Ford Ranger EV

The Ford Ranger EV was a battery electric compact pickup truck and Ford's first all-electric production vehicle, built for the 1998 through 2002 model years on the Ranger's four-wheel-drive chassis. Conventional Ranger trucks without powertrains were built at the Twin Cities plant in Minnesota and shipped to a craft centre in Detroit, where the electric drivetrain and battery pack were installed. A six-pole AC motor of 90 horsepower drove the rear wheels through a single-speed reduction transmission; most trucks used a nickel-metal hydride pack of about 30 kilowatt-hours with a real range near 65 miles, while some had lead-acid batteries. Most were leased to fleets and utilities rather than sold, at a list cost of about US$52,720 before subsidies. When Ford planned to crush returned trucks, publicity from electric vehicle fans changed the policy, and some were sold on to enthusiasts, including a batch exported to Norway.