SR to ER battery swap DIY project

[jwrezz]

The only thing a 5 ton SUV or 4 ton pickup is good for, is flexing. The amount of Hummer EV's I already see on the roads is so unnecessary and the people driving them are completely unqualified (IMO). The work I had to do to get the lowest level of CDL , (and training needed to drive the fire trucks I'm qualified on) should be the requirement for anyone purchasing anything above a 3/4 ton pickup. In NJ:
Class A includes

• Any vehicle having a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) or gross combination weight of 26,001 pounds or more, whichever is greater, inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds, whichever is greater.
• Any vehicle in a B or C category, if you have qualified for the proper extra endorsements.

Class B includes

• Any vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, or a vehicle with a registered weight of 26,001 pounds or more, or a vehicle with a GVW of 26,001 pounds or more, or displays a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more,whichever is greater.
• Vehicles in a Class C category – provided you have qualified for the proper extra endorsements.

Class C includes

• Any vehicle transporting or used in the transportation of hazardous materials, with mandatory placard.
• Any vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver.
• If the vehicle is operated by, or under contract with, a public or governmental agency, or religions or other charitable organization or corporation, or is privately operated, and is used for the transportation of children to or from a school, school-connected activity, day camp, summer day camp, summer residence camp, nursery school, child care center, preschool center or other similar places of education.
• Any vehicle used for hire and designed to transport eight or more, but less than 16 persons, including the driver.

Again, my opinion, but we used to have to be worried about little old ladies sitting below the steering wheel of their 5000 pound Cadillac or Lincoln. Now we let the same people drive vehicles weighing nearly twice that?

Sponsored

 

[kdkool]

Right but you wouldnt need the entire pack. But maybe a 32 kwh pack to put in the bed.

Doesn't quite work that way. The current internal battery modules are in series for a total ~400V nominal voltage. To get to 32kW, Ford would have to redesign

The only thing a 5 ton SUV or 4 ton pickup is good for, is flexing. The amount of Hummer EV's I already see on the roads is so unnecessary and the people driving them are completely unqualified (IMO). The work I had to get a lowest level of CDL , and training needed to drive the fire trucks I'm qualified on should be the requirement for anyone purchasing anything above a 3/4 ton pickup. Again, my opinion, but we used to have to be worried about little old ladies sitting below the steering wheel of their 5000 pound Cadillac or Lincoln. Now we let the same people drive vehicles weighing nearly twice that?

Would peeve you more to point out that a regular class C license gets you the ability to drive a 1.5 ton truck with a 20k RV trailer?

 

[efme]

was I incorrect in remembering the battery packs are modules and have multiple packs inside that make up the whole unit? When 1 module is bad, they can just replace that one? Was hoping from a service perspective, they could just open it up, swap out the bad one vs needing to replace an entire pack like this.

also cool to see its 144kwh. That means when you charge to "100%" at 131kwh, you're really only going to 90%. I wonder if this is the 128kwh battery pack since 90% of 144 is about 129

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I believe it’s due to weight difference, the valving is different. If I recall this was explained during development but I am not 100% sure

From Grok:

Even between the Standard Range (SR) and Extended Range (ER) models, while some front components may look the same, the rear suspension parts have different part numbers to accommodate the weight difference between the battery sizes.

When I do a search in one model year, the rear shocks are clearly different, but the coil springs appear the same? someone correct me if I got this wrong.

 

[kdkool]

was I incorrect in remembering the battery packs are modules and have multiple packs inside that make up the whole unit? When 1 module is bad, they can just replace that one? Was hoping from a service perspective, they could just open it up, swap out the bad one vs needing to replace an entire pack like this.

also cool to see its 144kwh. That means when you charge to "100%" at 131kwh, you're really only going to 90%. I wonder if this is the 128kwh battery pack since 90% of 144 is about 129

Yeah there's individual modules inside the pack that can be replaced for serviceability.

Well we don't really know if it's 10% on the top end. It could be 5% on the top end and 5% on the bottom end. 0% SOC is also equally as taxing on cell life as fully charged.

 

[jwrezz]

Doesn't quite work that way. The current internal battery modules are in series for a total ~400V nominal voltage. To get to 32kW, Ford would have to redesign

Would peeve you more to point out that a regular class C license gets you the ability to drive a 1.5 ton truck with a 20k RV trailer?

Did you mean a regular class D? That's the standard license in NJ. Yeah, I had my class C for many years only to be a summer camp driver. I needed hazmat and the passenger endorsement. Oddly enough, my in house training for the fire trucks, I don't need the CDL. The largest is a tandem axle 70,000lb ladder truck!

 

[kdkool]

Did you mean a regular class D? That's the standard license in NJ. Yeah, I had my class C for many years only to be a summer camp driver. I needed hazmat and the passenger endorsement. Oddly enough, my in house training for the fire trucks, I don't need the CDL. The largest is a tandem axle 70,000lb ladder truck!

For Georgia Class C is regular. Class D is provisional for kids just starting off.

 

[jwrezz]

For Georgia Class C is regular. Class D is provisional for kids just starting off.

Ah, so subtly different than NJ. We have class A, B and C for CDL (needed even for personal use with trailer and GCWR over 26000 lbs) RVs are exempt, trailers are not. We have class D (regular) and E (motor cycle), but first year class D is called a probationary license and must have decals on the plates until they upgrade it to a full license after one year.

 

[Maxx]

was I incorrect in remembering the battery packs are modules and have multiple packs inside that make up the whole unit? When 1 module is bad, they can just replace that one? Was hoping from a service perspective, they could just open it up, swap out the bad one vs needing to replace an entire pack like this.

‘Replacing a module by dealer cost as much as the entire pack cost on eBay.

 

[Shmoe]

what I find psychologically interesting about the idea of a 'range extender', is, well, the range extender now being a 'part' of the truck's range capacity, thereby creating the exact same problem: you have a certain amount of range, and, yes, you can still find yourself saying the exact same thing later: "I need more range".

whether a vehicle comes standard with 240 miles range, or 330 miles, or 500 miles, ultimately, the driver can run into the same 'problem', if there really is one: I need more, or else I might run out.

Sort of like money!

 

[efme]

‘Replacing a module by dealer cost as much as the entire pack cost on eBay.

Sure, not commenting about cost at all on my post but design of the pack. Following to see if in the future, you could in theory drop the pack, replace the 1 bad module and put it back together. Or if the whole pack is the same between sr and er where the sr has fewer modules, and adding a module into a blank spot gets you to full pack.

 

[ScottyG]

Following!

 

[Brent@ANParts]

Wow, I'm going to follow this thread too. I've done engine swaps, even FWD>AWD swaps, but I could never imagine doing an EV battery swap! Best of luck and I'm excited to see what happens.

 

[jobofly79]

Doesn't quite work that way. The current internal battery modules are in series for a total ~400V nominal voltage. To get to 32kW, Ford would have to redesign

So one could not take some of the modules out and build their own protective case to make a 32 KWH pack?

 

[kdkool]

So one could not take some of the modules out and build their own protective case to make a 32 KWH pack?

No - Each module is somewhere in the range of 32V to 44V each. You need multiple of these modules (9) in series to get to ~350V - 400V range. You can't just take a single module out and "make it work".

Sponsored