Smith edison Ford Transit

Do you own or use a EV. Then this is a good place to discuss things.
David Arthur
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:43 pm

Smith edison Ford Transit

Postby David Arthur » Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:47 pm

Hi Everybody I recently joined, and posted ime making a feet forward fully enclosed electric motorcycle, and hope to send some pics when ive made enough progress. Having committed to one project, i have also been on the lookout for an electric van for work, and have just acquired a 2009 Smith Edison Transit. I have been looking for information regards these vehicles prior to purchase for some time, but apart from the standard factory blurb and a very limited test drive review, their is not much else. I am aware a retail chain bought a large no of refrigerated vans only to find they could not take any payload, and all were subsequently quickly scrapped off, resulting in lots of parts going out for sale on various web sites. I received no information from the company it came from, and no handbook. What i would like to know, is how many of you are out there actually driving these things every day, what tends to go wrong with them, and at what distance, or age. I bought mine with all the battery's slung underneath the chassis, as opposed to the battery box in the back, so i assume they are LIFPO4 cells, which is what i wanted, but also want to know the pack voltage, and how are they set up? are they 12volt Valence battery's or individual cells that make up a pack. What distance should i expect from an 8 year old pack? can you tell if any cells are damaged or low, by plugging it into a PC, and is the software readily available. I also saw somebody in the past making an interface printed circuit board to communicate with the drive, but i wasn't much wiser after reading it, which was nothing to do with guy explaining it, just my total ignorance with electronics, which i have a feeling will come in useful. I assumed it was to replace an existing item that may? may not be a problem weakness with these vans, are there other people who have had to sort this out and how. I did read an earlier remark from another member, who suggested they were not worth having, due to very little support, and having seen several of his comments on other issues, can see he is a very capable and helpful chap, and i am sure he made a very accurate and balanced judgement, so much so, with his experience, it did really put me off buying one. That said it ticked all the right boxes for what i wanted , and although i am sure he is right, and at the moment it is lovely, and lovely to drive, and i hope it stays that way, but if it does go drastically wrong, its a very good basis to modify, and should still be a lot cheaper than the Nissan van i was looking at, and if it cant be fixed, the worst thing i can do is strip it down and sell off the bits, and use some of them on my project the charger ect, and just stick a diesel in the hole left behind. Thanks in advance Yours Dave Arthur

Return to “Cars,Vans and other road vehicles”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 36 guests