EV Ranger Test Drive by Chuck Hursch

My first personal encounter with a Ford EV Ranger was at EVS-14 in Orlando, FL, in December 1997.  This would likely have been a lead-acid, first-generation Ranger.  All the electric vehicles were lined up in the parking lot, ready for short test drives under cloudy, rainy skies.  When my chance came to try out the Ranger, I went for it, even though my tastes in electric vehicles do not tend toward pick-up trucks.  My only gripe with the vehicle in the short time that I had with it was with the floor mat, which became very slippery when wet, causing me to nearly fall out of the truck; otherwise, the Ranger was quite nice.

Some two and one-quarter years later, when Bob Wing of Inverness, CA offered me the chance to take his new EV Ranger, equipped with NiMH batteries, out for a drive through the hills and valleys of beautiful Point Reyes, I readily took him up on his offer.  This would be a good opportunity to see how the natural regen of the AC drive handled the long downhills.

When Bob opened the garage door to where the Ranger was ensconced, I was presented with a shiny new white pick-up truck, complete with bed-cover for better aerodynamics.  Looked and smelled like any other new pick-up truck.  Time to pull out my "magnifying glass" for a closer look.

First up, I did the standard routine of popping the hood, and I also refamiliarized myself with the charging port in the front grille.  Bob plugged the handy Avcon connector into the vehicle's charging inlet, and we listened to the vehicle make a few sounds and stir to life.  The charging fan was rather noisy, and I thought unnecessarily so (aren't EVs supposed to be seen and not heard?).  Well ok, but the controller and other accessories were nicely laid out in the engine bay.

Took a swing along towards the back of the vehicle, having checked underneath at the front and along the sides for aerodynamics.  The battery pack was pretty smooth underneath, but I was somewhat disappointed that the A-arms in the front suspension looked like they might stir up quite a bit of turbulence, and that there were also quite a few open cavities along the undersides of the vehicle.  Hmm...

But a treat appeared when I got back around underneath the rear. I laid eyes on the awesome dropped rear axle and humongous motor (the motor sits just above and forward of the rear axle).  This was one of the thickest axles and biggest motors I had lain eyes on in my EV career!

So it came time to back it out of the garage.  It took me three or four tries to get the start-up procedure in hand so that I could move the vehicle.  Seems like a bit of safety overkill, but ok, practise makes perfect...  What I definitely was not happy with was the vacuum pump (for things like power brakes) noise (see note about EVs not being heard, above).  Here is an EV from a major OEM with a major noise-maker under the hood - that earned a thumbs-down in that department.

But life improved once we got underway.  The vehicle moved smartly once we pulled out on to Sir Francis Drake, and an upcoming twisty-turny 450 foot climb over Inverness Ridge was about to give me a chance to check things out in the power department. I was quite impressed with this Ranger's ability to move the speedometer, especially to about 50 mph, even up steep hills.  I tried the two forward speed positions in what takes the place of a transmission.  With `Drive', you have no regen, so the vehicle will coast like many EVs, especially those with series-wound DC-brush motors, which many of us are familiar with.  Position `E' puts you in the "economy" mode complete with regen.  Initially, I tried E, and experienced some speed hunting unless I kept my foot very steady, and then changed in favor of D, since I like to coast and manage the energy over the hills and down into the valleys on my own.  But nagging curiosity about that regen, and also driving that heavy truck on only the brakes, put me back in E mode.

In the meantime, I had talked Bob into letting me take us (Ranger, Bob, and myself - probably close to a 4500-lb load) out for the full circuit to the Pierce Point parking lot, the furthest north you can go on a road on the Point Reyes Peninsula.  I knew that there were plenty of steep ups and downs and bumpy roads, and I wanted to see just how tough this Ford was.

Within a few miles, I was forgetting my early disappointments with the vacuum pump, noisy charging fans, and starter interlocks.  Here was a vehicle that drove just like any other big-suspensioned new vehicle, easily soaking up the characteristic potholes and roily-pollys that make Point Reyes roads what they are.  I was out in the green hills of this beautiful place, and I felt many times like I was starting to forget that I needed to watch the battery charge meter, courtesy of that nickel-metal hydride pack.  The range-left gauge on the console pretty well stayed up at about 50-60 miles. Towards the end of the road not too far from the Pierce Point turnaround, there is a healthy hill that gave me a good excuse to put my foot into it, and needless to say, I was quite impressed - that big motor out back just wound right up the hill, like it was hardly there.  And of course, it was quite nice to get back some of that energy on the return, back into the batteries, and not heating up the brakes - I don't think I had to touch the brakes once coming down except to make the sharp corner.  Impressive!

So I really didn't want to put "my" new toy away, and the battery range indicator said I could've played quite a while longer, but back we went to the garage.  In went the Avcon connector, and on went the noisy charging fans.  Oh well!  But I had one final test to give this vehicle, something to tell me a little of it's efficiency.  This vehicle does have two radiators, one for the air-conditioning, and the other for cooling the drive electronics and the motor.  I wasn't sure if the heat waves I noticed coming off the vehicle as I pulled into the garage were just warm paint or actual heat from the drivetrain.  But you certainly won't find with any internal combustion engine vehicle that when you poke and prod the powertrain components that you don't burn your fingers.  I poked and prodded the radiator, drivetrain electronics housing, and even that big motor, and everything felt nearly stone cold.  Given the elevation changes and the load, needless to say, I made a mental note.  This truck I had just driven overall reconfirmed my positive thoughts towards EVs, and why I feel that the wasteful internal combustion engine should be relegated to the scrap bin of history!

Especially with the $199/month lease payments that Ford has had of late for the NiMH-equipped EV Ranger, this vehicle would be a serious candidate for those contractor, farm, and ranch jobs that rack up millions of miles per year in fossil fuel vehicles.  I am also quite sure that an EV Ranger would do well by its owners in going to all those evening engagements, etc., tasks that are usually wastefully done these days by the ever-popular gas-fueled SUV's (V10 preferred).  Yes, the EV Ranger is a big heavy pickup, but by virtue of being electric, it uses less energy than any gasoline or diesel-powered economy car available in the USA for a given distance traveled.  If I was in need of a working pickup truck, this Ford Ranger EV would be a near-certain bet to have a slot in my garage!

Chuck Hursch chursch@yahoo.com
Larkspur, CA
EAA - North Bay Chapter