EVSupport

Its quite stunning how much better the E1 is with Li ion. But I think the forthcoming Factory Li ion will be a lot more expensive. I guess the choice to go Li Ion depends on how long you intend to keep it. The rangers I have done are from 2012 right up to a brandnew 2019 model that had done two weeks use. Most Ranger owners seem to hang onto them and be farmers or land owners (although one customer has 4, all used for virtually silent Camera tracking work) So for them the upfront investment pays off. It is possible to do a smaller pack, but I think thats less good option. The under load voltage on Li ion , with a decent size pack, is so much more stable. These particular cells dont drop much at all under load right through the charge cycle, which means the performance does not drop off as the pack goes down. I have to re programme the Sevcon motor controller so that it cuts back in a series of steps as you get near to the lowest voltage I want to take the pack down to. So its not an all or nothing setup. You do get some warning. Getting up to the pack size of the Ranger conversion just isnt possible within the space there is under the seats. (Ranger uses 8 cell blocks so 240ah rather than 180ah) . Im sure the Hisun is lighter than than the Ranger, so its probably not significantly different in overall range. I do know people who have tried off the shelf Li ion Battery replacements, but they are not so successful requiring separate battery chargers for each 12v block. They also tend to be Lifepo4, which doesnt burn if all goes horribly wrong, but in use the voltage sag under load is much greater. Lifepo4 can deliver huge currents, but they do voltage drop a lot. A lot of the Ranger owners despite doing proper battery watering are seeing them last under 2 years of regular daily usage. They have an approximate 500 cycles life so thats not far off the two years. A few do / have replaced the odd battery, but on a n older pack once they start to go they will all go, a bit like triggers broom, my pack is 6 years old and none of the batteries are original. My biggest surprise was on first going out in the Hisun, just how good the ride is. The shocks are an expensive item, but are worth every penny over rougher ground.

The conversion installed inc VAT is under £4500. So more than a set of lead, but probably less than two sets. A significant problem with the Gel batteries is that many users do not run them in, These need something like 10 to 20 charge cycles of charge gently discharge to nowhere near empty, and recharge. That seems to help in life no end. Not easy but really important. Even the ranger Trojans dont reach full capacity until about 50 charges in.

Hi. Im new here. I am located in the UK and have been doing Li Ion conversions on Rangers for about 7 years. These are now in a new generation of installation. to help reduce costs I have recently done a similar version for the Hisun E1 . This uses the standard DeltaQ charger with a new algorithm, the original Dc To Dc converter, and the original Sevcon Motor controller is re programmed . I have added a 16a power inlet under the front cover, where the better mains cable can also be stored. To reduce the crud getting under the seats the small floor holes at the front are covered, and the rear wheel arch is partially closed off with a new polycarbonate shields mounted under the antiroll bar mounts. It a smoky grey green and you can just see it in the photo. The battery pack is built from 6 nominally 60 V 30ah cell blocks in parallel so giving 180ah . This gives a over 10 kwh of storage . Higher current discharge than the lead, and at least 50% greater range. The big advantage is the range wont reduce for many years. These are lightly used cell blocks I get direct from a UK vehicle manufacturer, and we have reversed engineered a way of using the OEM data system built into the cell blocks (I use these on a lot of EV conversions). Most have done little or no significant use and generally no greater than 17000km of use. None are from crash tested vehicles. We confidently expect over 10 years of reliable use from these stupidly high quality parts. In tests with a number of users of the E1 they are finding the weight reduction is useful (over 150kg) the range increase very noticeable and the swifter performance (slightly higher voltage) better. I am currently doing the first batch of 5 sets of parts. And will be offering these in the next few months. All of this batch will, be installed at my workshop to iron out any more issues we may find during the installs. These cost a bit over the price of two replacement lead battery sets, but as with Rangers in constant use that could be in under 18 months/ set. So long term ovnership costs are significantly reduced. Jeremy Bloomfield EV Support.