Operating Temps

[ID_ENG]

I understand that cold temps affect battery performance pretty significantly, but what is the absolute lowest temperature that Scout vehicles would be rated for?

2 winters ago I had 5 straight days of -40°F, with much longer extended periods of 0 or near/below.

And trust me, my gasoline vehicles had a hard time starting up, but they did and got me where I needed to go when I needed to get there.

 

[Czernobog]

Depends a lot on battery chemistry. I think modern NMC cells are rated down to -20C/-4F with no loss in operating capacity, whereas LFP cells at those same temps would be operating at only around 60% capacity.

At -40C/-40F there would definitely be some capacity impact even for NMC. Not certain how much, though.

I also now find myself wondering whether there could be some clever waste heat scavenging from the gas generator in the Harvester variants that could be used to condition the battery pack to help out in this regard. ?

 

[Bodie]

Depends a lot on battery chemistry. I think modern NMC cells are rated down to -20C/-4F with no loss in operating capacity, whereas LFP cells at those same temps would be operating at only around 60% capacity.

At -40C/-40F there would definitely be some capacity impact even for NMC. Not certain how much, though.

I also now find myself wondering whether there could be some clever waste heat scavenging from the gas generator in the Harvester variants that could be used to condition the battery pack to help out in this regard. ?

Nearly all EVs have battery conditioning to maintain correct temperature of the batteries. You lose range in cold (or heat) because the conditioning system is taking power from the car's battery to heat (or cool) the battery pack.

 

[Czernobog]

Nearly all EVs have battery conditioning to maintain correct temperature of the batteries. You lose range in cold (or heat) because the conditioning system is taking power from the car's battery to heat (or cool) the battery pack.

Yes, I'm aware of that. The Harvester (and the Ramcharger) offer the potential for something extra in that regard specifically when the pack temps need to be raised, though, with the ICE waste heat from the generator. Just curious if that potential advantage is feasible to be leveraged by Scout.

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

Yes, I'm aware of that. The Harvester (and the Ramcharger) offer the potential for something extra in that regard specifically when the pack temps need to be raised, though, with the ICE waste heat from the generator. Just curious if that potential advantage is feasible to be leveraged by Scout.

Anything is feasible. We will start diving deeper into the technology as more details become available.

 

[ID_ENG]

That's an interesting idea. The Harvester, could be more than just a range extender to ease the EV range anxiety. It could be some kind cold weather remote start. (Potentially)