How flat towing should work in a perfect world....if Scout makes it a feature.

[tech-no-mad]

Scout should build the entire system for flat towing from the 2" receiver hitch back. I assume there is a chance that maybe the front and rear motors could be disconnected if there are mechanical lockers. Even if that's the case, or if it's not here is how flat towing should work. There should be inertial sensors in place that senses the Scout is being towed. The Scout should then provide supplemental power to its own drive terrain to assist the towing vehicle. Mapping could and should be built into the Scout app so that while towing you can have the app up on a phone or tablet mounted in your RV. The mapping would assist in making more intelligent decisions for when to regen, assist, and coast. Flat towing brake systems are essentially using inertia to sense when to break already so it should be feasible to do it in the vehicle itself without more hardware pushing the brake pedal. The last most important piece is that even if Scout doesn't use mapping for anything else, it should at least be aware of your final destination so that when you have arrived for the night the Scout has regen'd the last several miles to a reasonably usable level between 60 and 80 percent. I think this is all possible, but it comes down to how many people will use it. Right now Jeep is by far one of the most popular brands for flat towing and being able to achieve this to compete with them would be huge.

 

[ID_ENG]

I personally feel hesitant to put all kinds of smarts and logic into the flat towing. Mainly out of ignorance. But the ability should be there to flat tow for sure. And I dunno if regen breaking is needed or simply in flat tow mode the rolling wheels simply produce the energy.

 

[vmikee]

I love this concept. My Nexus Viper 25V is limited to 7500 lbs towing, but I wouldn't want to tow anything that high. Having the towed vehicle provide some relief from the towed weight is a great idea, especially for hills. I currently flat tow a 2 door Jeep Wrangler and am really hoping Scout figures out a way to make Scout the preferred EV TOAD for RV'ers. Even if it's just a neutral mode that allows flat towing which most EVs don't have. I'd also really like to see it with a built in base plate for being towed. It looks to me like the recovery points on the current front bumper concept should be close, just need some optional mount points for the chains and wiring for lights. I use the recovery points on an OR-FAB aftermarket bumper on my Jeep to connect the tow bar to now.

 

[tech-no-mad]

I personally feel hesitant to put all kinds of smarts and logic into the flat towing. Mainly out of ignorance. But the ability should be there to flat tow for sure. And I dunno if regen breaking is needed or simply in flat tow mode the rolling wheels simply produce the energy.

Even if they can do a full mechanical disconnect, you'd then have to add supplemental braking by law. Having the Scout be able to do the braking itself would be ideal. But the solution no matter what it should be top to bottom Scout and not a 3rd party tow bar and 3rd party brakes. If they can't do a mechanical disconnect, they'd need to manage regen of the batteries for the same reason when an electric vehicle is towing a trailer you shouldn't start with 100% charge if you have hills in the near future of a trip. You could disable regen before you descend, but you're still putting energy back into the motor and battery. This is why the Rivian tow charging is only an emergency maneuver and not a regular option. That said, I agree that the simpler the better and I'm sure someone smarter than me is working on it.

 

[tech-no-mad]

I love this concept. My Nexus Viper 25V is limited to 7500 lbs towing, but I wouldn't want to tow anything that high. Having the towed vehicle provide some relief from the towed weight is a great idea, especially for hills. I currently flat tow a 2 door Jeep Wrangler and am really hoping Scout figures out a way to make Scout the preferred EV TOAD for RV'ers. Even if it's just a neutral mode that allows flat towing which most EVs don't have. I'd also really like to see it with a built in base plate for being towed. It looks to me like the recovery points on the current front bumper concept should be close, just need some optional mount points for the chains and wiring for lights. I use the recovery points on an OR-FAB aftermarket bumper on my Jeep to connect the tow bar to now.

I tow a 4 door JL behind our RV. The only reason I keep the Jeep at this point is flat towing. I'm using a Blue Ox bar and tow points from Maximus 3 which makes the connection much more integrated. The wiring for brake and tail lights is a whole other ball of wax to consider on your own if Scout doesn't integrate it and if they are using Rivian's modules and tech, it own't be easy.