I am planning on converting my 2001 Blazer into a hybrid...

http://www.wolftronix.com/E10_3/images/IMG_7258.jpg

I have acquired a "salvaged" E-10 chassis (electric S-10 pickup) see below:

http://www.wolftronix.com/E10_3/images/IMG_7303.jpg

The electric power train is intact, including the beefed up suspension.

So the plan is to remove the Blazer's drive shaft, rear differential, suspension, and spare tire (might need to also re-route the exhaust), and Swap in the electric drive tain.

In this new configuration, the engine will drive the front wheels and the and the electric motors will drive the rear wheels.

My Blazer is 4WD and thus, in 2-HI, I will be able to drive around in all electric mode and when in 4-HI, I will be able to drive around in hybrid mode.

This whole plan hinges on one thing... can a Blazer in 4-HI drive without the rear drive shaft in place?

Any other thaughts, concerns, or questions?

Also, I have a working all electric S-10, that I have restored:
http://www.wolftronix.com/E10/

 

Well yea it will drive around in 4-hi without a rear drive shaft, just no gas engine power will be going to the rear, which from the sounds of your description is what the electric motors are for.

Just have to be sure the electric motors in the rear wheels will spin the rear tires at the same speed that the front tires will be powered by the gas engine at the same time. If at any given time the front tires spin faster then the rear or vice versa I would think it would have a negative effect, same basic concept of having matching gear sets in the front and rear differential if that makes sense to you.

 

Sounds like an interesting build. I had no idea they made an electric S10. I don't know much about hybrids, but this will definitely be an interesting build to follow!

 

I'll be watching this one

 

Ok, so it is a locking transfercase and does not need a load on the rear output...

The motor controllers are run in current mode (comanded torque), so matching a moving speed is not an issue...

I am more worried about how the transmission and engine will react...

Suppose I get up to highway speed, on electric power alone, and then press the 4-HI button, what happens?

I think the transmission would start off in first gear so I probably need to fake out the transmission speed signal so it thinks it is already moving (I can get a speed signal from the motor controllers).

Yup: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_S-10_EV

It is my summer project, so not much will hapen until it gets warmer out.

 

You would need to be driving around with the transmission in neutral and the transfer case locked in to 4HI pretty much all of the time.

What transfer case does your truck currently have in it? If it is the NV236, you may run into issues with the transfer case as it has a viscous coupling between the front and rear outputs. When locked into 4HI, you may not have a problem. But the clutch has a preload and you may burn it out the clutch and have nothing.

 

I was realy hoping, it was a locking and not coupled.

How do you determine what tansfer case is in it?

My Blazer does have buttons for 2HI, 4HI, 4LO and AUTO 4HI if that helps determine which transfer case it has...

 

Auto 4HI = NV236 which has the viscous coupling. This could get interesting...

 

Ok, this was exactly why I posted on this forum.

Need to find out all of these issues before hand...

So, do you think its possible to remove the viscous coupling, drain it, and then weld the two moving parts together?

Or perhaps its easier to just replace the whole transfercase with a locking unit?

 

You should be able to switch it out for an NP231 transfer case which is all mechanical (no electrical controls). You would have to do some work to mount the lever, etc inside the truck so you will want to find a complete donor truck from the junkyard, but it should be do-able. Changing to the NV233 transfer case which is a lock in style case would require a lot of work in the wiring/controls side of things to swap it over. Even with the NP231, your stock PCM may complain (service 4wd light on the dash), but it shouldn't impact anything else.