2003 ford windstar ac compressor It was produced starting in the model year through and is no longer in production. It is built upon a light truck chassis used in the Ford Ranger. A few vehicles with lead-acid batteries were sold, but most units were leased for fleet use. A few persistent and interested private parties were able to obtain leases over a period of three to five years. No other interior color options were available. The principal identifiers of an electric Ranger are the appearance of the front charging door in a grille location that is open on ICE Internal Combustion Engine Rangers, the missing tailpipe, and the visibility of the EV's unique rear suspension and the traction motor from behind the vehicle. From the side, the vehicle is almost indistinguishable from the ICE Ranger except for a modest script Electric on the side. Only the slight projection of the battery tray below the frame rails is noticeable at a distance. Vehicle height is close to that of four-wheel drive vehicles due to its being built on a 4wd frame, and utilization of the heavier duty 4wd front torsion bar suspension. The spare tire could be carried at a station within the truck bed. The spare tire is poorly [ according to whom? Many operators simply did not carry the spare. To improve aerodynamics, the bed is covered by a vinyl snap on cover supported by aluminum bows. Snap receivers slide within aluminum channels. A rear bow allows the tailgate to be opened without removing the cover. The cover can be quite difficult to re-snap under cold conditions due to shrinkage and stiffness of the vinyl material. As the bed was a carryover from the standard Ford Ranger body, some owners opted for after-market tonneau covers, such as hard fiberglass or roll-top. Various indicator lights are included, one of which indicates that the truck is plugged in for charging. This is interlocked with the start circuit, disabling it if the Avcon paddle is inserted. Ford attempted to make the driving and operating experience as similar as possible to that experienced in an ICE vehicle with an automatic transmission. A selector operates similar to that for an automatic transmission with the following positions: [ citation needed ]. The economy position reduces the maximum speed, and engages energy recovery regenerative braking , [2] so it is useful for long downgrades and when approaching a stop or for start and stop traffic. Drive is normally used only for freeway use. A conventional switch arrangement is used to provide key inserted detection at Off, Accessory, Run, and Start. Other controls are identical to that of the ICE version. The heating system uses a ceramic core resistance heater. Air conditioning is provided with an electric-motor driven compressor-condenser-evaporator system. The rear suspension consists of a De Dion tube that located the wheels and which was sprung by the usual longitudinal leaf springs. The first year of production used lightweight carbon fiber monolithic leaf springs which had insufficient lateral stiffness to provide lateral location of the suspension; these early versions also featured a Watt's linkage. Later versions used conventional steel leaf springs and did not have the Watt's linkage. The rear wheels are powered by a six pole alternating current motor operating through a single speed three to one reduction transmission and differential. The motor, transmission, and differential are contained in a single unit mounted high between the frame rails, transversely between the rear wheels. Half shafts angle downward to drive the wheels. All wheels including the spare are made of cast aluminum. Tires are low rolling resistance, similar to what would be found on a full-size sedan, rather than on a truck. Later models had wheels of a large 'spoke' design. Power consumption for light duty suburban use is around watt-hours per mile, both by the EPA figures for early models and by some owners' experience. The Ford Ranger EV controller electronics will allow strong acceleration even when in 'E' economy shifter mode. Thus a heavy foot will reduce the EV's range. Batteries are contained in one big battery box that is bolted to the underside of the vehicle. It can be removed using specialized shop equipment. Individual batteries are then serviced and replaced from the open top of the module. The Lead-Acid setup is using 39 x 8V batteries setup on two layers. The NiMH setup is using 25 x 12V batteries on one layer. The lead-acid battery pack consisted of 39 valve-regulated lead-acid modules assembled by East Penn Manufacturing for Delphi, with a weight of In California and some limited areas outside of California, a NiMH nickel-metal hydride battery version was offered, originally exclusively for lease. Actual range of the lead-acid Ford Ranger EV is less. Charging is through an Avcon conductive connector, provided beneath a hinged door to the right side of the grille. It is possible to use either an adapter or to upgrade the plug on the truck to the updated J standard. The two connectors use an identical signaling and wiring scheme with ground, two hots, proximity and pilot. With an adapter or after an upgrade, Ranger EVs can use the newer public charging infrastructure being deployed nationwide that utilizes the new J standard. The power electronics such as the motor, motor controller, AC motor controller, and high voltage DCDC converter are liquid-cooled. The batteries and battery charger are air-cooled. There were numerous problems with the NiMH Ranger associated with an inability to accept a charge in hot environmental conditions, and some other problems requiring replacement of major components, but Ford successfully addressed these problems early in the vehicle's life cycle. Some leases were continued despite the shorter range. The lead-acid batteries are sensitive to temperature, losing a substantial portion of capacity in winter conditions. When plugged in for charge the battery temperature is sensed and battery heaters used to maintain temperature sufficient to retain specified range - a necessity for colder climate fleet use, where vehicles are usually parked outdoors. This would suggest that to enhance the economy of use in such climates that the vehicle should be sheltered. NiMH batteries do not have this temperature sensitivity; however, models with NiMH batteries do have a loss in range in cold temperatures, perhaps because of greater rolling resistance in the drive train and tires. The ability to charge NiMH batteries is limited by heat gain, so these batteries are air-cooled by two fans. The first fan is circulating the air around the batteries. The second fan is exchanging the air inside the battery box. The majority of Ford Ranger EVs were leased to fleets. It was expected that Ford, like other companies, would completely destroy almost all remaining stocks by crushing, as has been done by several other major vehicle manufacturers. This plan engendered considerable resistances from electric vehicle fans, with the adverse publicity prompting a change in Ford's policy. This change of policy appears to have also influenced Toyota not to destroy all of its leased RAV-4 electrics. Also, a persistent few of Ford's lease return resistors some of whom were actually allowed to buy the vehicle under terms of their lease arrangements by the dealer's use of a non-specific lease form were allowed to purchase their vehicles for one dollar. While most of the 1, vehicles produced have since been destroyed, a number of Ranger EVs have been parted out for spares and the remaining several hundred units have been refurbished using selected used and new old stock batteries and other salvage components both with lead-acid and NiMH batteries by a third party company Blue Sky Motors of Sacramento, California. It is not yet clear what would need to be changed within the vehicle to use other batteries such as PbA or NiCad. Ford has announced no plans to resume production of this model. The North American market Ford Ranger was discontinued after the model year , however, the Ranger line continued with the new T6 generation of the Ford Ranger for Europe. Ford, however, partnered with Azure Dynamics to provide an electric vehicle version of its popular Ford Transit Connect cargo van for the United States market only from to Ford would later release an all-electric version of the Focus for the model year. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these template messages. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. June Learn how and when to remove this template message. Motor vehicle. Charge door in grille distinguishes the EV from the front. Under the hood. Power controller under bed at rear. Retrieved 7 March Oversteer blog. 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