Ford, Take Note: Classic Pickup Becomes the EV We Want
Ford does sell an electric pickup, but not very many of them. We canât say for sure, but itâs possible that if the F150 Lightning had the classic cool of [ScottenMotors] 1977 F150 SuperCab conversion theyâd have better numbers.
The battery box sits where a V8 used to choke on well-meaning emissions controls.
On Reddit, [Scotten] shares the takeaways from his conversion effort, which involved a custom Tesla-cell battery pack and a new rear axle assembly to house the Tesla SDU (Small Drive Unit). A Large Drive Unit (LDU) would probably fit, but the SDU already puts out 264 HP, which compares rather favourably to the 156 HP this truckâs malaise-era V8 put out stock. The old F-bodies were great trucks in a lot of respects, but even an die-hard ICE enthusiast is probably not going to be sad to see that motor go.
Choosing to put the integrated drive unit in the rear axle complicates the build compared to other conversions that re-use the
Before the bed goes on, you can see the new rear axle with the Tesla SPU. There might be room for another, smaller battery under there.
stock transmission and differential, but saves you all the losses associated with that frankly unnecessary powertrain hardware. The takeaway there is to figure out all the mechanical work on the chassis, because the EV stuff is actually the easy part. [Scotten] had the wheels turning a full year before he got the brakes figured out, because even if theyâre just the rears and even if thereâs regenâ you want all the breaks to work on your test drive.
With the 100kW power pack, heâs getting about 220 miles of range. From the pictures, it looks like heâs filled up most of the hood space with that battery, but we canât help but wonder if thereâs room under the bed where the gas tank(s) lived to squeeze in more cells for those of us who need to go further.
Sadly the design isnât open source, but [ScottenMotors] is apparently doing conversions on commission and open to selling kits; you can check that out on their website. In that, heâs following in the series-hybrid footsteps of Edison Motors.
While we respect the hustle to design an all-new rear end in this hack, you donât even have to pull the internal combustion engine if you want to play on easy mode. You donât need to be a nanoscience professor like [ScottenMotors] to pull off an electric truck, for the recordâ [Mr.G]âs high school class did a great job on a kei truck.
Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip!
hackaday.com/2026/03/13/ford-tâŠ