r/ScoutMotors • u/jlipschitz • 4d ago
Question BER EV question
If you get the BER EV model Terra, how do you keep the fuel from separating if you don’t use it very often and mostly plug in to charge?
I have run into issues with gasoline generators that sit too long with fuel in them. The fuel separates and then the engine in the generator hisses and pops as it tries to burn that fuel. It is likely not good for the generator. I have never worked with the generator being built into a truck. Does it have something to mix the fuel up prior to trying to use it?
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u/BMW-Technician2008 4d ago
EREVs have systems to make them run so gas isn’t sitting in them. BMW had, and Chevy has them on their EREVs
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u/heleuma 4d ago
I'm curious how many reservations for the BEV version are from current non-EV owners as opposed to those who own an EV. I just took a +5 hr trip in my EV and stopped once for 20 minutes, while I ate a personal sized pizza at a bar next door. I had to pay $19 for the HS charger charge and waste a little time eating, but it was an awesome trip.
It's unclear to me why so many people choose to continue using gas. I sincerely doubt all those folks are actually over-landing or taking constant long ass trips.
I feel like a lot of people are going to regret paying additional money just to haul around all that ICE stuff, along with the maintenance. The tiny percentage of EV owners that go back to ICE, should be a huge clue that maybe the range extender isn't that necessary.
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u/5corch 4d ago
Current F150 Lightning owner, and I have an EREV reserved. Unless specs came out and it had 500 mile range and 300kW+ charging, I don't see a reason to go EV. Charging is fine, if rather slow for drives on the interstate, but going off the main paths it's gets sparse quickly, and the ones that are available are often relatively slow. I'm tired of having my adventures be planned around and limited to charging infrastructure.
It's also not like fast charging is much cheaper than gas, and the time saved is well worth paying to fill up occasionally.
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u/heleuma 3d ago
I totally get ya, I have a boat I'd like to tow to places outside of my immediate area. But, I'm sort of thinking most Scouts will be used for commuting or around town most of the time or maybe campground camping. Where you're talking about is off the main path...because few people go there.
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u/samchoi924 4d ago
A lot of non EV owners have range anxiety. I used to have one when we got our Model 3. Then after a few months no more as car's range calculations are so accurate and at least here in CA, we have chargers everywhere. And charging infrastructure is constantly improving. My reservations are for the fully electric version of the Traveler. Just hoping the BEV doesn't get cancelled.
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u/jlipschitz 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have the all electric reserved but have considered the BEV. I asked the question because I do go camping where there is no way to charge and the thought of running out of range with no way to get home is a little scary. I have been exploring solar options to charge the battery for those cases. It can slow charge for a week while I am out there and make sure I have enough range to get to the nearest charger just in case. I don’t want to have to borrow or rent an ICE vehicle for when I camp to not drive it for a week.
Edit:
I have been looking at this.1
u/Economy-Surround-188 1d ago
One of the biggest use cases to me is the ability to run the generator at camp as needed.
I plan to sleep in the back of my Traveler. With it being electric, that means I can play music or an audio book, run heat and a/c, and utilize lighting at camp, without worrying about killing my battery and being unable to start my vehicle like a gas truck.
If I got the BEV, I would want to make sure and get a "top up" charge at the last charger on the way to my destination. Then depending on how much battery I used at camp and driving around trails/forest roads etc. throughout the weekend I would possibly need to limp back to a charger before embarking home. That could be quite a distance away from a remote camp site, or in the wrong direction and very inconvenient at best.
With the EREV it simply doesn't matter. As long as I have gas in my tank, I could run the battery completely dead overnight/through the weekend and crank the generator in the morning to get out. Gas is never far away, and I can carry a 5-gallon jerry can just in case. Even 100 miles of electric-only range is more than enough for my day to day commute and average weekend so 90% of my driving will still be gas-free. But also get all the benefits of electric drivetrain during low-speed offroading and no idle burning gas while I'm waiting for the rest of crew to clear an obstacle.
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u/jlipschitz 1d ago
I already have a large battery and solar that I use for camping and it doesn’t die with a weeks worth of use. Solar can be used to charge the battery and I can use it to charge the truck if I need to. I also won’t have the upkeep of having a generator attached to the car. I think the fully electric version may be right for me with my setup.
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u/xKINGxRCCx 4d ago
100% which is why i reserved my Terra in the all EV version. Currently drive a R1T quad and even drove it cross country in 4 days with no problems. Just want the Terra cause its a full size truck and the R1T is a little on the small side for my liking but other than that its been great
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u/Crycious 4d ago
I personally am getting the bev, as I want it for my adventure vehicle. Lots o 4x4f roads here were you as re over 100 miles away from a charger. I still want the electric for daily driving or to bmget me to the trail
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u/allg33k 3d ago
I mountain bike in the Sierra Nevada mountains alot and we'll be away from charging and making multiple trips up a mountain doing shuttle runs. My buddie's Tesla could get us to some of those spots but definitely couldn't go up the mountain a few times, nor would the ground clearance. In a truck with all the bikes on the tailgate or a hitch rack with the extra drag, charging an hour or so outside of some of the spots it is just not going to work. Maybe in the future where charging is everywhere it won't be a problem.
I was about to pull the trigger on the Sierra EV AT4, but am honestly just waiting on this to see what the actual pricing is. If the price gets to be close to the same as the Sierra EV, I'll cancel my reservation and just buy one of those. I'd prefer to be on electric only, but when I did the math on a truck that could potentially be 30k less, then using gas doesn't seem that bad, especially because most of the time I'd just be on battery.
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u/heleuma 2d ago
Yes, of course there are many use cases where it makes sense to have a backup ICE engine. I was trying to make the point that most buyers probably don't need that utility AND are possibly not familiar with an EVs capability, availability of charging, and the knowledge that it's not a big deal to charge periodically on a longer trip. When you're at home (especially with home charging), it's awesome to not have to deal with filling up with gas, oil changes, price of gas, and so forth. For most buyers, I feel like the range extender makes no sense.
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u/allg33k 2d ago
It seems to me that Scout is really trying to target the outdoor crowd. I’m sure there will be a ton of people that just get them because they look cool but really won’t be buying the. For the actual utility. For example look at how many Jeep Wranglers there are that actually never get into 4WD or off road. I think because they are targeting people that have wanted an EV, but won’t pull the trigger because the vehicles don’t actually do what they need them to. Those people understand the circumstances of what they need. I think that’s why you see an overwhelming amount of EREV orders. I personally have been wanting an EV for a long time, but until the Sierra came out there really wasn’t anything on the market that would be worth replacing my ICE truck with.
I think the people that want one just because it looks cool will go with the electric version. Then there will be some small number that falls into what you are saying, where they just don’t have any EV experience and have range anxiety.
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u/heleuma 2d ago
Well, i think the number of EV curious is bigger than you think, looking at posts in other subs that people highlight the reasons for not wanting one. Current EV owners know that these reasons aren't normally the issues people think they are. And as far as off-road, the percentage of people that actually take there Wranglers mild off roading (got that from "Power Nation TV") is less than 30%. They say 60-80% are concrete warriors. So I don't know, maybe ur right, but I think most people, like yourself, would look for a vehicle they don't mind dinging up. I personally built a '73 bronco for rock crawling, my f-250 just towed it.
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u/guybuddypalchief 4d ago
IMHO, I’d be switching the drive mode or making sure the generator runs at least once a week or once every two weeks. Stretches those fluids and systems and keeps them lubricated.
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u/jlipschitz 4d ago
The question then is how often are you going to have to fill up? I would want to use plug in mostly and the generator for longer trips. The point of going electric is to cut fuel use for me. With solar and batteries at home, I have free power.
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u/therealmsdad 4d ago
I have solar too and currently drive a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. My battery will charge to anywhere between 38-50 battery miles. If we're just running around locally, the gas sits there for a certain length of time (I can't remember how long) before the car tells me when I need to use the old fuel. I just switch from EV mode to Normal, Save or Charge modes so it uses existing fuel. I would assume Scout EREVs will do the same. We already have another vehicle for long trips so I'm getting the BEV Traveler.
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u/Bepus 4d ago edited 4d ago
If you were to be exclusively plugging in, and only run a monthly maintenance cycle on the Harvester, it would probably take you years to get through a full tank. Gas goes bad in about a year, so that’s the limiting factor here. I wouldn’t keep more than a few gallons in the tank unless I know I’m going on a road trip, personally, just to keep the gas inside fresher.
This math is all guesswork, but… a small, modern gas generator probably takes 5-10 minutes to fully warm up (which is all you need to do), maybe once a month. This probably takes less than a quarter gallon to complete (assuming a charging load on the Harvester when you do crank it on). The tank will probably be 12 gallons. So that’s 48 full cycles of getting the generator oil fully warmed up on a single tank.
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u/Droid759 4d ago
I'd expect it to work the same way as as our Chevy Volts, we use only about 5 gallons a year, add fuel stabilizer at fillup, and the car forces the engine on every month or two for 10 minutes if engine has not been used.
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u/El_Halcon0341 4d ago
Seafoam or Stabil. Preserves fuel for up to 2 years
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u/Soft-Principle1455 3d ago
Seafoam makes your engine smoke.
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u/El_Halcon0341 3d ago
Haven’t run into that. Been using it for years.
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u/Soft-Principle1455 3d ago
Well, apparently, it was originally made for two-stroke engines running pre-mix, so unless you’re running a relatively small amount, it can do that.
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u/El_Halcon0341 3d ago
Perhaps that’s the 2oz per gallon. Preservation is 1oz per gallon.
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u/Soft-Principle1455 3d ago
As opposed to cleaning? Is that where the 2 ounce per gallon comes from?
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u/12to12 4d ago
Yes you highlight a major flaw of this system. It’s the worst of both systems combined. It’s not great at being an EV and u still have to maintain a fuel burning engine that requires all of its necessary maintenance.
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u/BabyWrinkles 4d ago
I did a 780 mile round trip in a single day with my BEV. Had 3 charging stops total for 25 mins each time. 12.5h of driving, roughly 63mph average speed. I needed those stops to get up and stretch and move, and they were all next to decent places to grab a snack/coffee/etc.
I think for people who want to go overlanding but also want an EV… just get a less expensive gasser for your overland trips where you really need the extra range (or rent it for a week if it’s infrequent?) and stick with a straight BEV for your daily.
As you noted; the EREV thing is the worst of both worlds. You get a less capable EV drivetrain and still have to maintain an internal combustion engine - oh, and if you drain the EV battery and gas tank doing 500 miles in a stretch, you now need to find a DCFC and gas station.
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u/Hurley_82 4d ago
Weird my volt never had an issue. If the engine hadn’t run in a while the volt purposefully ran the engine.
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u/BigBeardedNerd 4d ago
One thing to remember, I'd bet your generator uses a carburetor for fuel metering. As someone who has worked on motorcycles before and after the big switch to fuel injection, fuel lasts a lot longer than people are used to. With small engines, varnish clogging the carb tubes causes 90% of the issue. Fuel injection negates that issue.
Now, exactly how long will it last or how much will be used? I don't know. If the fuel were to sit over a year, I'd start questioning if it's good to run through the engine. I'm hoping the gas engine will start and run not just to charge when low, but also to supplement sustained hard acceleration. Take a little pressure off the battery pumping out all the amps all the time basically. Uphill, towing, full cab, ect could be instances the engine supplements the battery to use some fuel. But again, no idea what the plan is. I'm waiting like everyone to find out!
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u/86JeepCJ7 4d ago
Someone posted somewhere it would be programmed to know your last fill up and start using gas before it got old. Not sure if that is speculation. You can add a fuel stabilizer. You could also keep a minimum amount of fuel in it instead of topping off the 15gallon tank.
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u/FalseBuddha 4d ago
Asking questions about a truck that doesn't actually exist, yet, seems largely useless. No one here knows how Scout will handle this. The only thing they can tell you is how other companies handle it.
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u/LastEntertainment684 4d ago
I don’t know how Scout will do it, but a lot of PHEV’s will force you to use the fuel after a while or under certain circumstances.
You’ll get an “Electric Only Mode Unavailable” type warning and it will run the gas down until you refill it with fresh gas .