Extra, Extra....Read All About It!

[Harris005]

I didn’t think about how many people suck at parking! That’s a great point. These articles are like puzzle pieces and clues. Although many automotive innovations and experiments never get off the drawing board. I wonder though if some sort of wireless charging might be good for say an entire parking lot. ICE cars and EVs (that accept wireless) wouldn’t have to compete for spaces. It seems that it might even be more reliable. I have gone to many public charging stations that have broken plugs, cables, main screens, whatever…. If it were embedded in the paving it might not suffer the same wear and tear. I dunno

"embedded in the paving" is where my mind wondered a while back after listening to a podcast on "Parking". Sounds boring, but it was actually an interesting take on something you might not give much thought to. One thing that stood out to me in the podcast was the talk of EV's joining in to the parking discussion, and specifically the up hill battle many city residents have with being able to charge their cars at their own homes. I myself never really thought much about it because it would be a simple charger installed in my garage parking space. However, a lot of home owners/renters only option for parking is along the curb in front of their home. Then I started thinking that a charging post at each curb stall would be quite ugly. .....I wonder if the wireless charging capabilities, embedding in the pavement, could be a solution?

The "have you watched people park?" @Chaparral mentioned above is a great point too! I few ideas to throw at that to overcome this issue:

1. The embedded port in the pavement is smooth and flush (no actual plug in) and contains alignment magnets
2. The EV pulling over this port has a downward facing camera that comes on in parking mode. The camera view has alignment cross hairs, which turn green when the vehicle is close enough.
3. Upon putting the car in park, the charging cord on the underside of the vehicle extends downward, but has some flexibility back and forth due to hanging down from a single charging cable.
4. The magnets from both port ends finalize the needed alignment for a solid connection.

This would work with any new construction garages as well, doing away with the current trip hazard cord. As well as keeping our beautiful, older neighborhoods less congested with charging stations popping up at every curb stall.

 

[Jim Nichols]

Developer Of Aluminum-Ion Battery Claims It Charges 60 Times Faster Than Lithium-Ion, Offering EV Range Breakthrough

The graphene aluminum-ion battery cells from the Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) are claimed to charge up to 60 times faster than the best lithium-ion cells and hold more energy.

www.forbes.com

 

[ScoutScribe]

"And he’s less shy about exactly how not to restore a Scout, lessons learned when he sent his own truck to a shop in Iowa, spent thousands on a restoration, and then received a semi-complete heap of cobbled-together parts that simply wouldn’t run right. "

Is he talking about Super Scout Specialists or Anything Scout?

Super Scout Specialists is not in Iowa.

 

[IdahoJOAT]

Super Scout Specialists is not in Iowa.

Ah so Anything Scout then?

 

[ScoutScribe]

Ah so Anything Scout then?

Can't say, there are two places in Iowa.

 

[IdahoJOAT]

Can't say, there are two places in Iowa.

Lol you're being quite cryptic good sir.

 

[R1TVT]

If SCOUT'S designer is saying it will have a differential, then that answers the question about motors. The Scout will likely be a two motor design, which is not surprising, and aligns with function, efficiency and cost savings. 2 motor EV's can have excellent performance for doing Scout things.

 

[Mousehunter]

I agree with you when looking at current batteries BUT future battery chemistries will be smaller/lighter/more energy dense and will make something like a roof cell or “jerry cans” workable solutions to extend range. Setting up the computer to accept charging while driving as an option would be forward thinking.

Not to get off topic, but I was following an EV SxS (offroad golf cart? that was designed to look kind of like a baby Jeep CJ). Their renderings looked like they made a pack of 4680 cells and stuffed them into a Jerry Can. IIRC they were 7Kwh and about 50lbs (or roughly the same weight as a full Jerry Can). In a tiny light SxS they could get about 35 miles per can (and the vehicle was wired for 2 cans-if you wanted a second one). That would be like carrying a 1 gallon gas can for Jeep sized EV. Normally not practical, but plenty of people have used them to get to the next gas station... Would be nice if you could rent one if you ran out of electricity I guess. But I don't know how many people would want to pay $2k for a 1 gallon can of gas. (it would be funny if it became a standard though - might power your electric lawnmower...

 

[J Alynn]

We tossed this idea around early on for the new Scout but those who know the tech side said you wouldn’t get much range on a full sized,3000 pound vehicle. I still think Scout should get a vehicle patent or lock down the idea for a passenger vehicle so that when batteries do get small enough the Jerry can would be available. But as you said, that’s an expensive add to a vehicle for minimal range extension

 

[Ecca]

We tossed this idea around early on for the new Scout but those who know the tech side said you wouldn’t get much range on a full sized,3000 pound vehicle. I still think Scout should get a vehicle patent or lock down the idea for a passenger vehicle so that when batteries do get small enough the Jerry can would be available. But as you said, that’s an expensive add to a vehicle for minimal range extension

Absolutely, range extension never made any sense for that.

The only thing that would have worked in that whole discussion was using a portable battery pack for stuff like recharging your phone while camping without walking back to your car. Use the huge battery to recharge the portable one, and take advantage of the portability of it.

Like those portable power stations:

At that point you might as well just get a portable power station and then plug it into the Scout. Which means the real feature there would be having outlets in the car.

I guess with the 'jerry can' idea there could be some arguments made for the potential of DC-DC fast charging of the portable pack instead of having to go through two power inverters. There's also the benefit of "putting it away" and "plugging it in" being the same thing without separate steps if there's a special spot to mount it, and the novelty of the portable power station being styled like a jerry can.

future battery chemistries will be smaller/lighter/more energy dense

Real issue here is the relative size of the jerry can vs the main battery pack. Improving energy density means a range extender should be less necessary, and a jerry can will always be tiny compared to a car.

 

[J Alynn]

Absolutely, range extension never made any sense for that.

The only thing that would have worked in that whole discussion was using a portable battery pack for stuff like recharging your phone while camping without walking back to your car. Use the huge battery to recharge the portable one, and take advantage of the portability of it.

Like those portable power stations:
View attachment 1591
At that point you might as well just get a portable power station and then plug it into the Scout. Which means the real feature there would be having outlets in the car.

I guess with the 'jerry can' idea there could be some arguments made for the potential of DC-DC fast charging of the portable pack instead of having to go through two power inverters. There's also the benefit of "putting it away" and "plugging it in" being the same thing without separate steps if there's a special spot to mount it, and the novelty of the portable power station being styled like a jerry can.


The issue here isn't so much the energy density as it is the relative capacity of the vehicle's primary battery vs an extender. If future battery chemistries improve, then the range of the vehicle can already be extended and extra capacity is less necessary, and an additional cell sized like a jerry can would still be tiny in comparison to the rest of the battery anyway.

But there would then be a market for that too for the adventures who want to go ALL weekend without re charging. We are a country of hoarders and ‘want-mores’ so there would ALWAYS be people who think the 750 mile range isn’t enough and an 80-90 range extension would be necessitated in their minds

 

[Ecca]

But there would then be a market for that too for the adventures who want to go ALL weekend without re charging. We are a country of hoarders and ‘want-mores’ so there would ALWAYS be people who think the 750 mile range isn’t enough and an 80-90 range extension would be necessitated in their minds

750:80-90 mile ratio still misjudges the scale of that relative difference between jerry can and main pack. A generic EV battery pack (like an 80 kWh sedan, not even a truck) could easily weigh 1,000+ lbs, perhaps up to 1,600 lbs. The range extension you mention is like 12% of the whole pack, which is like 3x the weight of a full 5-gallon jerry can at the absolute minimum, and around 200 lbs at the upper end of the estimate.

So to market to the want-mores, engineers would be using a bigger main battery rather than try to strap an extra fully grown adult to the back or roof of the vehicle.

A jerry can situation would be more like a want-more trying to add an additional 10-20 miles of range to the 750. Even as a last resort to barely make it to a charging station, all the engineers would do is implement software that says empty when it still has 10-20 miles range left, and then an "emergency" mode that gives it that extra bit of distance.

Best case is the vehicle could get an extra droplet of range from the jerry can as a secondary feature next to the primary purpose of portable power. Regardless, the only thing that really justifies engineering it is the portable power.

 

[Harris005]

750:80-90 mile ratio still misjudges the scale of that relative difference between jerry can and main pack. A generic EV battery pack (like an 80 kWh sedan, not even a truck) could easily weigh 1,000+ lbs, perhaps up to 1,600 lbs. The range extension you mention is like 12% of the whole pack, which is like 3x the weight of a full 5-gallon jerry can at the absolute minimum, and around 200 lbs at the upper end of the estimate.

So to market to the want-mores, engineers would be using a bigger main battery rather than try to strap an extra fully grown adult to the back or roof of the vehicle.

A jerry can situation would be more like a want-more trying to add an additional 10-20 miles of range to the 750. Even as a last resort to barely make it to a charging station, all the engineers would do is implement software that says empty when it still has 10-20 miles range left, and then an "emergency" mode that gives it that extra bit of distance.

Best case is the vehicle could get an extra droplet of range from the jerry can as a secondary feature next to the primary purpose of portable power. Regardless, the only thing that really justifies engineering it is the portable power.

Maybe a different way of looking at it would be a digital Jerry can icon on the touch screen. 20% battery life is held back until the driver clicks and confirms to access that saved battery, which would update your extended, estimated range. Maybe this if found within a "Trail Mode" screen??

 

[difficulTT]

Rivian had patented an auxiliary battery pack back in 2019...haven't heard much about it since.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/37583...e-bed-mounted-battery-pack-for-extended-range

 

[Ecca]

Rivian had patented an auxiliary battery pack back in 2019...haven't heard much about it since.

look at the size of that! Much more in line with what I'd expect for a range extender.

 

[difficulTT]

look at the size of that! Much more in line with what I'd expect for a range extender.

I think I remember conversations about being able to rent one for the weekend to go off-roading, camping etc..., however, that could be wishful thinking on my part

 

[Mousehunter]

Honestly, it is a whole lot of engineering to be able to get a few miles. Given the relative power of the battery to the size of the vehicle, it would be a huge C draw, probably need active cooling, etc... The only "easy" way to do it would be using the onboard charger and a portable battery station with an inverter. Kind of surprised nobody has already built that (a portable power station in a Jerry Can). It would never drive the car, but might give you enough juice to charge (over a few hours) so you can limp to a nearby charging station - plus it is still a portable power station (which check, even a 3.6kwh portable power station weighs in about 100lbs).

On the flip side, I bet someone makes a storage unit that looks like a Jerry Can - keep your air or recovery supplies in it. Get the look and a decent use of space.

 

[Ecca]

Honestly, it is a whole lot of engineering to be able to get a few miles. Given the relative power of the battery to the size of the vehicle, it would be a huge C draw, probably need active cooling, etc... The only "easy" way to do it would be using the onboard charger and a portable battery station with an inverter. Kind of surprised nobody has already built that (a portable power station in a Jerry Can). It would never drive the car, but might give you enough juice to charge (over a few hours) so you can limp to a nearby charging station - plus it is still a portable power station (which check, even a 3.6kwh portable power station weighs in about 100lbs).

On the flip side, I bet someone makes a storage unit that looks like a Jerry Can - keep your air or recovery supplies in it. Get the look and a decent use of space.

Absolutely, that's a whole other reason the jerry can wouldn't be effective. Although I can't imagine it'd be set up to operate independently of the main battery when acting as a reserve if used for propulsion. The BMS would have to treat the jerry can as a segment of the main battery, and the extra engineering would be to regulate the voltage to match other sets of cells. It'd still be completely silly no matter how it was done.

If there was an auxiliary battery that small, I'd only expect it to be for the lights, infotainment, audio, windows, etc.

I bet someone makes a storage unit that looks like a Jerry Can

That makes more sense to me.

Or if someone wanted to continue the original spirit of a jerry can = portable energy (without actually making it into a battery pack), then an extension cable reel to provide power to other electronics or a level 1 charger with a long cable tucked in a can would be close.

 

[LastDayScout]

Scout Motors Traveler SUV: everything we know so far — Digital Trends

Another electric SUV is on the way. Volkswagen Group has announced that it's bringing back the Scout name for the new Scout Motors Traveler SUV.

apple.news

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

Scout Motors Traveler SUV: everything we know so far — Digital Trends

Another electric SUV is on the way. Volkswagen Group has announced that it's bringing back the Scout name for the new Scout Motors Traveler SUV.

apple.news

Some outlets will use an SEO trick with google search engines where they change the publish date of an old story to a more recent date. Google gives more weight to recent articles more than older articles. That's why you suddenly see a story with a new publish date that you feel like you've read before.