Non-Scientific Science

[pwrofgrayskull]

These guys have fun videos and I thought some of you here might get something out of this particular one. There’s not really any actual science going on and it’s all lighthearted fun, but for me there were a few takeaways and I even learned a couple of things.

 

[Scoutsie]

That was pretty fun! I was a little worried four minutes in after seeing some buttcracks, like oh no where is this all going, but yeah, it did indeed pay off. Thanks for sharing this!

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

That was pretty fun! I was a little worried four minutes in after seeing some buttcracks, like oh no where is this all going, but yeah, it did indeed pay off. Thanks for sharing this!

I must’ve blocked that part out due to trauma. Say no to crack, kids!!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

There's some slight misinformation about the destination chargers and their compatibility. Their adapter looked like it was for DC charging only, not AC charging. It wasn't the charger or the vehicle, it was the adapter. I'm betting that was mentioned in the YT comments too.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

There's some slight misinformation about the destination chargers and their compatibility. Their adapter looked like it was for DC charging only, not AC charging. It wasn't the charger or the vehicle, it was the adapter. I'm betting that was mentioned in the YT comments too.

Good catch! Yes, I did see that mentioned in the comments.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

Alright…anybody else give the video a watch by now? I’m surprised nobody mentioned the whole tow charging thing or the death of a 12 volt battery system. I thought for sure there’d be some discussion surrounding those at the very least.

The whole tow charging situation even made me think of RVing…specifically flat towing possibilities… I don’t know, probably not realistic, but maybe to some degree depending on the combo of hardware and software and the capability of the tow vehicle? Just got me thinking I guess.

 

[Scoutsie]

Alright…anybody else give the video a watch by now? I’m surprised nobody mentioned the whole tow charging thing or the death of a 12 volt battery system. I thought for sure there’d be some discussion surrounding those at the very least.

The whole tow charging situation even made me think of RVing…specifically flat towing possibilities… I don’t know, probably not realistic, but maybe to some degree depending on the combo of hardware and software and the capability of the tow vehicle? Just got me thinking I guess.

People are monsters. I thought tow charging was dang interesting and not something I’d ever considered, but it make sense. You got friction, you got charge. I don’t remember the 12v dying… was that the Rivian or the Cybertruck?

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

People are monsters. I thought tow charging was dang interesting and not something I’d ever considered, but it make sense. You got friction, you got charge. I don’t remember the 12v dying… was that the Rivian or the Cybertruck?

That was on the Rivian. Kind of a bummer, seems like they need to have a redo on the whole trip.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I think they made a bunch of mistakes that were relatively easy to avoid if they had taken the time to consider before hitting the road. Some examples:
The Rivian can be tow-charged (best to do it at <3 mph). It requires an active driver in the Rivian.
The low-voltage battery was likely damaged by them and that's why it failed.
They had the wrong adapters.

That said, there are rental car companies throwing EV fobs at unsuspecting drivers without any kind of education and I've run into some of those poor souls on the road. It's unfortunate because there are things that need to be done differently with an EV vs an ICE. While adapting is relatively easy and simple, it's not always obvious.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Flat towing a Scout behind an RV would require mechanically disengaging the motors--none of the EVs on the road (that I am aware of) have the capability to completely disengage the motors from the wheels. This would be an entirely new advancement in EV capabilities and I really hope Scout makes this possible.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

Flat towing a Scout behind an RV would require mechanically disengaging the motors--none of the EVs on the road (that I am aware of) have the capability to completely disengage the motors from the wheels. This would be an entirely new advancement in EV capabilities and I really hope Scout makes this possible.

I hope they do as well.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

I think they made a bunch of mistakes that were relatively easy to avoid if they had taken the time to consider before hitting the road. Some examples:
The Rivian can be tow-charged (best to do it at <3 mph). It requires an active driver in the Rivian.
The low-voltage battery was likely damaged by them and that's why it failed.
They had the wrong adapters.

That said, there are rental car companies throwing EV fobs at unsuspecting drivers without any kind of education and I've run into some of those poor souls on the road. It's unfortunate because there are things that need to be done differently with an EV vs an ICE. While adapting is relatively easy and simple, it's not always obvious.

Well yes - but I’m more interested in the aftermath, how they dealt with it, what worked and what didn’t, and how the two vehicles performed in similar circumstances because that’s the kind of real-world information that we often don’t see shared around. I didn’t really get the impression they were trying to ensure a 100% smooth trip. I think it was more like let’s see how these vehicles perform, how they differ, where the limits are, etc. I mean they were traveling with a flatbed tow truck in the group, right? Perfect opportunity to find limitations and solutions.

Tow charging a Rivian below 3 mph sounds the same as unable to tow charge to me. There aren’t very many situations where you could do that safely and the returns sound minimal and time-consuming.

I agree that education is key and that’s one of the reasons I’m here. We can all learn something new each day, right?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I hope they do as well.

Note: I never intend to flat tow my vehicles, so it's not about a personal need for me. I just think the other benefits that come from the option to disengage the motors are worth it (for example, going into true 2wd mode for highway driving).

 

[Chuckles]

Can You Flat Tow EVs to Recharge Them? Yes, but There Are Asterisks​

https://www.motortrend.com/features/how-to-flat-tow-recharge-electric-vehicles/

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

Note: I never intend to flat tow my vehicles, so it's not about a personal need for me. I just think the other benefits that come from the option to disengage the motors are worth it (for example, going into true 2wd mode for highway driving).

Thank you for adding that note, so very true. The same goes for me most likely as I do not currently have a tow vehicle to flat tow with anymore. While I’m not ruling it out at some point again in the future, I doubt that I could/would afford a motorhome with a sufficient tow capacity for a new Scout.

However, I agree that there are other benefits that would come along with this feature that I absolutely would make use of.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Well yes - but I’m more interested in the aftermath, how they dealt with it, what worked and what didn’t, and how the two vehicles performed in similar circumstances because that’s the kind of real-world information that we often don’t see shared around. I didn’t really get the impression they were trying to ensure a 100% smooth trip. I think it was more like let’s see how these vehicles perform, how they differ, where the limits are, etc. I mean they were traveling with a flatbed tow truck in the group, right? Perfect opportunity to find limitations and solutions.

Tow charging a Rivian below 3 mph sounds the same as unable to tow charge to me. There aren’t very many situations where you could do that safely and the returns sound minimal and time-consuming.

I agree that education is key and that’s one of the reasons I’m here. We can all learn something new each day, right?

The 3mph is Rivian's suggestion.

I think you can get away with up to 25 mph or so without too much trouble, for short periods of time. Some people have charged their Teslas at much higher speeds. I don't have that kind of money where I'm willing to risk a high speed tow charge.

Even at low speeds, the Rivian can charge pretty quickly. The reason to keep it at a low speed is to avoid overheating the inverters since the normal cooling system won't be operating. I would be perfectly willing to tow charge my Lightning if I ran out of juice and had someone around to tow the truck. The places where this is likely--for me--are in the boondocks, so I'm not worried about the low speeds for tow charging. If I run out on the freeway, I'm going to call a tow truck.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

Can You Flat Tow EVs to Recharge Them? Yes, but There Are Asterisks​

https://www.motortrend.com/features/how-to-flat-tow-recharge-electric-vehicles/

Very interesting read, thank you for sharing as I had not run across this one yet.

Flat-tow charging with the Rivian in reverse. I mean it still makes sense, but parts of me puckered on reading that.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

There's a lot of swearing and etc in this video, so viewer be warned.

Tow charging R1T/R1S

(27) Real World Rivian Range Test // When It Dies It Dies - YouTube He had some trouble with this entire concept when the battery was totally dead, which is very important information to this process. If you are at 0 and nowhere near a charger... stop and get tow charged while you can, or you...

www.rivianforums.com

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

There's a lot of swearing and etc in this video, so viewer be warned.

Tow charging R1T/R1S

(27) Real World Rivian Range Test // When It Dies It Dies - YouTube He had some trouble with this entire concept when the battery was totally dead, which is very important information to this process. If you are at 0 and nowhere near a charger... stop and get tow charged while you can, or you...

www.rivianforums.com

I appreciate the warning. I’ll check it out later tonight when young eyes and ears are asleep and in a different room, thanks.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

There's a lot of swearing and etc in this video, so viewer be warned.

Tow charging R1T/R1S

(27) Real World Rivian Range Test // When It Dies It Dies - YouTube He had some trouble with this entire concept when the battery was totally dead, which is very important information to this process. If you are at 0 and nowhere near a charger... stop and get tow charged while you can, or you...

www.rivianforums.com

Well I guess that again confirms the whole “for best results, tow charge in reverse at full throttle”.

So I guess since zero is zero in the Rivian, they should have made sure to leave a little charge as to not kill everything and then try tow charging in reverse. Would be interesting to see. Also to see how it compares to what they did with the Cybertruck since that seemed to work so well.