SELOC LLC is an electric vehicle manufacturer that specializes in covering ICE vehicles into electric cars. The latest project for the company is to modify a Ford F450 Dually truck into a fully electric car using a battery and powertrain from a Tesla Model S.
Greg and his partner Bill, who manage SELOC LLC, are responsible for making this project. The YouTube channel “Like Tesla” reported on the self-made Tesla pickup truck project and unveiled some really interesting details.
Self-Made Tesla Pickup Truck With Solar Panel Is A Total Beast
Modified Tesla pickup truck uses tons of parts from the Model S. The body of the truck is a 2000 Ford F450 Dually Diesel truck which now uses a 90 kWh battery and has a range of about 220 miles or 354 km.
Retrofitting electric batteries into an ICE vehicle isn’t a simple cut and paste job. It requires a lot of clever engineering skills and patience to successfully do this process. The challenge only intensifies when you’re trying to transfer components from an electric sedan to a Diesel truck.
Some of the main challenges while converting the Ford F450 to electric include making a strong transfer case, balancing the weight of the electric motor along with the batteries and also optimizing battery heating and cooling.
According to Greg, the Tesla pickup truck has its motor and electric batteries installed in the front hood, in a similar way as its Diesel motor. So the driver won’t feel a difference in weight while using this pickup truck.
But the best part about this self-made electric pickup truck is that it can recharge itself while driving or when it is parked. The trailer for this truck houses three solar panels and a 10 kW inverter.
The trailer charges the electric battery using sunlight with the help of two 5 kW onboard chargers. The battery gets fully charged in about 4 hours and you can also drive and recharge the truck simultaneously.
According to Greg, “The trailer can charge itself, in essence, and also the trailer can charge the truck ”
When asked about the fast charging capabilities of their converted electric pickup truck, Greg said that it does not support supercharging. Superchargers are only supported by OEM Tesla equipment and that’s for safety reasons.
“You can, however, use a Level 2 charger easily,” added Greg.
Greg has designed the entire powertrain of the Model S to be suitable for the Ford F450 Dually. The truck has more weight and runs on bigger tires hence he modified the gear ratios from “9.55 to 1” to “10 to 1” for better torque delivery.
He and his teammates also designed a brand new cooling system and battery case for the 340 Volt battery, complete with a new water jacket that has inbuilt water hoses. The weight of the entire battery is only 100 pounds less than the original 1,000 ICE engine of the Ford F450 Dually.
According to Greg, the electric pickup truck has a 60% weight at the front and 40% weight at the back. This setup is best for pulling, towing, climbing and off-roading.
When asked about the price and maintenance of the truck, Greg said, there is “no maintenance.” Since the truck has regen braking, it’ll save the life of brake pads and since there’s no engine the usual oil-top up would no longer be needed.
According to Greg, the price of this truck would be around $150,000-$200,000. But as he builds more of these trucks, the price could come way down to $100,000 per unit, which is on par with the price of the ICE version.
Future Plans For SELOC LLC
“We do plan to get into the Heavy Duty electric truck market,” said Greg. We don’t want to tackle semis, we don’t want to regular pickup,” he further added.
The FORD F450, that he and his team are building is a heavy-duty pickup truck. While working on this project, the folks at SELOC LLC now feel comfortable taking on more challenges in this field.
Their self-made Tesla project is now underway and it will be finished in around 6 months.
The original Tesla pickup truck will launch in November and will be better in terms of specs than this custom one.
However, the work that SELOC LLC and his team are doing with OEM parts is nothing short of impressive. What do you think about this truck? Let us know in the comments.
Also Read: Nissan Electric Crossover SUV With 300-Mile Range Coming Soon