What about bolt on hybrid transmissions?
I haven't read much into them, but I found the ZF transmission online. Sounds like it's a bit like the Escalade transmission with the electric motors built into the trans.
Products for Cars
www.zf.com
The GM
Two-Mode longitudinal hybrid transmission (
2M70 from full-sized SUVs such as the Escalade and pickups, or
4EL70 from the more recent Cadillac CT6 PHEV) or the common
Toyota/Lexus longitudinal hybrid transmission (from the GS 450h, LS 600h, IS 300h, etc; tranmission models
L110, etc) are
power-split hybrid systems. That means they have two substantial motor-generators, and the normal power flow is usually (always in the Toyota/Lexus) partially through the electrical path and partially through a planetary gear set.
Although it installs like the power-split units, the ZF
8HP hybrid system is a common automatic transmission with added motor-generator to make a
parallel hybrid system. The Ford F-150 PowerBoost (using Ford 10-speed transmission) and 2022 Toyota Tundra (using Aisin 10-speed transmission) hybrids are parallel systems, like the ZF, and there are others like this as well from other manufacturers.
Power-split and parallel hybrid approaches both work, and adapting a salvaged hybrid transmission of either type to the S-10 is certainly a valid option. The GM units are a more obvious match, but in practical terms none of the available hybrid transmissions (old GM, new GM, Lexus by Aisin, Ford, ZF....) will work without substantial effort to sort out the controls. An advantage of a GM unit might be that the right one might bolt up to the GM engine in the S-10 without an adapter, although it is unlikely. A custom mount, custom propeller shaft, and lots of electronic work would be involved in any case.
What generation of S-10 is this, and what engine do you want to use? The
2M70 will likely only match the GM small-block V8 bolt pattern (which the S-10 4.3L V6 would presumably have), and the
4EL70 should match the 2.0 Ecotec (
LTG or
LSY) engine, which might have a
unique GM Ecotec Generation III bellhousing pattern, but might have a more common pattern in RWD applications (and the unique one only in transverse FWD applications).
They don't have prices listed. But maybe lack of custom fabrication would make up for the cost of the trans?
ZF doesn't list prices because they don't sell to the public, only in large quantities to auto manufacturers. To use one of these you would be salvaging it from a wrecked production car, and working with whatever control system the auto manufacturer (not just ZF) built for it. The same is true of any brand or type or hybrid transmission.