Believe it or not (given the manufacturer’s reticence to start developing EVs), but Ford actually made an all-electric version of the Ranger pickup from 1998 through to 2002. Most were leased and at the end of the lease they were recalled, but some people wanted them so badly that they convinced Ford to sell a Ranger EV.

That’s probably what happened to this example now up for sale on eBay near Austin, Texas. According to the seller, it’s pretty much stock and in good condition (especially considering its age), but it has had one major modification made to it which we’ll get to in a second; its odometer reads 7,333 miles.

The Ranger EV was sold with two battery pack options: earlier examples were equipped with a 22 kWh lead-acid pack (whose quoted range was 65 miles or 105 km) and as of 1999, they upgraded to a 26 kWh NiMH pack that upped the range to 82 miles or 132 km.

This particular example that’s up for sale has neither of those packs installed, because its previous owner swapped it out for a Chevy Volt battery. That was supposed to give it a range of around 25 miles (40 km) but the seller says it currently won’t go much more than 4 miles (7 km) - it probably needs to be swapped out again for a bigger pack in order for it to have usable range.

2000 Ford Ranger EV

The “Buy It Now” price is currently set at $5,900, although you can place a lower bid and wait for the auction to end (in 18 days’ time). For that money you get the truck, as well as a wall-mounted charger. It also comes with a Ford New Generation Star Tester Diagnostic Scanner (NGS) and the vehicle’s manual on a USB drive.

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