First, let's review battery basics, as I understand them: for optimal daily use, electric vehicles (EVs) are generally recommended to stay within an 80% maximum State of Charge (SOC) and avoid consistently dropping below a 20% minimum SOC.
To maximize the longevity of an electric vehicle's battery, a practical guideline is to consider approximately 60% of the battery capacity as the usable range for daily driving. This stems from adhering to an 80% SOC upper limit for and avoiding consistently dropping below a 20% SOC, which minimizes battery stress and degradation.
Realistic Driving Use Case
With an effective 60% SOC window the Harvester's 150-mile range translates to roughly 90 miles of usable range. This effectively addresses the daily driving needs of average commuters, as urban commuters typically travel 20-30 miles round trip (leaving approximately 65 miles of extra range) and rural commuters travel 40-60 miles (leaving around 40 miles of extra range).
For longer journeys, the Harvester's ability to add 300 miles (stopping at 1/6 tank remaining) of range (23.3 MPG) is invaluable. Considering that the average long-distance family road trip is roughly 750 miles (per ChatGPT), and the Scout with the Harvester can travel approximately 390 miles before refueling, a single 15-gallon refill extends the range to 690 miles, enabling completion of the average road trip with just two stops.
However, range is significantly impacted when towing a trailer. According to ChatGPT, towing at 70% of a vehicle's maximum capacity can reduce range by approximately 40%. This would decrease the EV range to around 55 miles and the gasoline range to 175 miles (accounting the same 1/6 remainder stop), resulting in a total of 230 miles per cycle. Therefore, completing a 750-mile trip would require refueling the Harvester approximately four or five times, considering that only 175 miles of range are added with each gasoline refuel.
In contrast, a Ford F-150 with a 3.5L EcoBoost engine achieves an estimated 22 MPG on the highway and has a 36-gallon fuel tank, translating to a towing range of nearly 395 miles per refueling stop (stopping at the same 1/6 tank remainder). This enables the F-150 to complete the same 750-mile trip with half (or fewer) the refueling stops compared to a Scout Terra equipped with the Harvester while towing.
All of this is to say that the 15-gallon proposed gas tank size is severely inadequate for real world towing applications. To be comparable, the Harvester needs an optional 25-gallon or larger tank. The 25-gallon tank option would raise the initial range to nearly 600 miles useable, which competes with similar trucks in the segment. Furthermore, it increases the standard towing refuel range from 175 (abysmal) to nearly 300 miles (acceptable). Bigger would still be preferred personally.
Generator Use
It's hard to speculate how long the Harvester would last in generator mode without further details, but let's do some shade tree math here. A 10kW gasoline generator uses about 2.5 gallons of fuel per hour at full load. According to ChatGPT, the average single occurrence power outage is roughly 2.5 hours, allowing the 15 gallon tank to be adequate (only used 6.25 gallons). However, in coastal areas power outages can be upwards of 72 hours due to large storms. With an upgraded 25-gallon tank, the homeowner (or renter) would have 10 hours of uninterrupted service, enough to sleep through the night comfortably (the 15-gallon tank only provides 6 hours).
To maximize the longevity of an electric vehicle's battery, a practical guideline is to consider approximately 60% of the battery capacity as the usable range for daily driving. This stems from adhering to an 80% SOC upper limit for and avoiding consistently dropping below a 20% SOC, which minimizes battery stress and degradation.
Realistic Driving Use Case
With an effective 60% SOC window the Harvester's 150-mile range translates to roughly 90 miles of usable range. This effectively addresses the daily driving needs of average commuters, as urban commuters typically travel 20-30 miles round trip (leaving approximately 65 miles of extra range) and rural commuters travel 40-60 miles (leaving around 40 miles of extra range).
For longer journeys, the Harvester's ability to add 300 miles (stopping at 1/6 tank remaining) of range (23.3 MPG) is invaluable. Considering that the average long-distance family road trip is roughly 750 miles (per ChatGPT), and the Scout with the Harvester can travel approximately 390 miles before refueling, a single 15-gallon refill extends the range to 690 miles, enabling completion of the average road trip with just two stops.
However, range is significantly impacted when towing a trailer. According to ChatGPT, towing at 70% of a vehicle's maximum capacity can reduce range by approximately 40%. This would decrease the EV range to around 55 miles and the gasoline range to 175 miles (accounting the same 1/6 remainder stop), resulting in a total of 230 miles per cycle. Therefore, completing a 750-mile trip would require refueling the Harvester approximately four or five times, considering that only 175 miles of range are added with each gasoline refuel.
In contrast, a Ford F-150 with a 3.5L EcoBoost engine achieves an estimated 22 MPG on the highway and has a 36-gallon fuel tank, translating to a towing range of nearly 395 miles per refueling stop (stopping at the same 1/6 tank remainder). This enables the F-150 to complete the same 750-mile trip with half (or fewer) the refueling stops compared to a Scout Terra equipped with the Harvester while towing.
All of this is to say that the 15-gallon proposed gas tank size is severely inadequate for real world towing applications. To be comparable, the Harvester needs an optional 25-gallon or larger tank. The 25-gallon tank option would raise the initial range to nearly 600 miles useable, which competes with similar trucks in the segment. Furthermore, it increases the standard towing refuel range from 175 (abysmal) to nearly 300 miles (acceptable). Bigger would still be preferred personally.
Generator Use
It's hard to speculate how long the Harvester would last in generator mode without further details, but let's do some shade tree math here. A 10kW gasoline generator uses about 2.5 gallons of fuel per hour at full load. According to ChatGPT, the average single occurrence power outage is roughly 2.5 hours, allowing the 15 gallon tank to be adequate (only used 6.25 gallons). However, in coastal areas power outages can be upwards of 72 hours due to large storms. With an upgraded 25-gallon tank, the homeowner (or renter) would have 10 hours of uninterrupted service, enough to sleep through the night comfortably (the 15-gallon tank only provides 6 hours).
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