Thinking of a looooong road trip as an intro:

[jordanlund]

I learned the other day that the longest interstate in the US is I-90, it runs from Seattle in the West, to Boston in the East, some 3,099 odd miles or so.

It runs through 13 states, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

I think this would make a heck of an intro drive, kind of like when GM hired Tim Cahill and Garry Sowerby to drive their new GMC Sierra from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as fast as they could (23 days and change).

If you want to know THAT story, check out Cahill's book "Road Fever".

This has similar potential. Is Scout interested in sponsoring something like this? Maybe start the Traveller in Seattle and the Terra in Boston and meet somewhere in the middle?

A 3099 mile drive would be a good way to show the range. (6,198 for me, because once I hit Boston, I still have to get back home!)

 

[oldgeeksguide]

I learned the other day that the longest interstate in the US is I-90, it runs from Seattle in the West, to Boston in the East, some 3,099 odd miles or so.

It runs through 13 states, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

I think this would make a heck of an intro drive, kind of like when GM hired Tim Cahill and Garry Sowerby to drive their new GMC Sierra from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as fast as they could (23 days and change).

If you want to know THAT story, check out Cahill's book "Road Fever".

This has similar potential. Is Scout interested in sponsoring something like this? Maybe start the Traveller in Seattle and the Terra in Boston and meet somewhere in the middle?

A 3099 mile drive would be a good way to show the range. (6,198 for me, because once I hit Boston, I still have to get back home!)

YouTube channel out of spec did series of long videos on this, with a bunch of ev sedans. Search for i90 surge.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Watch Long Way Up by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. In 2019 they drove two Harley Davidson Live Wire prototype electric motorcycles and their SAG team drove two prototype Rivian R1Ts up from Ushuaia, Argentina to Los Angeles, CA. 13,000 miles or so in ~100 days.

 

[R1TVT]

This was also a good effort by Rivian and an interesting off-road / trail-oriented route to cross the country:

Electrifying the TransAmerica Trail - Rivian Stories

Black Bear Pass is no joke.

stories.rivian.com

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I learned the other day that the longest interstate in the US is I-90, it runs from Seattle in the West, to Boston in the East, some 3,099 odd miles or so.

It runs through 13 states, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

I think this would make a heck of an intro drive, kind of like when GM hired Tim Cahill and Garry Sowerby to drive their new GMC Sierra from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as fast as they could (23 days and change).

If you want to know THAT story, check out Cahill's book "Road Fever".

This has similar potential. Is Scout interested in sponsoring something like this? Maybe start the Traveller in Seattle and the Terra in Boston and meet somewhere in the middle?

A 3099 mile drive would be a good way to show the range. (6,198 for me, because once I hit Boston, I still have to get back home!)

This is an interesting idea. That said, it’s 2,400 miles from my house to the Scout plant. If I take delivery at the plant, that’s far enough for my introduction.

 

[cyure]

This is an interesting idea. That said, it’s 2,400 miles from my house to the Scout plant. If I take delivery at the plant, that’s far enough for my introduction.

Okay question. I have lots of questions. I am 803 miles from the factory. I’m still not sure on going BEV just yet. So would that be 2 charging stops or 3? I keep thinking 350 miles that should just be 2 stops but then I keep hearing about only charging to 80%. So if that’s the case then that’s 3 charging stops?

 

[Scoutsie]

I learned the other day that the longest interstate in the US is I-90, it runs from Seattle in the West, to Boston in the East, some 3,099 odd miles or so.

It runs through 13 states, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

I think this would make a heck of an intro drive, kind of like when GM hired Tim Cahill and Garry Sowerby to drive their new GMC Sierra from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as fast as they could (23 days and change).

If you want to know THAT story, check out Cahill's book "Road Fever".

This has similar potential. Is Scout interested in sponsoring something like this? Maybe start the Traveller in Seattle and the Terra in Boston and meet somewhere in the middle?

A 3099 mile drive would be a good way to show the range. (6,198 for me, because once I hit Boston, I still have to get back home!)

That would be neat! I’ve driven on 90 from MA to Ohio and back (with my ex as the driver, not me), but it would be neat to do that solo or even with a buddy. Only thing that would stink is paying the tolls. In MA, it’s a toll road. I’m not sure about elsewhere in the country. There are a lot of good stops on 90, too. I’d want to stop in Chicago to eat my most favorite of all of the nation’s regional hot dogs.

 

[cyure]

That would be neat! I’ve driven on 90 from MA to Ohio and back (with my ex as the driver, not me), but it would be neat to do that solo or even with a buddy. Only thing that would stink is paying the tolls. In MA, it’s a toll road. I’m not sure about elsewhere in the country. There are a lot of good stops on 90, too. I’d want to stop in Chicago to eat my most favorite of all of the nation’s regional hot dogs.

I’m 2 hours south of Chicago. When we all start getting our Scouts we need to start having Scouts and Coffee in big cities all over the country.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Okay question. I have lots of questions. I am 803 miles from the factory. I’m still not sure on going BEV just yet. So would that be 2 charging stops or 3? I keep thinking 350 miles that should just be 2 stops but then I keep hearing about only charging to 80%. So if that’s the case then that’s 3 charging stops?

Assuming you did the drive all in one day (that’s a long day, 11 hours of freeway driving and ~1.5 hours of charging), it would be three DCFC stops. If you were a veteran EV driver, you could do it in two, but I wouldn’t recommend trying that on your very first long trip on the very first day driving an EV.

If you did the drive with an overnight stop, it would be one fast charge on day one, an overnight charge to 100%, and maybe a second fast charge on day 2.

 

[cyure]

Assuming you did the drive all in one day (that’s a long day, 11 hours of freeway driving and ~1.5 hours of charging), it would be three DCFC stops. If you were a veteran EV driver, you could do it in two, but I wouldn’t recommend trying that on your very first long trip on the very first day driving an EV.

If you did the drive with an overnight stop, it would be one fast charge on day one, an overnight charge to 100%, and maybe a second fast charge on day 2.

Thanks for that. We have done a few long driving trips so it would be different for us. Our last big one in 2023 we went Illinois to California and back. Day 1 Illinois to Colorado Springs. Stayed a couple days. Colorado Springs to Vegas. Stayed a night. Vegas to San Diego stayed a couple days. San Diego to Albuquerque stayed a night. And then we were going to stay in Oklahoma and then to Illinois and my husband said oh we can do it. Well we did it but we left at 3 in the morning from Albuquerque and got home to Illinois at 11 at night. We went through packs of mentos to keep awake just chewing on mints the last hour or so. I will never do a drive that long again.

It’s a lot to think about. The Harvester got me to make a reservation but the more I hear about limited maintenance on the BEV, the more I’m thinking BEV.

What would all of you EV owners say the learning curve is? How long did it take you to feel comfortable doing a long drive? And then the big question. Has anyone truly been out of juice so to speak and your vehicle is dead and then what? AAA can’t bring you a can of electricity.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Thanks for that. We have done a few long driving trips so it would be different for us. Our last big one in 2023 we went Illinois to California and back. Day 1 Illinois to Colorado Springs. Stayed a couple days. Colorado Springs to Vegas. Stayed a night. Vegas to San Diego stayed a couple days. San Diego to Albuquerque stayed a night. And then we were going to stay in Oklahoma and then to Illinois and my husband said oh we can do it. Well we did it but we left at 3 in the morning from Albuquerque and got home to Illinois at 11 at night. We went through packs of mentos to keep awake just chewing on mints the last hour or so. I will never do a drive that long again.

It’s a lot to think about. The Harvester got me to make a reservation but the more I hear about limited maintenance on the BEV, the more I’m thinking BEV.

What would all of you EV owners say the learning curve is? How long did it take you to feel comfortable doing a long drive? And then the big question. Has anyone truly been out of juice so to speak and your vehicle is dead and then what? AAA can’t bring you a can of electricity.

I’ve done so many road trips with pure junk vehicles that the infrastructure has never been a concern to me. I’ve often traversed deserts of the southwest with a junk vehicle that would overheat during the day so we’d drive it at night with several cans of gas in the trunk. This was before credit cards were readily available to the poor and before gas stations were 24 hours.

We did our first 1100 mile road trip (round trip) the second week we had our first EV.
My partner did her first long road trip solo a month or so after we bought the Mustang. No problems.

We’ve never run out of juice. The lowest we’ve been—not counting arriving at home—is 4%. AAA can put your car on a flatbed and tow you to the nearest charger—we’ve seen this happen several times as a tow truck brings a low-charge vehicle in to the charger where we’re charging. Ford offers in-warranty vehicle owners who run low on energy a choice between being towed home or to the nearest fast charger, whichever is closer. It would be good if Scout would offer something similar.

I have seen the learning curve be very steep and very shallow. I think it depends on the owner’s ability to embrace change. If someone is very rigid in how they do road trips and that’s based on their perceptions of what they do on gas-fueled road trips, then they might have a steeper curve to climb. But those who are flexible in their approach to road trips will have an easier time.

For example: If you’re very dependent on a schedule and you *must* arrive in particular places at particular times, then you might be frustrated from time-to-time by having to skip a charger because it’s full or it’s operating below maximum capacity, etc. But if you’re more flexible, you may find this adds to your adventure.

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Okay question. I have lots of questions. I am 803 miles from the factory. I’m still not sure on going BEV just yet. So would that be 2 charging stops or 3? I keep thinking 350 miles that should just be 2 stops but then I keep hearing about only charging to 80%. So if that’s the case then that’s 3 charging stops?

I’m not a lot of help here. I’ve never owned an EV, and if I go forward with my reservation it’s a Harvester.

 

[cyure]

I’ve done so many road trips with pure junk vehicles that the infrastructure has never been a concern to me. I’ve often traversed deserts of the southwest with a junk vehicle that would overheat during the day so we’d drive it at night with several cans of gas in the trunk. This was before credit cards were readily available to the poor and before gas stations were 24 hours.

We did our first 1100 mile road trip (round trip) the second week we had our first EV.
My partner did her first long road trip solo a month or so after we bought the Mustang. No problems.

We’ve never run out of juice. The lowest we’ve been—not counting arriving at home—is 4%. AAA can put your car on a flatbed and tow you to the nearest charger—we’ve seen this happen several times as a tow truck brings a low-charge vehicle in to the charger where we’re charging. Ford offers in-warranty vehicle owners who run low on energy a choice between being towed home or to the nearest fast charger, whichever is closer. It would be good if Scout would offer something similar.

I have seen the learning curve be very steep and very shallow. I think it depends on the owner’s ability to embrace change. If someone is very rigid in how they do road trips and that’s based on their perceptions of what they do on gas-fueled road trips, then they might have a steeper curve to climb. But those who are flexible in their approach to road trips will have an easier time.

For example: If you’re very dependent on a schedule and you *must* arrive in particular places at particular times, then you might be frustrated from time-to-time by having to skip a charger because it’s full or it’s operating below maximum capacity, etc. But if you’re more flexible, you may find this adds to your adventure.

Thank you very much. It’s a lot to consider. I am very intrigued by the BEV and for the majority of what I do it will be perfect. It’s just those one offs where I have to put some consideration into it.

 

[cyure]

I’m not a lot of help here. I’ve never owned an EV, and if I go forward with my reservation it’s a Harvester.

That’s awesome. I’m so glad they have the Harvester as a choice. It really opened it up to more people. I don’t think I would have put my reservation in if it wasn’t for it.

And I have talked about this Scout so much and how much I want one my husband said the other day oh you are getting one. He said, if anything happens to you before it comes out, he’s buying one digging me up and burying me in it! Ha!!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Thank you very much. It’s a lot to consider. I am very intrigued by the BEV and for the majority of what I do it will be perfect. It’s just those one offs where I have to put some consideration into it.

We have almost always been a 2-car family. We eased into the EV space by keeping our Tacoma when we got our Mustang. The Tacoma sat idle for so long that I needed to repair rodent-caused damage. We didn’t take it on a single road trip in more than two years. Then in April of 2024, we took the Tacoma on a road trip caravan with another family. I wanted to take the Mustang, but my partner convinced me not to for several reasons. It was a camping trip, for one, and the Mustang doesn’t have a lot of cargo space. It was a 2200 mile round trip road trip. And we’d been spoiled by the Mustang, so we were really unhappy with the gas station stops, with the performance of the Tacoma, and just in general the poor road tripping capability of the Tacoma—which is weird because previously we’d really enjoyed road tripping with it. We got home and traded in the Tacoma for the Lightning.

 

[cyure]

We have almost always been a 2-car family. We eased into the EV space by keeping our Tacoma when we got our Mustang. The Tacoma sat idle for so long that I needed to repair rodent-caused damage. We didn’t take it on a single road trip in more than two years. Then in April of 2024, we took the Tacoma on a road trip caravan with another family. I wanted to take the Mustang, but my partner convinced me not to for several reasons. It was a camping trip, for one, and the Mustang doesn’t have a lot of cargo space. It was a 2200 mile round trip road trip. And we’d been spoiled by the Mustang, so we were really unhappy with the gas station stops, with the performance of the Tacoma, and just in general the poor road tripping capability of the Tacoma—which is weird because previously we’d really enjoyed road tripping with it. We got home and traded in the Tacoma for the Lightning.

Actually that’s the most helpful info of all I think.

Our other car is a Toyota Supra and then my kids both have Hyundais that are ICE so we do have options. I have 3 years to make up my mind and I’m sure I will change it many times between now and then. I appreciate the assistance. I’m sure I will have many more questions!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Actually that’s the most helpful info of all I think.

Our other car is a Toyota Supra and then my kids both have Hyundais that are ICE so we do have options. I have 3 years to make up my mind and I’m sure I will change it many times between now and then. I appreciate the assistance. I’m sure I will have many more questions!

Any time.

Also, since you brought up AAA:
The proportion of AAA roadside assistance calls for EVs is less than for non-EVs.
Only 6% of EVs on the road required a call to AAA for help while 10% of AAA members with gas vehicles called for assistance. Most of the EV calls were for tire problems, not low battery.

In 2023, AAA provided roadside assistance to 160,000 EVs in the U.S., representing a 180% increase from 2019, according to data shared with TIME. The majority of those cases involved tire damage. But those very big numbers are actually very small numbers. Overall last year [2023] in the U.S., the organization serviced more than 32 million vehicles at the roadside. “At the moment, EVs still represent less than 1% of the vehicles on the road, and a half a percentage point for events that we conduct,” Brannon says.

 

[cyure]

Any time.

Also, since you brought up AAA:
The proportion of AAA roadside assistance calls for EVs is less than for non-EVs.
Only 6% of EVs on the road required a call to AAA for help while 10% of AAA members with gas vehicles called for assistance. Most of the EV calls were for tire problems, not low battery.





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That’s very helpful info too.

Which brings up another question. Tire wear. If I go with 35s they aren’t going to be cheap to replace. Now I know there’s less maintenance with an EV, but how often are you replacing tires on your EVs.

Told you, lots of questions!

 

[R1TVT]

Assuming you did the drive all in one day (that’s a long day, 11 hours of freeway driving and ~1.5 hours of charging), it would be three DCFC stops. If you were a veteran EV driver, you could do it in two, but I wouldn’t recommend trying that on your very first long trip on the very first day driving an EV.

If you did the drive with an overnight stop, it would be one fast charge on day one, an overnight charge to 100%, and maybe a second fast charge on day 2.

Yes, this. When you are road tripping it likely to be a faster trip if you stop to charge within the fastest part of your charging curve, and that usually means stopping between 10-20%SOC and charging to 80% or so, then repeat. We'll also need to see what the actual charging curve for the Scout looks like, but I would imagine that it will be pretty flat in the range based on battery type.

 

[cyure]

Yes, this. When you are road tripping it likely to be a faster trip if you stop to charge within the fastest part of your charging curve, and that usually means stopping between 10-20%SOC and charging to 80% or so, then repeat. We'll also need to see what the actual charging curve for the Scout looks like, but I would imagine that it will be pretty flat in the range based on battery type.

Okay this is gonna sound nuts but you know how when you buy a new appliance they have a quick start guide. For us newbies we need a Scout quick start guide with FAQs. A BEV or EREV for dummies so to speak.

And by the way I really appreciate all the info. I ask an insane amount of questions when going into something new like this. I want to make sure I really understand what I’m getting into so I can head off any pain points.