which was sprung by the usual longitudinal leaf springs. The first year of production used lightweight carbon fiber monolithic leaf springs which had insufficient lateral stiffness to provide lateral location of the suspension; these early versions also featured a Watt's linkage. Later versions used conventional steel leaf springs and did not have the Watt's linkage.Driveline
The rear wheels are powered by a six pole alternating current motor operating through a three to one reduction transmission and differential. The motor can produce and can operate at a maximum speed of 13,000 rpm. The motor, transmission, and differential are contained in a single unit mounted high between the frame rails, transversely between the rear wheels. Half shafts angle downward to drive the wheels.Tires and wheels
All wheels including the spare are made of cast aluminum. Tires are low rolling resistance, similar to what would be found on a full-size sedan, rather than on a truck. 1998 and 1999 wheels were of the same, simple design. Later models had wheels of a large 'spoke' design.Performance
Energy recovery
On a very long downhill run one could obtain a noticeably higher state of charge than at the top, so the energy recovery was demonstrably effective.Economy
Power consumption for light duty suburban use is around 500 watt-hours per mile, both by the EPA figures for early models and by some owners' experience. The Ford Ranger EV controller electronics will allow strong acceleration even when in 'E' economy shifter mode. Thus a heavy foot will reduce the EV's range.Battery
Batteries are contained in one big battery box that is bolted to the underside of the vehicle. It can be removed using specialized shop equipment. Individual batteries are then serviced and replaced from the open top of the module. The battery layout inside the box is not the same for the Lead-Acid and NiMH battery type. The Lead-Acid setup is using 39 x 8V batteries setup on two layers. The NiMH setup is using 25 x 12V batteries on one layer.Lead-acid variants
The lead-acid battery pack consisted of 39 valve-regulated lead-acid modules assembled by East Penn Manufacturing for Delphi, with a weight of, a nominal system voltage of 312 V, and a nominal capacity of 60 Ah.Nickel metal hydride variants
In California and some limited areas outside of California, a nickel–metal hydride battery version was offered, originally exclusively for lease. NiMH pack consists of 25 Panasonic EV-M95, 12.00 Volt, Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries. NiMH pack voltage range Empty 280Vdc – Full 350Vdc. The NiMH battery pack consisted of 25 modules from Motorcraft, with a weight of, a nominal system voltage of 300 V, and a nominal capacity of 95 Ah.The NiMH version delivered a true range at a steady speed on flat highways.
Charging
Charging is through an Avcon conductive connector, provided beneath a hinged door to the right side of the grille. A NiMH pack would take six to eight hours to charge, storing about 30 kW·h, and the charging and discharging is regulated through passive control devices.The Avcon connector was compliant to the then-current SAE J1772-1998 conductive charging standard. It is possible to use either an adapter or to upgrade the plug on the truck to the updated J1772-2010 standard. The two connectors use an identical signaling and wiring scheme with ground, two hots, proximity and pilot. With an adapter or after an upgrade, Ranger EVs can use the newer public charging infrastructure being deployed nationwide that utilizes the new J1772-2010 standard.