S10-EV Mailing List Archive

OK, you inspired me to reply! I used to own one, but sold it a few years ago. The guys who bought it were great, and I'm hoping that they are still enthusiastic. There was one joker from Miami who I also tried to help, even sending him a DVD with the complete manuals for the truck. All I asked was to be reimbursed for the postage, as I expressly stated that I didn't want to make any profit, but I never heard from him again. The final situation in my opinion is that the truck is incredibly complicated, due to the guy who designed the electronics. A true genius apparently, but he did things his way. That coupled with a less than stellar capacitor which degraded over time which if malfunctioning would essentially destroy the truck, proved to be a problem. Don did get more of the capacitors, but I never got around to working on the truck, due to the other catch-22, the batteries. The truck originally used one of the best Pb-A batteries ever, made by Panasonic, but completely removed from the U.S., but I think that's another story. The shape of the batteries thus made it impossible to drop anything comparable into the space. I did find a couple of alternatives that would work, after a huge search, but then ran into the other side of he Catch-22, the cost of the batteries. I didn't want to spend $4k or so on batteries to only find out he truck didn't work, but the only way to find out if he truck worked was to put the batteries in. I have a few photos from the old evbones website, which I can find if there is any interest. The other problem with the trucks was that there was really only one guy on earth who could work on the truck, and he was a bit unusual and not the easiest guy to work with. I even contacted a place to try to "convert" the truck to electric with other components, but never had any reply. I guess it sounded somewhat ridiculous. So yes, somewhat if Don, who is a great guy, is gone from the S10ev scene, and he didn't find another enthusiast to take his place, it doesn't look good. There has been somebody up I the northeast who's gotten his running by modifying the battery box, and one other guy who is running with lithium, which is pretty much cost-prohibitive for just one truck. And yes, I did move away and into a Nissan LEAF, and have gone about 21k miles on electric. But the LEAF is not 100% spectacular either, due to Nissan's battery choice. But it seems the may step up and fix it, but right now it's a we'll see. Kevin Kayden
Bartow FL From: [email removed]
Subject: S10-EV Digest, Vol 127, Issue 2
To: [email removed]
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 04:56:00 -0500 Send S10-EV mailing list submissions to [email removed] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email removed] You can reach the person managing the list at [email removed] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of S10-EV digest..."
--Forwarded Message Attachment--From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 10:05:11 -0500
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Wow, only responses from 3 people to my post, I guess that speaks volumes! It's disappointing, but understandable. I hope no one (of the 3 reading this!) takes this the wrong way, but my take on this is that most of the people on this list aren't really enthusiasts of the vehicle, but rather are EV enthusiast, and just gravitated to this truck because it was the only thing available. So naturally, now that there are over a dozen EV offerings at dealerships, there's essentially zero interest in the S10-EV. I wonder if the DIY electric car groups are dwindling too as they lose the guys that aren't really engineers or into the EV scene as a hobbyist. I'm surprised that Don hasn't chimed in as he seems to be one of the few guys that seems to be an actual enthusiast of the truck itself and sounds like he may end up owning every last one of 'em! Tom --Forwarded Message Attachment--From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]; [email removed]; [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 15:41:34 +0000
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Hello,
There doesn't seem to be any real buzz about the S10-EV but I suspect that most owners will hang on to theirs. I personally thought of keeping mine but am running out of storage space so will probably sell it. Probyn. Sent from my BlackBerry? smartphone powered by Mobilicity -----Original Message-----
From: Tom Chou <[email removed]>
Sender: [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 10:05:11 To: s10-ev<[email removed]>
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? _______________________________________________
S10-EV mailing list
[email removed]
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev --Forwarded Message Attachment--From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]; [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 12:58:11 -0500
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Hi Tom, I probably would have kept mine since I didn't have the cash to run out and buy one of the newer EV offerings, but my commute changed. I now have to travel 50 miles each way to work and the S10 just couldn't do that. Seriously your assessment is correct at least in my case. My wife and I wanted an EV and the S10 was all that was available. While I am an electrical supervisor and had a mechanic friend willing to help me build an EV what I really wanted and still want is an EV to drive - not something to work on as a hobby. The Tesla is the only EV that could handle my commute today and that is way outside my budget, so I am considering a used Chevy Volt as a possibility for my commuting car sometime next year. Richard -----Original Message----- From: Tom Chou <[email removed]> To: s10-ev <[email removed]> Sent: Sun, Nov 3, 2013 7:05 am Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Wow, only responses from 3 people to my post, I guess that speaks volumes! It's disappointing, but understandable. I hope no one (of the 3 reading this!) takes this the wrong way, but my take on this is that most of the people on this list aren't really enthusiasts of the vehicle, but rather are EV enthusiast, and just gravitated to this truck because it was the only thing available. So naturally, now that there are over a dozen EV offerings at dealerships, there's essentially zero interest in the S10-EV. I wonder if the DIY electric car groups are dwindling too as they lose the guys that aren't really engineers or into the EV scene as a hobbyist. I'm surprised that Don hasn't chimed in as he seems to be one of the few guys that seems to be an actual enthusiast of the truck itself and sounds like he may end up owning every last one of 'em! Tom _______________________________________________
S10-EV mailing list
[email removed]
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev -------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/private/s10-ev/attachments/20131104/cbbb3f00/attachment.htm>

Hi Kevin,
I'm the guy in the Northeast that modified the battery box. Mine is still on the road with about 12K miles on the Deka 12AVR75 batteries. The box modification gave me a few benefits. I converted the bed to tilt and the top part of the box is removable. I can get to all 26 batteries without dropping the box. I recently replaced a battery and 1 more is setting codes, so my pack is tired. I'm still waiting for Lithium to become reasonable but it's not happening fast enough. Last price I heard was about $13K to swap. My range is down to about 20 miles now. But I'm retired and the truck is fine for trips to Loews and the store and I have several other vehicles for longer trips.
I recently had someone interested in buying my truck, but I asked for $12K and the offer was less than half that, so I guess I'll just keep enjoying my truck. Kevin McMullin
Bear, Delaware In a message dated 11/4/2013 1:24:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email removed] writes: OK, you inspired me to reply! I used to own one, but sold it a few years ago. The guys who bought it were great, and I'm hoping that they are still enthusiastic. There was one joker from Miami who I also tried to help, even sending him a DVD with the complete manuals for the truck. All I asked was to be reimbursed for the postage, as I expressly stated that I didn't want to make any profit, but I never heard from him again. The final situation in my opinion is that the truck is incredibly complicated, due to the guy who designed the electronics. A true genius apparently, but he did things his way. That coupled with a less than stellar capacitor which degraded over time which if malfunctioning would essentially destroy the truck, proved to be a problem. Don did get more of the capacitors, but I never got around to working on the truck, due to the other catch-22, the batteries. The truck originally used one of the best Pb-A batteries ever, made by Panasonic, but completely removed from the U.S., but I think that's another story. The shape of the batteries thus made it impossible to drop anything comparable into the space. I did find a couple of alternatives that would work, after a huge search, but then ran into the other side of he Catch-22, the cost of the batteries. I didn't want to spend $4k or so on batteries to only find out he truck didn't work, but the only way to find out if he truck worked was to put the batteries in. I have a few photos from the old evbones website, which I can find if there is any interest. The other problem with the trucks was that there was really only one guy on earth who could work on the truck, and he was a bit unusual and not the easiest guy to work with. I even contacted a place to try to "convert" the truck to electric with other components, but never had any reply. I guess it sounded somewhat ridiculous. So yes, somewhat if Don, who is a great guy, is gone from the S10ev scene, and he didn't find another enthusiast to take his place, it doesn't look good. There has been somebody up I the northeast who's gotten his running by modifying the battery box, and one other guy who is running with lithium, which is pretty much cost-prohibitive for just one truck. And yes, I did move away and into a Nissan LEAF, and have gone about 21k miles on electric. But the LEAF is not 100% spectacular either, due to Nissan's battery choice. But it seems the may step up and fix it, but right now it's a we'll see. Kevin Kayden
Bartow FL From: [email removed]
Subject: S10-EV Digest, Vol 127, Issue 2
To: [email removed]
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 04:56:00 -0500 Send S10-EV mailing list submissions to [email removed] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email removed] You can reach the person managing the list at [email removed] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of S10-EV digest..." --Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 10:05:11 -0500
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Wow, only responses from 3 people to my post, I guess that speaks volumes! It's disappointing, but understandable. I hope no one (of the 3 reading this!) takes this the wrong way, but my take on this is that most of the people on this list aren't really enthusiasts of the vehicle, but rather are EV enthusiast, and just gravitated to this truck because it was the only thing available. So naturally, now that there are over a dozen EV offerings at dealerships, there's essentially zero interest in the S10-EV. I wonder if the DIY electric car groups are dwindling too as they lose the guys that aren't really engineers or into the EV scene as a hobbyist. I'm surprised that Don hasn't chimed in as he seems to be one of the few guys that seems to be an actual enthusiast of the truck itself and sounds like he may end up owning every last one of 'em! Tom --Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]; [email removed]; [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 15:41:34 +0000
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Hello,
There doesn't seem to be any real buzz about the S10-EV but I suspect that most owners will hang on to theirs. I personally thought of keeping mine but am running out of storage space so will probably sell it. Probyn. Sent from my BlackBerry? smartphone powered by Mobilicity -----Original Message-----
From: Tom Chou <[email removed]>
Sender: [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 10:05:11 To: s10-ev<[email removed]>
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? _______________________________________________
S10-EV mailing list
[email removed]
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev --Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: [email removed]
To: [email removed]; [email removed]
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 12:58:11 -0500
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Hi Tom,
I probably would have kept mine since I didn't have the cash to run out and buy one of the newer EV offerings, but my commute changed. I now have to travel 50 miles each way to work and the S10 just couldn't do that. Seriously your assessment is correct at least in my case. My wife and I wanted an EV and the S10 was all that was available. While I am an electrical supervisor and had a mechanic friend willing to help me build an EV what I really wanted and still want is an EV to drive - not something to work on as a hobby. The Tesla is the only EV that could handle my commute today and that is way outside my budget, so I am considering a used Chevy Volt as a possibility for my commuting car sometime next year. Richard -----Original Message-----
From: Tom Chou <[email removed]>
To: s10-ev <[email removed]>
Sent: Sun, Nov 3, 2013 7:05 am
Subject: Re: [S10-EV] Am I too late to the S10-EV party? Wow, only responses from 3 people to my post, I guess that speaks volumes! It's disappointing, but understandable. I hope no one (of the 3 reading this!) takes this the wrong way, but my take on this is that most of the people on this list aren't really enthusiasts of the vehicle, but rather are EV enthusiast, and just gravitated to this truck because it was the only thing available. So naturally, now that there are over a dozen EV offerings at dealerships, there's essentially zero interest in the S10-EV. I wonder if the DIY electric car groups are dwindling too as they lose the guys that aren't really engineers or into the EV scene as a hobbyist. I'm surprised that Don hasn't chimed in as he seems to be one of the few guys that seems to be an actual enthusiast of the truck itself and sounds like he may end up owning every last one of 'em! Tom _______________________________________________ S10-EV mailing list [email removed] http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev = _______________________________________________
S10-EV mailing list
[email removed]
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/s10-ev -------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/private/s10-ev/attachments/20131104/f00caa39/attachment.html>