Let's Talk About EV Conversion

I imagine Toyota will make an electric pickup someday, and I also imagine it'll be far superior to what I could ever devise by converting my Taco. I have better things to do with my time and money.

 

Such a project is at the intersection of most of the skills I enjoy - fabrication, electrical engineering, controls, etc. I think it would be a great project to learn from.

 

No doubt, and that's why the world needs people like you. As much as I might enjoy it, I don't have the time, the space, and some of the requisite skills and knowledge.

 

If Toyota has already borrowed some Prius technology for the Taco (Atkinson cycle), they will likely eventually develop a hybrid Taco or even an additional model. A hybrid system would expend energy while going uphill, but capture or recoup energy going downhill using gravity forces to recharge batteries—especially down steep offroad hills. The challenge is in the transitions and percentage of energy expense vs. recharging activities. There is an entire team whose sole job is thinking about development for 5, 10, 15 years from now, and they have to fight with the team that weighs all the practical sales factors in the now economy.

 

Should be full EV, not hybrid like the prius. Truck frame will have to be widen so more battery packs can be stored there but since this is not a redesign but a conversion some customization will have to be done to the battery pack to fit in the frame.

To make this a 4x4 with 4 motors this will also have to be customized.

 

That's how the model X works. Actually, now all Teslas I believe.

The reason that monster garage car didn't work is because it was a "dumb" system and relied on the two engine RPMs being exactly the same. The Teslas use 2 motors that are electronically monitored with a fully integrated management system.




When you throw an electric motor into a drivetrain designed for a gas engine, you are wasting a bunch of energy. ICE's can afford that inefficiency because of the energy density of gasoline.

It's kind of like the Saturn V rocket. It's not a particularly efficient rocket, even for 1960's technology, but it was so damn big and carried so much fuel it didn't matter. Economy of size.

The energy density of batteries just isn't there yet, so we have to design systems that maximize efficiency.

 

The amount of "customization" involved, there wouldn't be much of the Tacoma left.

It's like those people who "remodel" a house but only leave the one partial wall with the electrical panel standing, and even then, it's down to the studs, and the panel gets replaced.

At a certain point, it needs to just be an entirely new vehicle. Trying to shoehorn an efficient electric drivetrain system into what is essentially an 80+ year old vehicle design is going to net you a really terrible design.

 

I dont think it would be that bad. Once you rip out the engine, transmission, transfer case, fuel tank and all the supporting systems , you've got quite a bit of room to work with. I don't see why he thinks you'd need to widen the frame.

 

You can't just hang the batteries in thin air unprotected. When you have that many batteries, a body on frame construction just isn't really the best design. Just look at the Teslas. Their batteries are nearly the entire width of the body, almost from wheel to wheel (front to back). Only way to fit that many batteries inside the frame, is to stack them, and at that point, you're sitting on them, lol.

Then you're looking at completely re-engineering the drive system. i.e. new axle systems. There's an RC rockcrawler called the Clodbuster. It has an integrated motor/axle for each end (so 2 axles/2 motors). Which I would love to see something like that, as infeasible as that probably is full scale...

This has integrated steering and drive in a single unit. It is also a LOT of unsprung weight. But you're still using "conventional" axles and differentials (i.e. need lockers etc...).




I wonder if fully independent suspension is better, or maybe a play on portal axles where you have a motor for each wheel mounted above the main axle. Then you can really start taking advantage of fully independent wheel speed control.

Like this but instead of the solid axle housing, there'd be motors on each side and (obviously) no diff.

 

Here's the spec on the 75kwh model 3 pack:

https://evannex.com/blogs/news/tesla-s-battery-pack-is-both-mysterious-and-alluring-work-in-progress

Seems like that might fit under the bed with a little creativity. Or build a custom flatbed and integrate them. Or build custom packs. Its not impossible.

As far as the rest of the drivetrain goes, rip out the engine, transmission and tcase. Mount 2 motors where the tcase was, retain original drive shafts. Put the controls under the hood.

It may not go as far or as fast as a Tesla, but I bet it could be useful. Especially if you put the rest of the truck on a diet.

 

That's the single motor version. Thought we were talking about dual motor 4x4's. But like I said, those are almost the wheelbase of out trucks.

Just where do you propose taking out the weight? Replace the seats with carbon fiber tubs?

I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying it's probably not worth it, and you time would be better spent designing a fully custom chassis from the ground up to house the batteries and motors. People have been modifying trucks since the 80's (probably earlier) and converting them to electric so it's totally doable, we could just do so much better than throwing a couple motors in a pickup truck.

 

I don't see what bearing the number of motors in a model 3 has on our hypothetical electric truck. I just want to steal its batteries.

Lots of places to loose weight depending on budget and your sensibilities. Replace bed with an aluminum one maybe, toss the carpet, get lighter wheels and tires, etc.

It all depends on what your projects goals are. I just want something to tool around town in, so 50-100 mi range would be fine. I think it's doable and useful. You can design a full custom truck if you want, but that's a whole other project and totally unnecessary if you're just looking for an electric powered truck.

 

Also, my trucks wheelbase is 103 inches. The inside of the bed is 74.5 inches. Those batteries are 73 inches.

 

When you buy they Tesla battery packs they don't come in the same configuration as they are in a Tesla car. You buy the modules, which are 12" x 27" x 3" bricks and you can wire them together in any configuration you want. They can fit lots of places. As I originally calculated, you can fit maybe 5-6 of them under the hood to help distribute the weight. The rest of the packs can be installed in a box in the bed or under the bed, whichever way you want to do it. You can choose how many.

 

depending on battery module.

 

Thats what I was saying.

OP where are you going to fit the exact same amount of battery modules in the current 1st gen tacoma design? Under the hood? NOPE. It has to lay between the frame rails. That model S is freakin wide as fuck. I was so afraid to scrape this guy next to me.

 

crazy to implement parts that can't handle the load... Tesla already tried and nobody wanted to manufacture one so thats why Tesla decided to go direct.

 

GL not having a heavy foot.

 

someones bound to want that launch feel of an EV motor.

 

be my guest