[Big Dave]

I’m looking for a little brainstorming for two projects.

First, the easy one.
Service trucks for a local university. Craftsmen use trucks as rolling tool and material storage – initial users will be HVAC technicians.
Terrain: Dead flat, urban
Speed: 20-35 MPH Sluggish acceleration is OK.
Weather Midwest US -10 to + 95 degrees It snows & rains (45 inches precipitation/yr)
Vehicle: One-ton Step-Vans. GVW: about 8,000 lb
Range: 25 miles a day, tops
Duty: About 5 miles per 8 hour shift One shift/day About 15 hr/day recharge time
Driver plus one passenger. Cab could be isolated from cargo compartment
I assume a propane water heater to provide cab heat/defrost.
Battery will run AC in cab only.
Stationary 120 V 15 A electric service.

What I envision is the ICE van converted to a fairly minimal battery pack. The low performance required would allow lead-acid batteries and common low-cost fork lift motors & controllers. Use the ICE automatic transmissions.

What batteries/motors/controllers do you guys recommend?



The hard one: The Long Ranger

I have a long (45-60 mile depending on route) commute both ways in all weather (-10 to 95 degrees). Figure 15 miles urban, 15 miles two lane state roads (Speed limit 60 MPH), and 15-20 miles Interstate (Speed limit 70 MPH). Pretty much flat terrain.
Vehicle has to be capable of steady 70 MPH and snappily accelerate to 80. I don’t drive faster than 80 and only a few seconds a week over 70.
Figure manual transmission (I’m not going through this exercise and throw it all away through an inefficient slushbox).
Driver plus 50 lb groceries = payload.
Propane heater for winter. Battery driven AC for hot weather.
I would look for 175 mile range (in -10 degree weather) to allow me to run a few errands.
Target usage: 25,000 miles a year.

What I’m thinking is buy a decent S-10 or Ranger pickup with a stick shift and cab-and-a-half configuration. I wouldn’t be using the truck as a truck at all (I’d still have the F-350 for that work) so if I used the entire bed capacity (both weight and volume) I’m not out anything.

Seems to me like I’d need a pretty powerful motor, a sophisticated control (with regenerative braking) and a honkin’ big battery. As I run a lot at fairly decent speeds, it would justify a lot of effort to streamline the bed.

One thing that worries me is recharging. I only have 120 volt 15 amp service. With that huge battery, I may have to only drive it every other day. My day only allows me 12 hours for recharging throughout the week.

OK guys. I’m too big to stuff into a small car and besides a body-on-frame truck chassis is easy to modify.

If I could find a dual-clutch tranny, I could consider narrowing the truck and straddle the tranny hump.

Electricity is relatively cheap in Indiana as 98% of ours comes from coal. Figure 6 cents per KWH.