rear battery boxesrear steelunder the hoodcontrol board in progressrear boxesmaiden runbattery cables
OwnerSteve Solarazza
LocationVineyard Haven, Massachusetts United States map
Email email image
Vehicle1994 Chevrolet S-10
regular bed
MotorAdvanced DC FB4001 Series Wound DC
Drivetrainmanual transmission
clutchless design
ControllerCurtis 1231C
Batteries20 US Battery 2400, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded
16 under the bed
4 up front
System Voltage120 Volts
ChargerZivan NG3
off board 240 volts
in addition I have a 110 volt onboard charger from Quickcharge
Heater1500 watt ceramic
and home made heated jacket
plus 12 volt heated blanket!
DC/DC ConverterAstrodyne
Instrumentationvoltmeter
ammeter
Curtis fuel gauge
Top Speed60 MPH (96 KPH)
I mostly drive 45 and under as I live on beautiful Martha's vineyard where their's no traffic light and 45 mph speed limit.
Accelerationit's peppy enough. I'm surprised!
Range60 Miles (96 Kilometers)
I try to charge after 30-35 miles, but have easily gone 60 miles on a single charge on mixed terrain.
my best range was just about 80 miles on a rather warm dasy in june 08'
Watt Hours/MileIt takes about 2.2---2.5 kwh per mile.
So for 50 miles the truck uses between 20-23 kwh. At our retail rates of .18/kwh it's high (we pay among the highest rates in the country) It still is about the equivilent of 65 miles per gallon. Not bad!
It's actually much sweeter though, because I plug in to my solar roof, so my miles are totally "green".
After figuring out what the solar cost me over the 25 year life and what a gallon of gas here costs ($4.70), I figure I'm getting the equivalent of about 90-100 mpg!!
EV Miles
Start:160,000 Miles (257,440 Kilometers)
Current:165,000 Miles (265,485 Kilometers)
Total:5,000 Miles (8,045 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity3 cozy folks and 'angelo' the puppy and baby- no airbags
TiresYokohama low rolling resistance pumped up high
Conversion Time6 weeks to get 'er running -always tinkering
Conversion Cost$10,000 with some paid labor plus $1,000 for the car plus $1500 to ready the car, new wheels, springs, brakes etc.--ohh...and batterries
Additional FeaturesWith my solar roof panels, my EV is truly be a Zero Emissions Vehicle!

The ceramic heater blows lukewarm air at best, enough to defrost. I have found that my heated jacket is the most efficient. I plug it in to the dc converter for warm as toast comfort. It draws about 35-45 watts. Doesn't affect range to any signifigant degree. An added bonus is that you get instant heat!
Another technique i tried is to plug in an inverter to a deep cycle battery that sits in a box in the bed, then plug in a hair dyer to that on low. Its a bit noisy but warms up the cab and lasts about half hour. I have some ideas as to a good mounting system. it's simple enough to pre heat the cab for 10-15 minutes before you hit the road.
It's winter and it sure comes in handy now so I won't be needing too much heat anyway.

The batteries are now heated to get more range in winter and to increase the life of the batteries.
i installed them the first day of winter. we'll see how they do and update the post.
The conversion was really fun and cool! I worked primarily with Bob Batson of Electric Vehicles of America. He's a knowlegeable dude, user friendly and prompt in his response.A real Pro. Everything arrived in a timely manner.
The whole experience left me with a real sense of accomplishment!
Everyone who sees my lil' truck seems to feel good about it as well.
I'm hoping that more and more people will pick up on the idea and do their own conversion.

I would encourage anybody who has this dream of driving an EV and is the least bit skilled, to pursue it. I had very little mechanical experience and less electrical knowledge, and my car came out fantastic. I learned by picking the brains of different folks, mostly through this website.(kudos to EVALBUM for all they offer)

code by jerry