1997 Chevy S-10 E-106 Electric/diesel

dusty1944 · March 8, 2005

No one in my area, Massachusetts, has ever heard of this vehicle..including GM garages. I would like any info availabe: Repair manuel, where to find a repair manuel, how many vehicles manufactured, and availability of parts.

Vin

# 1GCDE14H9V8179348

Thank You, Mike / Dusty1944

GM-Tech · March 9, 2005

Won't say I never heard of it, because I have, but that's the extent of my knowledge of the electric S-10. Not sure where the "diesel" part of your subject heading comes into this? As far as I know, the electric vehicle was sold only (mostly?) in California.

When all else fails, try typing "S10 electric" into Google. I came up with 143,000 matches, though I know most are probably useless. Still, saw plenty of sites for parts and such.

vmikels · August 7, 2007

4

bobcat5544 · August 7, 2007

The Chevrolet S-10 Electric, introduced in 1997, updated in 1998 and then discontinued. It was an OEM modified BEV variant of Chevrolet's S-10 pickup truck which ran solely upon electricity, and was marketed primarily to utility fleet customers.

Design

General Motors started with a regular cab, short-box (6' bed) S-10 pickup, with a base level trim package, added a half tonneau cover. In place of a typical inline four cylinder or V-6 engine, the Electric S-10 was equipped with a 85kW (114 horsepower) three-phase, liquid cooled AC induction motor, similar to GM's EV1 electric coupe. The EV1 had a 100kW motor, GM reduced the S-10EV's motor because of the additional weight and drag of the truck so as not to over stress the batteries.

Other than the reduced motor size, the majority of power electronics were carried over directly from the EV1, which mandated that the Electric S-10 use a front-wheel-drive configuration, unlike the rear-wheel-drive setup found in stock S-10's and in the competing Ford Ranger EV.

Batteries

Similar to the Gen 1 EV1's setup, the 1997 Electric S10 stored and sourced its power from a lead acid battery pack. Manufactured by Delco, the 1,400 lb pack consisted of 27 batteries, with one being designated as an "auxiliary" cell. These reportedly offered 16.2 kilowatt-hours for propulsion, and offered a varying driving range. In 1998, Ovonic NiMH batteries were also available. These batteries were lighter at 1043 lbs and had 29 kilowatt-hours of storage for a longer range. NiMH also has longer life but cost more than the lead acid option. The battery pack was located between the frame rails, beneath the pickup bed.

[edit] Charging

The S-10 EV charges using the Magne Charger, produced by the General Motors subsidiary Delco Electronics. The inductive charging paddle is the model J1773 or the 'large' paddle. The small paddle can also be used with an adapter to properly seat it. The standard charger is a 220V 30A (6.6kW), there is also a 110V 15A 'convenience' charger, and a high power fast charge version.

The vehicle's charging port is accessed by flipping the front license plate frame downwards. The system is designed to be safe even when used in the rain.

See also:

http://www.magnecharge.com

charger demonstration movie underwater

Efficiency

Depending on the load and driving conditions the range can vary greatly.

For the 1997 PbA, a city range of 45.5 miles, a mixed (city/highway) range of 47 miles, and a highway range of 60 miles if operating constantly at 45 MPH or less.

GM estimated 0-50 MPH times of 13.5 seconds at 50% charge; "even less" when the truck had a full charge. Like the EV1, the top speed of the truck was governed, albeit to 70 MPH, 10 MPH less than its coupe sibling.

The performance is much better for the 1998 NiMH, at ~90 miles range and a 0-50 MPH of 10.9 seconds at 50% charge.

1998 GM S10 EV lead: 45 kWh/100 miles city, 41 kWh/100 miles highway

1998 GM S10 EV NiMh: 94 kWh/100 miles city, 86 kWh/100 miles highway

(Source: Model Year 1999 EPA Fuel Economy Guide)

1998 Updates

While the internal combustion S-10 moved to a redesigned front fascia in 1998, the S-10 Electric kept the same front fascia as the '94-'97. Aside from this header panel, and a stylized 'Electric' decal on the bottom of the doors, there is very little difference externally between the appearance of an Electric and a stock S-10. Any changes, however minute, were reported to have had a positive influence on reducing the truck's aerodynamic resistance. These changes included a closed grille and a front air skirt, belly pans beneath the front suspension, a seal between the cab and the pickup bed, and a half-length tonneau cover over the rear of the pickup bed.

Instruments

Internally, the instrument cluster was exclusive to the Electric S-10, and featured only four gauges - a speedometer, a large "charge" gauge which reads from 'E' to 'F' like a gas gauge, a voltmeter ranging from 220 to 440 volts, and a "power use" meter, which acts as an ammeter of sorts showing discharge during acceleration and charge during regenerative braking. The LCD display for the shifter was shortened to display only park, neutral, reverse, and drive, due to the lack of a transmission.

Additional features

Despite the truck being based on a "base" trim package, the Electric S-10 still came standard with dual airbags, a heat-pump for both air conditioning and heating, power four-wheel ABS brakes, regenerative breaking, power steering, AM/FM radio, and daytime running lamps, among other items. For colder climates, a fuel-fired heater was standard, it runs on diesel fuel from small 1.7 gallon tank at temperatures below 37 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because battery performance varies greatly with temperature, the heat-pump services the batteries first and the cab second with any unused capacity. This means that on hot days, there maybe no AC available to the driver.

Sales

Unlike the EV1, of the 492 S-10EVs assembled about 50 were sold to fleet customers, rather than just leased through restrictive programs, mostly due to the prior Department of Transportation crash-worthiness evaluations done on stock S-10 pickups. As a result, a few Electric S-10's can still be found in use today. Those that were not sold were collected, dismembered and crushed just like their EV1 siblings.

Recent uses

In 2004, GM converted a leftover S-10 Electric to rear wheel drive, and harnessed its power through prototype in-wheel electric motors, as pictured.