Lessons Learned on Range Anxiety

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Do you plan on driving trips or is this strictly back and forth to work?
I suspect I’ll do more than work trips but from a fundamental need it was fun exploring. Even at a $35 charge which I think is reasonable at a Tesla supercharger I could “fill up) 51 times-that’s a 12 year payback for what I’d pay for installing charger and if I planned it right-I could trickle charge twice a week overnight and still maintain plenty of range. Granted we will have either my Accord or wife’s Pilot after we get Scout (still deciding which we will keep) so we have a secondary means for travel and we are essentially empty nesting so even my accord would work for 90% of the trips we would make. Was just an interesting match equation
 
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That now has me wondering if it makes sense to even install a charger at home. I could trickle charge off the garage outlet or we have a park within walking distance that has a charger. Guess I need to do some math since I’m expecting to pay about $1800 to install a charger with panel/circuit changes and the charger unit.
We lived with a Level 1 (120 Volt) charger for about 2 years. It’s fairly easy. You do have to think about your road trips a little bit, but we did about 25,000 miles in those two years, most of it road tripping.

However, the difference between L1 and L2 (even if you just install a 240V, 20A circuit in the garage) is significant and it eases a lot of concerns about things like last-minute need to run across the state to help a family member or whatever.
L1 (120V * 12A maximum) is 1.4 kW
Slow L2 (240V * 16A) is 3.8 kW.
That cuts your charge time down quite a bit it doesn’t require much in the way of panel load.

If you have a 240V, 30A dryer outlet in the garage, then that’s even better at 5.8 kW.

Most people do not need the kind of chargers that are advertised as “necessary” for EV use.
 
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I suspect I’ll do more than work trips but from a fundamental need it was fun exploring. Even at a $35 charge which I think is reasonable at a Tesla supercharger I could “fill up) 51 times-that’s a 12 year payback for what I’d pay for installing charger and if I planned it right-I could trickle charge twice a week overnight and still maintain plenty of range. Granted we will have either my Accord or wife’s Pilot after we get Scout (still deciding which we will keep) so we have a secondary means for travel and we are essentially empty nesting so even my accord would work for 90% of the trips we would make. Was just an interesting match equation
Do you have access to a 120V outlet at or near work?
 
We lived with a Level 1 (120 Volt) charger for about 2 years. It’s fairly easy. You do have to think about your road trips a little bit, but we did about 25,000 miles in those two years, most of it road tripping.

However, the difference between L1 and L2 (even if you just install a 240V, 20A circuit in the garage) is significant and it eases a lot of concerns about things like last-minute need to run across the state to help a family member or whatever.
L1 (120V * 12A maximum) is 1.4 kW
Slow L2 (240V * 16A) is 3.8 kW.
That cuts your charge time down quite a bit it doesn’t require much in the way of panel load.

If you have a 240V, 30A dryer outlet in the garage, then that’s even better at 5.8 kW.

Most people do not need the kind of chargers that are advertised as “necessary” for EV use.
Wish I had a heavier volt outlet. I have a single 15A space left so one way or another I’d need electrical mods/upgrade beyond using the wall outlet. Shall see what I decide when time gets closer
 
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Wish I had a heavier volt outlet. I have a single 15A space left so one way or another I’d need electrical mods/upgrade beyond using the wall outlet. Shall see what I decide when time gets closer
Is that based on a load analysis or just looking at the panel and seeing a single breaker slot available?
 
Is that based on a load analysis or just looking at the panel and seeing a single breaker slot available?
It’s some of both. Couple circuits I might be able to combine based on rooms we don’t use often and I know there are alternative but one way or another I’ll need to mod the panel. Have a friend who’s electrician that did work when we extended an outside panel for swimming pool equipment and pool/storage garage.
 
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It’s some of both. Couple circuits I might be able to combine based on rooms we don’t use often and I know there are alternative but one way or another I’ll need to mod the panel. Have a friend who’s electrician that did work when we extended an outside panel for swimming pool equipment and pool/storage garage.
You could also ask your electrician friend if there are any 15A breakers on 20A-capable circuits in the garage. On newer houses, it's not uncommon for outlet circuits to have a run of 12/3 or even 10/3 even though they're attached to a 15A breaker. If there's a circuit of outlets in the garage you're willing to sacrifice to charging (i.e., disconnect all but the first receptacle on that circuit and replace the first with a 20A, 240V receptacle), you might be able to get that done for relatively low cost.
 
You could also ask your electrician friend if there are any 15A breakers on 20A-capable circuits in the garage. On newer houses, it's not uncommon for outlet circuits to have a run of 12/3 or even 10/3 even though they're attached to a 15A breaker. If there's a circuit of outlets in the garage you're willing to sacrifice to charging (i.e., disconnect all but the first receptacle on that circuit and replace the first with a 20A, 240V receptacle), you might be able to get that done for relatively low cost.
Great idea. Hadn’t thought about that. I’ve got a couple outlets so could sacrifice. Though one is for window candles which my wife loves and that is also a night time thing so might be a debate. But love the suggestion
 
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A hybrid has built in reserve if you don't use up both battery AND fuel. So if one runs out you are not stranded. And out in no man's land west of Steamboat Springs where the cattle do roam free and asking a local if you can find one to ask to plug into their house for a quick topoff will be met with the business end of a rifle having the ability to dump in the couple gallons you carried with you in Jerry cans is your only salvation.

I have run out of gas a couple of times, as did my father before me. Even if hoofing a couple miles is involved a can of gas will get you going again. If one runs an EV to zero there is no juice in a can to get you 15 more miles
You could carry one of the portable power units like Bluetti. This unit does have a 50A NEMA 14-50R outlet. The basic unit is 3000w, expandable to about 12,000w. I don’t know how feasible it would be to charge from something like this but it may be an option.
 
You could carry one of the portable power units like Bluetti. This unit does have a 50A NEMA 14-50R outlet. The basic unit is 3000w, expandable to about 12,000w. I don’t know how feasible it would be to charge from something like this but it may be an option.
I do this when I go camping or really anywhere I want to 1) not worry about a few extra miles of juice; 2) bring my fridge; 3) get a solar charge for any reason.

It’s entirely feasible. I wish I’d had the money for a unit with a 240V, 50A outlet. If I ever find myself needing to buy another one, I’ll definitely get one.

Walking two miles each way, getting gas, etc., will take a lot of people at least an hour, maybe more. A power station with a 240V, 50A outlet will provide 40A * 240V = 9.6 kW charge rate. For a 3 kWh energy storage battery, that’s about 20 minutes to empty the 3 kWh into the truck.

A truck like the Lightning can expect 2+ miles/kWh. That’s a 6 mile range put into the truck in 20 minutes.

It would take a lot longer if the unit doesn’t provide a 240 V outlet.
 
Our house rate jumps from 9.74 cents to 10.6 on 9/1. Certainly a charging station contracts for much lower, maybe 6 cents. And reselling at over 35 cents is far more lucrative scam, I mean scheme, than the approximately 7-10% profit (before expenses) on a gallon of gas. If all else where equal, cost of juice on the road should only be about 12 cents per kwh
“If wishes were fishes…”

We have a tiered pricing structure where I am. In the one month billing cycle, the first 300kw is 8.89¢/kw. The next 450kw is 10.89¢/kw. The next 1250kw is 12.89¢/kw. For summer months there is another tier for anything above 2,000kw, it’s 14.89¢/kw. There is no nighttime discount rate.

I’d be good with 12¢/kWh at a DCFC :-)
 
I will continue to say that many that get the Harvester will end up thinking they really do not need it. But, if it brings more people to the Scout brand the more the merrier!
The Harvester was a big factor in putting in my reservation, but I’ve been having similar 2nd thoughts. Who knows what battery technology, and DCFC charging, will be like in two years.
 
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I want to hear more about this!
It was a frankenstein’s monster kind of hack job.

Sometime in the early-mid 1980s, we purchased two Scout IIs from a junkyard. One had a running engine, the other wasn’t running. They were going to be used to turn one of the vehicles into a single, better vehicle. At the time I was about 7 or 8 years old and was very much into motorcycles and cars. We had a Chevy 427 engine that wasn’t running and I had been asking if I could play with making it run again.

So my dad assigned to me the job of rebuilding the engine and told me we could put it into the Scout with a bad engine. It took about a year to get the rebuild done (lots of help from family). The engine rebuild turned out decently, but the exhaust manifold leaked pretty badly. At the time you could get some kind of material like JB Weld and fiberglass and so we ended up patching the leaky exhaust manifold (we were very poor, so buying a new manifold just wasn’t going to happen). That patch wasn’t great, but it allowed the engine to maintain enough pressure to run decently.

We had to cut off the Scout motor mounts, build a new motor subframe and weld in new motor mounts. This is where I learned to gas weld. My welds were terrible and the mounts were totally wrong. They were fixed by my dad and some friends.

I don’t remember the details of mating the engine with the rest of the drive train. I believe we used the Scout transmission/transfer case, but might have had to shift it back from its original mounting location. I do remember having to change the length of the drive shaft.

In the end, we had a Scout II with a 427 motor that ran decently, but leaked exhaust, and had a rusted, hacked up floor pan so the exhaust and dust often blew right into the cab. We busted the manually-locking hubs on it at least once because of the far greater torque generated by the 427 than whatever the Scout came with originally.

I don’t think we kept it for more than about a year before my dad traded it for something else. But while we had it, we had two Scouts instead of the one originally planned.
 
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I love these stories. As mentioned I’m new to EV but have had a love for Scout for almost 36 years. I am going to convert from my hybrid Accord (my transition vehicle) to the traveler (98% sure I’ll go full EV). That said I had a crushing moment last night!
I have 3/4 acre of ground to mow with my rider so unfortunately I’m still going to have to visit a gas station periodically.
DAMN IT!!!!
Oh stop whining and get an EV lawnmower.;)