Charging while driving…Wild, irresponsible speculation...

[LastDayScout]

Tried and true rear suspension for solid axles and offroad capability would be a separate shock and coil spring setup.

Coilovers are more complex, and expensive. They also need a lot of room to have meaning amounts of travel. My buddy has King coilovers on his Dana 60 swapped GX470. We had to cut the body in the rear passenger compartment to let the struts stick about 12” into the cargo area.

It’s possible, but not likely.

Coil spring buckets are easy to swap air bags into and you can use the same shocks for coil spring and air spring models.

Maybe a 5 link setup to keep it all together?

I think the concept of BEVs being less complex and requiring little to no maintenance is something ICE folks just aren’t aware of.

Most of it comes down to people wanting to be able to fix them if they break down on the side of the trail. Not necessarily wanting to do their own maintenance.

I opened the hood of a few TRD Pro Sequoias I test drove and WOW. They really have gone in a completely different direction. Even the non-hybrid engines are absolutely crammed in there with pipes and hoses running everywhere. You can’t even see a valve covers anymore without tearing into a spaghetti of coolant and oil lines.

There is literally no way I could get into one and pull the spark plugs or swap a water pump without spending most of the day taking things off and making a mess.

It will come down to educating the customers on why EVs are less likely to fail and have less things to go wrong off grid. A lot of that crowd leans conservative and does not like EVs since it is viewed as a political issue. But if you can just focus on the advantages and how they will make life easier for them they may come around.


They need to bring back that FJ Yellow they had years ago. But they seem to be in their earth tone era.

There is our little ray of sunshine!

Great point. Toyota dealerships here are really bad about that. They barely have any new cars on their lot and want a premium on all of them.

There will definitely be an advantage to the direct sales model for us with Scout.

I will echo the maintenance reduction with a real world example. I have had my BMW iX since February of 2023. It has 44,943 miles on it as of this moment. I have changed tires once, changed wiper blades once, flushed and refilled the brake system once, cabin filter twice and added about 5 gallons of washer fluid since I have owned it. That is it.

 

[BeerParty]

That is way too reasonable for this thread.

Remember, the OP said "wildly irresponsible ideas for EVs." You can't just go and hijack a thread like this with a suggestion like park-and-charge. We need ideas on how to take advantage of connecting power from the trailer to the truck when it is driving. And, if by some miracle we can come up with an actual use case, maybe someone will work on the engineering to provide that connection. But I'd rather see unreasonable suggestions - they are a lot more fun!

I am the OP!

Well then, double shame on you!

 

[J Alynn]

Had a thought for charging stations. I generally don’t stop at the Sonic drive-in restaurant but damn-they are all but screaming to have chargers at some of their stalls. Pull up, plug in, order food and dine in your car while it charges. Want to really go big-do induction at the spaces when building new restaurants. Just think it would be a great tie in with SM and the nostalgia or original scouts with drive-in restaurants would be cool-IMO

 

[Chavannigans]

Had a thought for charging stations. I generally don’t stop at the Sonic drive-in restaurant but damn-they are all but screaming to have chargers at some of their stalls. Pull up, plug in, order food and dine in your car while it charges. Want to really go big-do induction at the spaces when building new restaurants. Just think it would be a great tie in with SM and the nostalgia or original scouts with drive-in restaurants would be cool-IMO

Thats actually..... a really good idea.

 

[BeerParty]

Had a thought for charging stations. I generally don’t stop at the Sonic drive-in restaurant but damn-they are all but screaming to have chargers at some of their stalls. Pull up, plug in, order food and dine in your car while it charges. Want to really go big-do induction at the spaces when building new restaurants. Just think it would be a great tie in with SM and the nostalgia or original scouts with drive-in restaurants would be cool-IMO

You should send this suggestion to Sonic. I would send it to them, but it is your idea so you should get the credit. Because it is a great idea!

 

[LastDayScout]

Had a thought for charging stations. I generally don’t stop at the Sonic drive-in restaurant but damn-they are all but screaming to have chargers at some of their stalls. Pull up, plug in, order food and dine in your car while it charges. Want to really go big-do induction at the spaces when building new restaurants. Just think it would be a great tie in with SM and the nostalgia or original scouts with drive-in restaurants would be cool-IMO

 

[Chavannigans]

In the same vein.

Older Drive In Theaters could probably have a resurgence if each spot had an EV charger.

People could sit in their frunks and have a few drinks while they watch a movie and leave with a charged car.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Even indoor movie theaters should install 60kW DC and 12-20 kW L2 charging stations.

 

[BeerParty]

Older Drive In Theaters could probably have a resurgence if each spot had an EV charger.

People could sit in their frunks and have a few drinks while they watch a movie and leave with a charged car.

Chargers at drive-in theaters is a great idea! And, they would not need to be DC fast chargers, they could be Level 2 chargers (so a lot cheaper for the drive-ins to install). Since you are going to be there for at least 2 hours, 4 hours for a double feature, a level 2 charger would be able to add quite a bit of charge while you were watching the movie. As long as the theater did not have to charge too much for the charging session, I can see this being a great draw for the theaters.

My town has a drive-in, I wonder what sort of pay-for-service level-2 chargers are available and how much they would cost to install?

 

[LastDayScout]

Even indoor movie theaters should install 60kW DC and 12-20 kW L2 charging stations.

Basically, every parking lot should have chargers. It just makes sense.

 

[Chavannigans]

Basically, every parking lot should have chargers. It just makes sense.

I agree, but it would be awesome for longer engagements. Like sit down restaurants, pubs, breweries, movie theaters, hospitals, malls, etc.

Venues and destinations where people are spending a minimum of an hour or two.

Places like grocery stores need faster charging speeds to be worth it IMO since those tend to be shorter engagement's.

 

[J Alynn]

Even indoor movie theaters should install 60kW DC and 12-20 kW L2 charging stations.

That is another great opportunity

 

[J Alynn]

Chargers at drive-in theaters is a great idea! And, they would not need to be DC fast chargers, they could be Level 2 chargers (so a lot cheaper for the drive-ins to install). Since you are going to be there for at least 2 hours, 4 hours for a double feature, a level 2 charger would be able to add quite a bit of charge while you were watching the movie. As long as the theater did not have to charge too much for the charging session, I can see this being a great draw for the theaters.

My town has a drive-in, I wonder what sort of pay-for-service level-2 chargers are available and how much they would cost to install?

Love the idea but most of the drive ins in PA have closed. Kinda a bummer. They were fun when I was a kid

 

[Chaz26]

Love the idea but most of the drive ins in PA have closed. Kinda a bummer. They were fun when I was a kid

We still go to the one over in Dillsburg, I think that's the only one in the local area. If they added level 2 charging there it would be even better. Was great in my Tesla last time we went as we were sitting out on our chairs and a storm rolled in so we could just sit in the car with the ac on and watch it that way without having to worry about draining the low voltage battery running climate and radio etc.

 

[J Alynn]

We still go to the one over in Dillsburg, I think that's the only one in the local area. If they added level 2 charging there it would be even better. Was great in my Tesla last time we went as we were sitting out on our chairs and a storm rolled in so we could just sit in the car with the ac on and watch it that way without having to worry about draining the low voltage battery running climate and radio etc.

I didn’t know there was one in Dillsbirg. Thanks for letting me know. My uncle used to live there and in-laws are in Mechanicsburg so would be willing to head that way. Central PA scouts will all have to meet up there after we all have them and fill a whole row up running the Scouts like you said

 

[bwdavis7]

just sit in the car with the ac on and watch it that way without having to worry about draining the low voltage battery running climate and radio etc.

Wait...what? I need help understanding from you guys with EVs. I know some or all auxiliaries run on the low voltage battery, but is it not maintaining its charge from the high voltage or are there certain modes that would drain your 12v battery?

 

[Cranky Canuck]

Wait...what? I need help understanding from you guys with EVs. I know some or all auxiliaries run on the low voltage battery, but is it not maintaining its charge from the high voltage or are there certain modes that would drain your 12v battery?

The auxiliaries typically run on the 12V system but yes, the high voltage traction battery does charge and maintain the 12V battery through what they call a "DC-to-DC inverter". Basically it's a device that converts the high voltage to 12V.

Most cars run that device whenever needed to charge the 12V whether or not the car is "on" or "off". Most won't run the Air Conditioning system though unless they're put into a "camping" or "auxiliary" mode. They usually automatically turn off or go into standby after a certain amount of time unless they're in that mode.

 

[Chavannigans]

The auxiliaries typically run on the 12V system but yes, the high voltage traction battery does charge and maintain the 12V battery through what they call a "DC-to-DC inverter". Basically it's a device that converts the high voltage to 12V.

Most cars run that device whenever needed to charge the 12V whether or not the car is "on" or "off". Most won't run the Air Conditioning system though unless they're put into a "camping" or "auxiliary" mode. They usually automatically turn off or go into standby after a certain amount of time unless they're in that mode.

Forgive my ignorance, but could you theoretically charge the high voltage system by tying an auxiliary battery or solar controller to the 12v low voltage battery and charge the high voltage battery with that DC to Dc inverter?

 

[Cranky Canuck]

Forgive my ignorance, but could you theoretically charge the high voltage system by tying an auxiliary battery or solar controller to the 12v low voltage battery and charge the high voltage battery with that DC to Dc inverter?

In a word, no. The traction battery has it's own charge controller, the DC to DC inverter only goes one direction as far as I understand it. To charge the traction battery you'd need to either provide it with either a 120V or 240V AC source through it's charging connector or a DC source at a suitable voltage (typically between 400V and 800V DC) through the charging port.

Some cars have little solar panels designed to keep the 12V system topped up but they don't charge the high voltage traction battery. Cars like the Hyundai/Kias that offer vehicle to load capabilities use the charge controller to provide AC power from the charging port so some cars have bi-directional chargers but they don't use the DC to DC inverter to do that. From what I understand those only work in one direct, from high voltage to low.

 

[Chavannigans]

In a word, no. The traction battery has it's own charge controller, the DC to DC inverter only goes one direction as far as I understand it. To charge the traction battery you'd need to either provide it with either a 120V or 240V AC source through it's charging connector or a DC source at a suitable voltage (typically between 400V and 800V DC) through the charging port.

Some cars have little solar panels designed to keep the 12V system topped up but they don't charge the high voltage traction battery. Cars like the Hyundai/Kias that offer vehicle to load capabilities use the charge controller to provide AC power from the charging port so some cars have bi-directional chargers but they don't use the DC to DC inverter to do that. From what I understand those only work in one direct, from high voltage to low.

Dang. I appreciate the reply but thats a bummer.