Harvester - assumptions vs. reality - seeking to know more

[239 and dream of 828]

When I reserved one of each model, I selected the harvester in both as I understood it to be a range extender. I didn't know how it might work in the real world. I assumed that when the battery got low, say less than 20%, the gas motor would kick in to charge the battery. What I've read recently suggests it may not work that way. The speculation is that what it can produce in real time is less than the consumption, so the gas motor will kick in way earlier, maybe at 60% charge, to get you to the higher end of the full projected range. If that is the case, and we keep these charged at 80%, we'll constantly be refueling the Scouts.

This will effectively function as a hybrid. Is this true? And if so, will early reservation holders get more info to inform them which version they want? I may choose to go just BEV vs. the EREV and keep my ICE car for the road trips. Given that something like 80% of reservations included the gas extender, this could cause many to rethink and lean toward BEV-only.

I've owned two model S, an X, and a Rivian R1S. I'm used to the BEV, but liked the extender option, so I chose it at the time of reservation.

 

[maynard]

When I reserved one of each model, I selected the harvester in both as I understood it to be a range extender. I didn't know how it might work in the real world. I assumed that when the battery got low, say less than 20%, the gas motor would kick in to charge the battery. What I've read recently suggests it may not work that way. The speculation is that what it can produce in real time is less than the consumption, so the gas motor will kick in way earlier, maybe at 60% charge, to get you to the higher end of the full projected range. If that is the case, and we keep these charged at 80%, we'll constantly be refueling the Scouts.

This will effectively function as a hybrid. Is this true? And if so, will early reservation holders get more info to inform them which version they want? I may choose to go just BEV vs. the EREV and keep my ICE car for the road trips. Given that something like 80% of reservations included the gas extender, this could cause many to rethink and lean toward BEV-only.

I've owned two model S, an X, and a Rivian R1S. I'm used to the BEV, but liked the extender option, so I chose it at the time of reservation.

Welcome to the community!
Search harvester on this forum and you’ll find an abundance of information and opinions…
I think your assumptions will get adjusted…

 

[cyure]

When I reserved one of each model, I selected the harvester in both as I understood it to be a range extender. I didn't know how it might work in the real world. I assumed that when the battery got low, say less than 20%, the gas motor would kick in to charge the battery. What I've read recently suggests it may not work that way. The speculation is that what it can produce in real time is less than the consumption, so the gas motor will kick in way earlier, maybe at 60% charge, to get you to the higher end of the full projected range. If that is the case, and we keep these charged at 80%, we'll constantly be refueling the Scouts.

This will effectively function as a hybrid. Is this true? And if so, will early reservation holders get more info to inform them which version they want? I may choose to go just BEV vs. the EREV and keep my ICE car for the road trips. Given that something like 80% of reservations included the gas extender, this could cause many to rethink and lean toward BEV-only.

I've owned two model S, an X, and a Rivian R1S. I'm used to the BEV, but liked the extender option, so I chose it at the time of reservation.

Welcome to the community. As @maynard stated if you search Harvester you will find a lot of info. And if you refine your search a little bit more and look for posts that include Harvester that were written by @Jamie@ScoutMotors that will get you info from a Scout Motors representative. What you are describing is not how I have understood the Harvester to work.

Welcome again!

 

[strider]

I am going from memory but I think it's in the old Jay Leno video with Scott, he said that you will be able to choose how you want the system to run. You can tell it to use electric as much as possible (EV mode) so it will wait until a very low SOC before firing the engine, you can have it keep the battery topped off if you're towing and expect to need extra juice for hills (or want to have a full battery when you get to a campsite/jobsite for powering things), or you can leave it in automatic and let the vehicle decide.

You are correct that the generator by itself will not be able to fully power both motors but you shouldn't need that unless you are towing uphill. So if you leave it in EV mode and it runs the battery down and fires the generator you will still be able to drive it, just not at max performance.

I am sure we will get the details as we get closer to launch.

 

[cyure]

I am going from memory but I think it's in the old Jay Leno video with Scott, he said that you will be able to choose how you want the system to run. You can tell it to use electric as much as possible (EV mode) so it will wait until a very low SOC before firing the engine, you can have it keep the battery topped off if you're towing and expect to need extra juice for hills (or want to have a full battery when you get to a campsite/jobsite for powering things), or you can leave it in automatic and let the vehicle decide.

You are correct that the generator by itself will not be able to fully power both motors but you shouldn't need that unless you are towing uphill. So if you leave it in EV mode and it runs the battery down and fires the generator you will still be able to drive it, just not at max performance.

I am sure we will get the details as we get closer to launch.

That’s the same thing I’m remembering. It was either the Jay Leno video or one of the CES videos.

 

[Mousehunter]

Originally, the generator was being sized to maintain highway cruising speed while not towing. Now the odds are there would be a little excess - but the amount of excess was never discussed, but since the amount of power to maintain speed is dependent on a lot of factors, it just seems reasonable that they would have some overhead in their calculations.

So I am not disputing "it will not be able to fully power the motors", but simply pointing out that the motors should not need to be fully powered a lot of the time. Most of the time, the batteries will handle surges (and to some extent regen will help recharge them after surges). I also suspect that unless the user specifically chooses an EV only mode, the normal driving modes will retain enough reserve in the battery for it to perform the surge functions - as if the battery gets too low, the vehicle will be in limp mode.

Of course, it will be a long time before we get exact details of how the various driving modes will effect when the generator is running. My guess is the 500 mile range will drain the battery to the point that you will need both gas and recharge to continue your trip, with other mode options that reduce total range (by starting the generator earlier), but leave you with a battery that can continue to function after refueling with gas only.