Is there anything that would make you switch from the BEV to the EREV?

[BeerParty]

I would ask to join them, but I would be a terrible addition to the team. I don't have any off-roading experience (which I plan to change after getting my Terra, but until then I am a total amateur). I don't have any automotive mechanical skills; I don't even know how to weld. I have never been to that part of the country, so I couldn't even provide local knowledge. I would probably end up a liability rather than an asset.

But it is fun to dream!

BTW - this is the video that triggered this wild fantasy:

 

[J Alynn]

I would ask to join them, but I would be a terrible addition to the team. I don't have any off-roading experience (which I plan to change after getting my Terra, but until then I am a total amateur). I don't have any automotive mechanical skills; I don't even know how to weld. I have never been to that part of the country, so I couldn't even provide local knowledge. I would probably end up a liability rather than an asset.

But it is fun to dream!

BTW - this is the video that triggered this wild fantasy:

Every team needs a liability. Then when crap hits the fan they can dump said liability

 

[dreamweaver]

Every team needs a liability. Then when crap hits the fan they can dump said liability

Call it what it is: scapegoat!

 

[eringer]

I've reserved a BEV Terra over EREV for the low maintenance and higher anticipated tow rating. But considering that's the model with the lowest pre-orders I'm concerned I'm going to be waiting years for it to hit the production line, so I'm wondering if I should go EREV just to get the truck sooner. I don't know for sure if they'll do it this way but it seems like they'd do runs of Traveler EREV -> Terra EREV -> Traveler BEV -> Terra BEV to get through the pre-orders.

I've never owned an electric vehicle, is the lack of maintenance really as wonderful as people make it out to be? Will the maintenance on the gas generator be as much as when ICE is the primary power train?

 

[J Alynn]

I've reserved a BEV Terra over EREV for the low maintenance and higher anticipated tow rating. But considering that's the model with the lowest pre-orders I'm concerned I'm going to be waiting years for it to hit the production line, so I'm wondering if I should go EREV just to get the truck sooner. I don't know for sure if they'll do it this way but it seems like they'd do runs of Traveler EREV -> Terra EREV -> Traveler BEV -> Terra BEV to get through the pre-orders.

I've never owned an electric vehicle, is the lack of maintenance really as wonderful as people make it out to be? Will the maintenance on the gas generator be as much as when ICE is the primary power train?

Haven’t had our long enough but my wife loves coming home and plugging in and not having to go to the gas station. I guess theoretically you could put 2 gallons in the EREV then charge and do majority of driving without ever firing up the generator?

 

[Hedges1]

I've never owned an electric vehicle, is the lack of maintenance really as wonderful as people make it out to be? Will the maintenance on the gas generator be as much as when ICE is the primary power train?

It kinda depends on how you define maintenance. I've had BEVs in for software glitches and recalls, etc. far more than our ICE vehicles, but there's no doubt that the daily/scheduled maintenance is pretty much ZERO.

 

[mrgold35]

I've never owned an electric vehicle, is the lack of maintenance really as wonderful as people make it out to be? Will the maintenance on the gas generator be as much as when ICE is the primary power train?

I'm thinking the EREV I.C.E. will be very similar to I.C.E., hybrid, and PHEVs (assuming timing chain and normal operation excluding heavy towing):
- once a year oil & filter change (not sure if Scout would have an oil change scheduled based on run hours and/or calendar time)
- 100,000 miles or +/-2500 hours for spark plugs
- engine air filter every 25,000-30,000 miles or +/-600 hours in normal conditions
- engine coolant every 100,000 miles or +/-2500 hours
- electric water pump at 100,000 miles or +/-2500 hours (if needed)
- valve adjustment at 100,000 miles or +/-2500 hours (if needed)
- PCV/EGR, fuel filter, Oxygen sensors, EVAP, mass air flow sensor, etc... fixed as needed

I imagine there will be similar maintenance items for the BEV and EREV like:
- brakes at +/-100,000 miles and brake fluid every 3 years
- alignments and wheel balance as needed
- electric powered A/C cooling system as needed
- any gear oil for drive units (I imagine you would need to change more often if you do a lot of towing)
- software updates (hopefully free lifetime)
- secondary coolant for DC inverter at 100,000 miles or +/-2500 hours
- cabin air filter every 1-3 years
- wipers as needed
- 12v battery maintenance (cleaning any corrosion or using a battery maintainer if the Scout sits for months)

 

[R1TVT]

Good news: Scout will be getting a huge jumpstart and advantage with Rivian's Zonal architecture in play. Scout will have a sneaky competitive advantage and take full advantage of JV. The SW built on top of this platform (at least for the BEV variant) will likely be very hardened. I would expect really solid SW out of the gate with new features to follow launch via OTA. OTA's will likely also be great. I'm not sure I would still be in the reservation queue if Scout was going to leverage VW SW.

 

[eringer]

Good news: Scout will be getting a huge jumpstart and advantage with Rivian's Zonal architecture in play. Scout will have a sneaky competitive advantage and take full advantage of JV. The SW built on top of this platform (at least for the BEV variant) will likely be very hardened. I would expect really solid SW out of the gate with new features to follow launch via OTA. OTA's will likely also be great. I'm not sure I would still be in the reservation queue if Scout was going to leverage VW SW.

I agree with you there. The Rivian JV is something that gives me confidence in this automotive incumbent-backed venture.

 

[theonetruestripes]

The SW built on top of this platform (at least for the BEV variant) will likely be very hardened.

I’m sure the Rivian VW JV will be useful for Scout, but don’t expect perfect software just because Rivian has been tinkering with it for around a decade.

For example it wasn’t until mid last year that they revisited charge curves and got so noticeable improvements in DC Fast charger charge times, esp. on the larger and smaller battery packs.

It wasn’t until deep into last winter that they stared having smart pre-conditioning for cold temperatures and overnight parking while on a AC charger. It also wasn’t until deep into last year that they added battery pack thawing to the charge UI so you could see how much time/power was going into heating battery packs that weroent’ hot enough (normally you only see that if you din’t have enough power to get to a fast charger AND preheat, but you can also get it by not mapping the way to a charger, or going to a charger the EV dones’ know about, or parking overnight close to a charger and letting it coal soak before charging in the morning).

When it changes from day to night or night to day you can see the seams where different bits of the UI change at slightly different times and speeds. No CarPlay, and in a million small ways it falls far short of CarPlay. It can’t be told to pause an audio source when the EV wants to talk at me (for example directions)

It will tell you if you are charging the non-LFP pack in a way that is long term harmful to it, but the LFP pack it doesn’t recognize when you are doing “the wrong thing” and remind or nudge you towards something better of fit long term (i.e. charge to 100% once a week or so, discharge down to at least 20% if not lower in the same time frame, and otherwise don’t charge much past 90% on the regular); I mean even just last year they had a problem where they lost calibration on the LFP packs and could run out of power without warning because of it (i.e. they showed a above 20% power left and jumped to a single digit percentage, sometimes 0%)

Granted this is probably the second best baked EV system on the market, just try not to set your expectations too high based on that!

Also the software between the R1 and R2 is far less shared then one might expect. The R1 has had a dog mode for years, the R2 was just released without a dog mode. The R2 has a lot of UI affordances to do things like move the music controls to the passenger or drive’s side (R1 has it on the passenger side), and I think the R2 can have the “quick controls menu” on either side as well (R1 is only the drive’s side).

...and on top of that the formal JV limited the software stack that got shared to a layer below both the self driving and the infotainment UX. From some of things I’ve seen it looked like the Scout got the infotainment stack, I don’t know if the JV got expanded, or if Scout has a separate deal, or if that was a temporary loan of that code to let them test the lower layers and it all has to get replaced before shipping to the customer.

 

[Mousehunter]

Future will tell. I really don't want the complexity of the EREV. Price, timing, a world of unknowns might come into play. The EREV is more stuff to deal with. I think ultimately it is a dead end. Timing is important. The EREV will make sense for 1 year, 2 years, 5 years - but eventually I don't think lugging around a 500lb engine is will remain an advantage. That said, it will depend on improvements on battery tech.

I don't think the Scout EREV will help a hell of a lot with towing - unless they change their priorities. I think 500 mile range and 15 minute charge will defeat most of the advantages of the EREV. Likewise, I think using the Ram approach is the only current answer to towing - and I don't think that is the best for 90% of usage.

 

[Hedges1]

I don't think the Scout EREV will help a hell of a lot with towing - unless they change their priorities. I think 500 mile range and 15 minute charge will defeat most of the advantages of the EREV. Likewise, I think using the Ram approach is the only current answer to towing - and I don't think that is the best for 90% of usage.

Yeah, agree that Ram EREV is the ideal setup for frequent and heavy towing. Scout though fills a good gap for those towing a sub 5,000lb adventure trailer, able to go where the vehicle can go

 

[cyure]

Yeah, agree that Ram EREV is the ideal setup for frequent and heavy towing. Scout though fills a good gap for those towing a sub 5,000lb adventure trailer, able to go where the vehicle can go

I don’t have a dog in this fight as I don’t tow, but we don’t have official numbers yet. That 5,000 number has not been finalized.

 

[Hedges1]

I don’t have a dog in this fight as I don’t tow, but we don’t have official numbers yet. That 5,000 number has not been finalized.

For sure. I bet it's North of 7k,l when all said and done - I'm just pointing out the gap this product can fill. Most legit offroad rigs are in the 3500-5000lb range. Anything bigger or smaller either can standup to the trail abuse, or can't fit