Harvester Engine (Range Extender) will be a VW engine, quiet, and tucked away

[MavMaven1]

Bringing back the air-cooled Bug engine.

 

[ScoutMagnatta]

It'd be nice to be able to start the RE shortly after getting on the road when I know I'll be going a long distance without reliable charging. That way the RE has as much time as possible to top off the battery, rather than waiting for the battery charge level to deplete and then needing more power out of the RE

From the UX presentation from CES it looks like that there may be three options for the Harvester. Pure EV, Max, and Auto. I hope they allow us to set when the Harvester kicks on.

 

[vVSidewinderVv]

I'm curious how the engine "tucked low, out back" is gonna work out with their claimed 3 foot fording capability.

 

[Bender]

I'm curious how the engine "tucked low, out back" is gonna work out with their claimed 3 foot fording capability.

As long as the air intake is up high…

 

[timmyhil]

Only time will tell, we have a full 3 years.

 

[vVSidewinderVv]

As long as the air intake is up high…

And the engine is running...

 

[maynard]

Only time will tell, we have a full 3 years.

Can you just put me into cryo-sleep until mine is ready?

 

[ScoutMagnatta]

I finally found this again to cite the source. This seems to provide some insight to what the Harvester genset will be capable of.

One drawback of the smaller (150-mi.) battery pack is, it most likely will be unable to deliver as much power as the larger (350-mi.) EV pack. So, for maximum uphill towing performance, the genset must be allowed to provide a high fraction of its max continuous power rating even while the battery is at a fairly high state of charge so that the combined output of the genset & the battery pack will be available for pulling heavy loads up steep grades. I'm already wondering if they'll be able to provide enough cooling capacity for these high demand situations.

I'm a little confused. Why will the smaller Battery Pack be unable to deliver as much power? Can you clarify for me?

 

[Mr._Bill]

Not really.
The Scout is not an i-MiEV or a Leaf.
The pack is composed of a large number of fairly small cells. The higher capacity pack will most likely just be longer.
How many currently available EVs offer only one battery pack option?

More options increases costs. Each battery pack size may be made up of the same smaller cells, but it still requires engineering and testing for each one. There is also design and production costs for the shells, the BMS, and the software.

Options are nice, but how many would choose a lower capacity pack due to cost and then be constantly complaining about range?

When I bought my EV, there was only one battery pack option.

 

[M3_R2]

Most EV's sold today have more than 1 battery pack option. Some have 3 or 4.

I'm sure SM's is looking at all the parameters that go into deciding on their best ratio of battery size to REX engine type. They will probably have to figure it out before the end of this year and not much is changing by then so they may already have a very good idea of what they will be doing and are just flushing out supply chain logistics which also influences things.

I'd be very surprised if they launched with more than 1 battery option for the Harvester model but I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up closer to 175-200 miles.

Otherwise, it would be great to see a 150 mile and a 250 mile one as 2 options. I'm pretty much sold on BEV only but a 250 mile battery in a Harvester would force a hard look. Agreed that you wouldn't want a smaller battery option. Less than 150 miles and you will likely run into issues trying to extend your range with the harvester. So we won't be seeing that, I wouldn't think.

 

[TwoJacks]

Agree. Thinking about towing for a sec, the 500 total range seems to assume a full tank and a 100% charged up battery. Let’s say that gets cut in half towing, so you drive 200 miles or so and are close to empty in gas and maybe have 20% charge left as the battery has been maintained at least at 20% by the harvester. Then you fill the gas tank up which gets you 350 miles of range, or 175 miles towing range. Since you’re not stopping to charge as well, and the harvester just maintains the 20% charge, you’re new range here on out is 175 miles while towing. Just some food for thought. That 500 mile range really only applies if you stop to charge. On a long trip where you don’t stop to charge, the real range will be 350/175 towing, same as the BEV, minus the time it takes to charge.

 

[Timmdodge60]

Agree. Thinking about towing for a sec, the 500 total range seems to assume a full tank and a 100% charged up battery. Let’s say that gets cut in half towing, so you drive 200 miles or so and are close to empty in gas and maybe have 20% charge left as the battery has been maintained at least at 20% by the harvester. Then you fill the gas tank up which gets you 350 miles of range, or 175 miles towing range. Since you’re not stopping to charge as well, and the harvester just maintains the 20% charge, you’re new range here on out is 175 miles while towing. Just some food for thought. That 500 mile range really only applies if you stop to charge. On a long trip where you don’t stop to charge, the real range will be 350/175 towing, same as the BEV, minus the time it takes to charge.

That's about what I was predicting. And then outdoor temperature, wind, and shape of the object you're towing will skew the actual range for that trip as well.

I wonder if you will, 100% of the time, always be able to just fill up with gas and never need to recharge at the same time to keep going on that trip.

 

[TwoJacks]

That’s the big question. If the Harvester is big enough to maintain charge under normal driving, and they don’t let the battery go below 20%, then my guess is yes, you could fill up and go. Question is whether that will hold true while towing. They might try and keep the battery at 50% under towing mode in order to avoid depleting the battery while you still have gas. The complexity and permutations a a bit mind boggling, and the similar range after depleting the battery is making me ok with choosing the BEV or just sticking with a Rivian max pack. The harvester seems less appealing the more I think sbout it.

 

[dls235]

Trying to understand this gas extender, and I know there isn’t a ton of information out there. Theoretically, say I’m on a long trip across states, I could just keep refilling the gas extender to keep the battery charged, right? I know this wouldn’t give me full electric charge range, but my guess is it would give me the extended range of ~150 miles or so to keep going?

 

[Mr._Bill]

Trying to understand this gas extender, and I know there isn’t a ton of information out there. Theoretically, say I’m on a long trip across states, I could just keep refilling the gas extender to keep the battery charged, right? I know this wouldn’t give me full electric charge range, but my guess is it would give me the extended range of ~150 miles or so to keep going?

That's the general idea. Until we have the details on the generator package, how fast it will charge, and how much charge you can get from a tank of fuel, it's all speculation.