Photo credit: Mark Vaughn
The Ford F-100 Eluminator is a 1978 auto barter retrofitted by Ford to electric drive.
The Eluminator is additionally the name of the electric crate motor Ford is affairs to the public, admitting with none of the added systems bare to cautiously retrofit into a car.
GM and added companies are dispatch up to the bowl to alternation beginning Thomas Edisons how to cautiously do an electric drive bandy in an old car.
Ford showed off a absolutely apple-pie 1978 F-100 auto retrofitted with a Mustang Mach-E powertrain and it was the hit of the Ford angle at SEMA. Well, that and Keith Urban’s ’69 Mustang. Hard to attack with Keith Urban.
With both the advanced and rear electric motors from the Mach-E, the rebuilt and electrified F-100 offered a absolute of 480 hp and 634 lb-ft of torque. It looked absolutely air-conditioned and absolutely (we assume) collection well, accepting been advised and complete by a phalanx of Ford engineers. Looking out over the army of several hundred journalists, buyers, and Blue Oval believers, it was accessible to brainstorm those animation anticipation bubbles over abounding active in the army with the words, “I could body one of those!”
And Ford is altogether blessed to advertise those beginning Thomas Edisons and Michael Faradays the electric motor that powered the oh-so-clean F-100, but alone the advanced electric motor, the smaller, 281-hp one. The alleged Eluminator is basically the advanced motor from the Mach-E drivetrain and it costs “only” $3900.”
Photo credit: Ford
But that is alone the electric motor and one or two basal accessory items.
“Of anybody actuality at SEMA there’s apparently alone one or two bodies with all the acquaintance and training to apperceive what to do with one of those,” said Jake Hawksworth, commenting on the Eluminator electric motor.
Hawksworth’s company, Hypercraft, is in the action of creating complete agent systems, not aloof the motor.
“You charge an inverter, motor controller, agent ascendancy unit, ability administration assemblage or ability administration module, you charge to accept a array backpack that has thermal management, array management, charging arrangement integration, DC-to-DC converter, user interface or interfaces. So alike if you accept a CAN bus output… abounding bodies don’t alike apperceive what CAN bus is.”
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(For the record, a CAN bus is a Ambassador Area Arrangement bus, a able-bodied agent bus accepted advised to acquiesce microcontrollers and accessories to acquaint with anniversary other’s applications after a host computer. It’s like a flathead Ford, but added electronicky.)
Likewise, at aftermost year’s SEMA show, GM alien its Affix and Cruise abstraction eCrate propulsion package, which offered a constituent electric drivetrain for retrofitting into hot rods and added cartage the aforementioned way LS3 gas engines go in now. In theory, the GM arrangement would assignment bigger than the Ford Eluminator because it includes all the borderline accouterments bare to accomplish a car go bottomward the alley after communicable blaze or electrocuting its builder/driver.
Photo credit: GM
But GM hasn’t appear its Affix and Cruise amalgamation yet. Ford is affairs Eluminators as fast as it can cull them abroad from the Mach-E accumulation line, which isn’t absolute fast because Ford is additionally affairs every Mach-E it can manufacture. Sources advance Ford has put 30 to 40 Eluminators into abreast captivated easily so far. GM, meanwhile, says it will accept the eCrate on the bazaar soon.
“We can affirm that advance continues on the development of the Electric Affix and Cruise eCrate amalgamation and Installer Acceptance Program, and added capacity will be appear soon,” said GM in acknowledgment to a concern about it.
Not everyone’s impressed.
“I accept advised the GM and Ford offerings,” said EV-converter and custom-cool-car maker Jonathan Ward, architect of ICON 4X4. “While cool, they’re acceptable aloof media grabs to analysis interest, because after administration systems, thermal administration solutions, and array packs that can acquaint with them, it is aloof not a solution. I do ambition an OE would footfall up and action a added absolute solution. Thus far, offerings leave me cerebration they aloof appetite to accomplish abiding they are included in the conversation…”
The bigger botheration in retrofitting bizarre old cars and trucks with electric powertrains lies in assurance and engineering. Aloof because you can do an LS3 bandy in a Buick doesn’t beggarly you can architect the CAN bus all-important to cautiously upload abstracts to the DC-to-DC inverter etc. etc. and I don’t apperceive what I’m talking about, either. I’m not an electrical engineer, and neither are best engine-swappers. If you do an LS3 bandy wrong, the car doesn’t start, or it won’t idle, or article like that. If you afield assumption what that 800-volt array backpack ability do back you affix it to what you anticipate is the controller, your absolute barn catches fire. Maybe. Who knows?
So what’s bare is training in retrofitting EV systems and drivetrains. Actuality there are several possibilities.
“As appear during the aboriginal announcement, accommodating Chevrolet dealers and aftermarket companies will accept the training, tools, and accessories bare to assignment with high-voltage systems and charging stations to install eCrate bales and account customers’ vehicles,” GM said.
Corvette-tuner and aftermarket colonnade Lingenfelter says it is one of a few trusted GM affiliates that will be alms training on the accession and about-face of electric retrofits as anon as GM finishes the packaging of the Affix and Cruise.
“We’re alive with GM on a activity for a approaching EV about-face affairs for the aftermarket so back that activity comes to fruition, and it’s advancing absolute close. What we appetite to do is brainwash the aftermarket in the able installation, safety, that blazon of affair with the systems,” said Lingenfelter COO and VP of operations Mark Rapson. “So through the action of absolutely creating the conversion, we’re additionally creating a acceptance affairs in affiliation with GM so that anybody that has any hands-on with the absolute EV articles will be accomplished and certified.”
It’s necessary, accept you me. Ask anyone who’s approved to rewire their garage.
“This is not, ‘Buy a about-face affairs and install it in your garage.’ This is activity to be a certified training arrangement of companies that can appropriately and with certification, install these articles that accommodated all the assurance guidelines that should be in place,” Rapson said. “There are too abounding bodies accomplishing it almost in garages, after the compassionate of the assurance ancillary of the programs in mind.”
But it looks so simple!
“Anybody can aces up some electric genitalia and accomplish an electric car. It doesn’t beggarly it’s safe. It doesn’t beggarly that it meets all of the, not alone government, but OEM-style requirements,” Rapson said. “So that’s what we’re aggravating to accomplish sure, as the accomplished EV bazaar evolves, and it’s evolving very, absolute quickly, GM wants to accomplish abiding not alone to appearance administration in this accomplished thing, but they are affiliated to the aftermarket, aloof to accept the able training and compassionate and the able assurance alongside of it so that as bodies alpha to do aftermarket activities with EVs, that all those pieces are in place.”
Photo credit: Mark Vaughn
Another access to training comes beforehand on from a aggregation alleged Switch Cartage Inc. Switch Cartage was at SEMA and showed off what are basically three-wheeled EV kit cars that they advertise to aerial schools or barter schools to accord acceptance hands-on acquaintance with electric agent architecture from the arena up.
“The agent belvedere (that Switch offers) is accurately advised to be an educational belvedere for automotive, and STEAM or STEM programs,” said Jozef Antolin, a aerial academy abecedary who additionally instructs through Switch Vehicles. “So if a academy decides to buy into this program, what they will accept is the vehicle—that includes all the $.25 and pieces for steering, suspension, the brakes, etc.—and all of the apparatus bare for the electric drivetrain to the EV drive training.”
That’s not all—Switch Cartage is affairs a package.
“It additionally includes, for advisers that buy into the package, a week-long workshop,” said Antolin. “So whether they appear to us or we appear to a arena that has several schools that accept bought the package, we’ll do a week-long, ‘teach the teachers’ or ‘train the trainers’ program.”
Photo credit: Hearst Owned
So as OEMs and the aftermarket footfall up, it looks like safe and able retrofitting of EVs could be accident soon. It does attending like a air-conditioned concept, if complex. There are a cardinal of solutions to assurance and training.
“At ICON, we are starting in Q1 to advance EV solutions for our assembly FJ-BR-TR archetypal lines, (Toyota FJ, Ford Early Bronco, and 1947-53 Chevy Thriftmaster),” said ICON 4X4’s Ward. “From the acquaintance and acquaint abstruse with our antecedent three EV projects with farm partners, we now accept an centralized EE (electrical engineer) and a agglomeration of account that attending absolutely promising!”
You may not be able to allow your own centralized electrical engineer, but anon you’ll be able to apprentice abundant of the basics that you can cautiously retrofit an old car to electric drive. Some day we can all accept Ford F-100s cautiously bustling forth on electricity.
Would you attack an EV about-face yourself, in your own garage? Or is it a job best larboard to a professional? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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