Electric Truck Conversion

September 1, 2008

After two summers interning at UC Davis building plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, my dad suggested I build an electric truck. This 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pick-up was a perfect vehicle to be converted. It had a blown motor and we could easily weld battery trays under the bed.

This was a long and frustrating project. We figured things out my calling up manufacturers of different parts and asking how to use them! Most of the parts came from Canada Electric Vehicles Ltd.

First, we stripped the car of anything that wasn't needed: the gas tank, exhaust pipes, engine, etc.

Then, we welded battery trays under the bed.

We used 20 6V deep cycle marine batteries wired in series to get 120V DC power. These batteries, however, periodically need to be filled with deionized water so we mounted the bed on hinges for easy access.

We also beefed up the suspension with some air bags to hold the extra weight (~ 1/2 ton) of the batteries.

Next, mounted the clutch on the motor and mounted it to the 5-speed manual transmission.

The next challenge was fitting everything under the hood. We put the charging unit inside the cabin in the back feeding the power outlet through the old fuel door. We designed all the circuits laid out all of the relays right next to the high voltage and low voltage buses.

We mounted the 3-phase DC controller on a huge heat sync and mounted it on hinges on top of the motor.

We had many frustrating hours staring at diagrams and calling manufacturers.

Eventually, it powered up. Luckily, we had the truck on stands because the potentiometer for the accelerator was backwards. We hadn't wired it wrong – the internal throttle spring pulls the lever in the full throttle direction! Once we fixed that, the truck was ready for it's maiden voyage.

This project was invaluable for getting me into a good college. On my admission letter from Harvey Mudd College, they were excited to have me bring the truck to school. My sophomore year, I brought it down to school and they build me a plug in the parking lot with my own designated parking space!