Harvester Selection -- use the gas engine to keep the batteries close to fully charged?

[Chuckles]

What I don't understand is why they opted for a gas engine vs a diesel. Diesel has a greater energy density which would equate to a longer range. Also, since the generator is not propelling the car you could legally run this on off road diesel. Or at minimum have an option that allows you to turn off the generator and enable it once you were off road. Seems like a diesel option would have gotten the range to between 550 to 600 miles.

Dieselgate. Plus, diesels are more expensive, heavier, and noisier.

 

[Rocket13foxtrot]

You'll figure it out. Even if you have to pull over for a minute to let the generator do its thing or find an actual charging station... You have double the options that a vehicle with only gas or electric powertrain has.

 

[bababooey]

legally run this on off road diesel. Or at minimum have an option that allows you to turn off the generator and enable it once you were off road.

You also have to remember this thing has to be sold in California, which is still the largest EV market by a mile. CARB has been pretty clear about its stance on diesel in light-duty vehicles, and they’ve already approved rules that phase out the sale of new gas and diesel generators in RVs starting in 2028. Even though those rules don’t technically apply to an EREV range extender, they show the general direction CARB is pushing. Building a truck around a diesel generator would be swimming directly upstream against California compliance and would make it much harder to sell nationwide.

 

[Goose]

You won't want the batteries constantly stored at the very top end of the charge. Depending on the chemistry used for the Harvester versions (most likely LFP) you will experience degradation much more rapidly than if you store the vehicle at 70-80%. When I say "store the vehicle", I don't mean you leave it for days on end, I just mean day to day activity.

The other side is since LFP batteries have very little voltage drop during discharge, you're going to want to let the BMS discharge the battery, then let the generator charge it back up. The BMS needs to go through cycles to correctly show your range.

 

[colinnwn]

So i didn't see page two before writing most of this since the link defaulted to page one.

Two reason... Dieselgate and total cost.

It is not legally clear that a manufacturer installed generator in a series hybrid can bypass emissions regulations for motor vehicles. Depending on the federal and California administrations if Scout's lawyers were pretty convinced they win, the regulations could get flipped on them and could require expensive lobbying and time to deal with. I will be flabbergasted if the generator isn't fully motor vehicle emissions compliant.

Also if I had a choice between the two I would pick gasoline without a second thought. I don't want to deal with the extra purchase expense or maintenance or expense of repair of a diesel.

If I used the Scout for a business like hot shotting where I could fully write off the costs against revenue is the only way I would buy any diesel.

 

[bpdougd]

In 2015 I bought a brand new Ram 1500 with the 3.0 liter diesel. Fuel economy was excellent (20 city, 32 highway hand calculated) with the OEM tires. Hated having to go run it “at highway speeds) every few hundred miles to avoid clogging up the DPF (and going into limp mode necessitating a trip to the dealer.)

Early 2016 I got a tune (GDE if that matters) and the regens stopped. Much better. Wasn’t the end of the problems though.

-Lift pump, covered under warranty
-EGR cooler, covered under recall
-HPFP, covered under recall
-Engine oil cooler, on my dime
-Leaking coolant tube (to the turbo), also on my dime

My point in this too-long post is that modern light duty diesels aren’t worth the extra cost or the operational headaches. So, I agree, the gas “generator” is a better choice. FWIW, I still have the truck. Past couple of years have been solid.

 

[Schubie]

In 2015 I bought a brand new Ram 1500 with the 3.0 liter diesel. Fuel economy was excellent (20 city, 32 highway hand calculated) with the OEM tires. Hated having to go run it “at highway speeds) every few hundred miles to avoid clogging up the DPF (and going into limp mode necessitating a trip to the dealer.)

Early 2016 I got a tune (GDE if that matters) and the regens stopped. Much better. Wasn’t the end of the problems though.

-Lift pump, covered under warranty
-EGR cooler, covered under recall
-HPFP, covered under recall
-Engine oil cooler, on my dime
-Leaking coolant tube (to the turbo), also on my dime

My point in this too-long post is that modern light duty diesels aren’t worth the extra cost or the operational headaches. So, I agree, the gas “generator” is a better choice. FWIW, I still have the truck. Past couple of years have been solid.

Agreed. As much as my 3.0L TDI doesn't owe me anything at 320K+ mi, it wouldn't be happy sitting for days/weeks between EREV cycles. It's hard enough to keep the SCR system running trouble-free as a daily driver...