Hacker News Reader

Comment by KZerda | Hacker News Reader

The first question that comes to mind here is if Ford's going to offer a crate battery pack too. A crate motor in and of itself is huge, but an electric crate powertrain that's equivalent to GM's Connect and Cruise, would be huge for people looking for a mostly drop-in electric conversion.

View on HN

Where would the battery go? I have a soft spot for old trucks and would love to have an electrified one someday.

Between the frame rails underneath the cab. Trucks are different from cars (unibody design, like a shell) in that they are body-on-frame. It looks like a giant ladder and they are generally 6-8" tall or more for HD trucks. You would create your own "skateboard" if you will then lower the original cab back down on top.

That does appear to be where Ford tucked the batteries for this one, this not-so-great video[1] does slide under and show them briefly. Not sure how it has two motors though, I thought the whole point of crate motors was as a drop in replacement for the existing engine (plus of course then they'd cost $7,800, before the batteries).

1: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/11/03/ford-f100-ele...

That video clearly shows one motor between the front wheels and one between the rear wheels.

Sorry, I meant "seems like not such a great advertisement for DIY conversions if it completely changes the way the drivetrain works (and costs twice as much as the price of one crate motor, never mind the battery etc.)".

Yes trucks are ideal for a conversion

this is like moving a mountain - yea on paper it works but good luck actually doing it

With that attitude - yes!

I grew up working on cars. It's really not that hard, especially with electric vehicles/retrofitting. The cab is attached to the frame with like 6 bolts. This is a very common practice in shops working on trucks - sometimes it is easiest to just lift the entire cab to work on the truck.

Photo: https://www.dieselworldmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/01...

Doing restomod work is a lot of fun if you are into that sort of thing. You get to play 'car designer' and rebuild a totally new vehicle/powertrain while trying to make it look original.

Heard that modern truck engine compartments are getting so cramped you gotta lift the cab to even change all the spark plugs. This way dealers can charge $500-$800 for a plug change. (And diesels, which don't have plugs, have even more stuff ($$$) crammed in instead.) It's getting to the point where having the know-how plus equipment to lift a cab is becoming outright essential if you don't want to pay thousands for routine maintenance.

This is work, for sure, but honestly, it's one of the easiest chassis fabrications that someone can undertake. It's a box that sits between frame rails. You'll have to make considerations for chassis flex and ensuring it can handle the weight, but those are relatively easy.

And like moving a mountain, you do it one step at a time. I've done body lifts -- remove truck body, insert spacers, replace truck body -- with just a jack and a couple of 2x4's. Not hard, just takes time and patience.

There's a ton of space on an old truck or van, most body on frame vehicles for that matter. It's really a non-issue.

Room is a non-issue.

Having a ready-made, mountable, right-sized battery pack(s) for retrofitting is an issue, and may be a lucrative niche.

And a niche that will definitely see players working to fill, if the last 100 years or so of aftermarket & tuner culture teaches us anything.

The first things I did when I bought a BMW convertible about 10 years ago was order BMW specific aftermarket wheels from a company that only sells wheels for BMWs. I also ordered aftermarket electronics from two companies that only market to BMW enthusiasts.

There will definitely be companies coming out with bolt-on battery packs for things like Jeep Wranglers and old trucks like this F-100. If bolt-on isn't possible, then it will be kits that the engineering has already been done and you just need to measure and weld on the mounts and then bolt on the battery pack and run the wiring.

My first idea would be just to drop it in where the fuel tank is / was. Someone will probably make a fuel tank shaped battery at some point.

Problem with that is that a fuel tank is very small compared to the equivalent battery size.

My maths has it at approx 10,000 cubic inches of battery weighing in at 450kg, which rought and dirty is a 43 gallon tank (I may be way out) which is around 120kg of petrol.

Looks like standard is around 26 gallons (up to 36) so not miles away on volume, call it 1.5x. Wight and how you distribute it are going to be the real issue here at 3.75x the density.

If this happens (and it should), I would expect them to target the Mustang crowd first, simply because so many have been made and the Mustang performance mod scene is very strong.

Ideally the base battery pack would fit where fuel tanks are with additional packs connected to a power management unit for extra range.

On the Mustang case, more carefully design would be needed to make sure the weight distribution doesn’t make it worse. While driving in straight lines seem to be a popular sport, one would expect their car to be able to corner as well.

I would imagine the answer will be yes. I would suspect that GM and Honda will also have electric crate motors on the way.

Maybe not Honda, the Japanese manufactures blew decade betting on hydrogen. They are now years behind other manufactures who decided in a single meeting (all that is needed) that hydrogen was a stupid route to take.

I have faith Honda will figure it out. Their ICE crate motors are first rate and I expect their quality will not slip going to electric.

Hydrogen research will probably serve their aircraft division well since it looks like that is the solution Airbus is backing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com