Joined
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Welcome fellow WA resident-
The travelall is a cool truck, (I still retain fond memories of my 77 ramcharger but it had to go when I bought my 61 land rover) but will suffer from the challenges of any large, heavy, non-aerodynamic vehicle when you look at it from an EV conversion perspective. advantages are plenty of space for batteries/components, and (if you are intent on keeping 4wd) the divorced transfer case could be a useful configuration. The ICE components in that truck are big enough to offset a lot of battery weight in their removal. You could lose a few hundred pounds more weight going to 2wd but that would also require sourcing a new front axle, etc. etc. At minimum, make sure the truck has freewheeling hubs in the front if you keep the 4wd.
Looking at where you are, if you are on roads where you won't need to drive 60mph to keep up with traffic, that is an advantage too, since aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed, or roughly speaking, 10mph increase in speed is a 30% increase in drag.
Budget will be a big factor in what you try, but in any case the best battery right now (quality and quantity for $) is surplus/salvaged leaf cells. You would need at least 60kwh worth, or two 2016 leafs, or 2.5 earlier leaf packs. Probably in the not too distant future it will be easier to retrofit/reconfigure tesla modules, but people are still working on the electronics care and feeding to make them work reliably outside of the original tesla vehicle.
As for drivetrain, a DC drivetrain could be done and you would need at minimum a single 11"motor, or dual 9's. Nothing smaller than a Z1K controller would do. AC drivetrains are better in many ways, but also pricier and you do give up some low end torque. If you have significant hills though it could be a great advantage to get regenerative braking. A dual stack remy would be a great motor setup, but you are looking at significant $ for the motor and inverter.
The best example to build from is another local guy, who has converted a 90's F250 extra cab 4x4 to electric. The truck has gone through a couple battery configurations but currently has about 60kwh worth of leaf cells in it. It gets about 80 mile range at freeway speed. This truck is probably somewhat worse than yours weight and aero wise but is the best example to go from. His truck can be seen at:
http://www.evalbum.com/2898
Good luck
The travelall is a cool truck, (I still retain fond memories of my 77 ramcharger but it had to go when I bought my 61 land rover) but will suffer from the challenges of any large, heavy, non-aerodynamic vehicle when you look at it from an EV conversion perspective. advantages are plenty of space for batteries/components, and (if you are intent on keeping 4wd) the divorced transfer case could be a useful configuration. The ICE components in that truck are big enough to offset a lot of battery weight in their removal. You could lose a few hundred pounds more weight going to 2wd but that would also require sourcing a new front axle, etc. etc. At minimum, make sure the truck has freewheeling hubs in the front if you keep the 4wd.
Looking at where you are, if you are on roads where you won't need to drive 60mph to keep up with traffic, that is an advantage too, since aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed, or roughly speaking, 10mph increase in speed is a 30% increase in drag.
Budget will be a big factor in what you try, but in any case the best battery right now (quality and quantity for $) is surplus/salvaged leaf cells. You would need at least 60kwh worth, or two 2016 leafs, or 2.5 earlier leaf packs. Probably in the not too distant future it will be easier to retrofit/reconfigure tesla modules, but people are still working on the electronics care and feeding to make them work reliably outside of the original tesla vehicle.
As for drivetrain, a DC drivetrain could be done and you would need at minimum a single 11"motor, or dual 9's. Nothing smaller than a Z1K controller would do. AC drivetrains are better in many ways, but also pricier and you do give up some low end torque. If you have significant hills though it could be a great advantage to get regenerative braking. A dual stack remy would be a great motor setup, but you are looking at significant $ for the motor and inverter.
The best example to build from is another local guy, who has converted a 90's F250 extra cab 4x4 to electric. The truck has gone through a couple battery configurations but currently has about 60kwh worth of leaf cells in it. It gets about 80 mile range at freeway speed. This truck is probably somewhat worse than yours weight and aero wise but is the best example to go from. His truck can be seen at:
http://www.evalbum.com/2898
Good luck