Scout Motors Reveals Specs For BEV & EREV Models – CleanTechnica

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Last Updated on: 17th February 2025, 09:59 am

During a Motor Trend podcast on February 13, 2025, Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh shared some specs for the upcoming Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Terra pickup trucks.. One of the main things that sets Scout apart from other companies is that it plans to offer pure electric and extended range versions of its vehicles. The hybrid versions will be known as Harvester models — a nod to the roots of the Scout brand that trace back to the International Harvest Company that created the original Scout vehicles.

Keogh said the Harvesters will have a battery capacity of around 60 to 70 kilowatt-hours — about half of the 120 to 130 kilowatt-hour battery that will power the battery electric versions of Scout vehicles. The extended range Harvester vehicles will have a battery-only range of around 150 miles. That may seem a little short to some people. 130 miles from 70 kWh suggests the Scout vehicles won’t be setting any records for efficiency. Yet with a full tank of gas, they should be able to go up to 500 miles in total, which will make them one of the longest distance EREVs available in America. The Harvester EREVs will feature a four-cylinder engine that will most likely be sourced from Volkswagen to power an onboard  generator. Keogh said it’s a “good, high output four cylinder that packages well.” The engine will not have a turbocharger but will be optimized to be as efficient as possible in constant speed mode.

Keogh mentioned that the Harvester vehicles equipped with a range extender engine will feature a “creative” solution for the air intake and cooling system since the engine is located in front of the rear axle. Together with the fuel tank, they will occupy the space that would be used by the larger battery pack in the battery electric variant. This means the interior packaging will be the same between the two versions, both of which will have the same capacity in the front trunk. It seems unlikely the powertrain for use in the Scout vehicles will have much if anything in common with the plug-in hybrid system Volkswagen said it was developing a year ago.

We will need to wait for more information before we know exactly how Scout will handle the packaging issue. The parent company — Volkswagen — has already said it will pursue more plug-in hybrids as it refocuses its model lineup to better reflect market realities. It’s possible the packaging solutions used by Scout Motor could carry over to other models from the Volkswagen brand.

The BEV variant has a planned range of 350 miles on a single charge, and will also have better straight line acceleration, with an estimated 3.5 seconds needed for the 0 to 60 mph sprint. The EREV will need one second longer, according to Keogh. The two versions will also have different battery chemistries. Keogh hinted that the EREV would get a cheaper battery chemistry which would result in less power, but he didn’t go into specifics. Inside EVs speculates that it would make sense for the EREV to have a lithium-iron-phosphate battery and for the BEV to get a nickel-manganese-cobalt battery. That would leverage the strength of both battery chemistries to fit the different use cases. LFP batteries are more affordable and can be charged to 100 percent more frequently while NMC batteries have a higher energy density and are the preferred choice for the longest range and highest performance.

Both variants will have the same 2,000-pound payload capacity and their tow rating will be similar but not identical, with the extended range models preferred by those who tow over longer distances. The EREV Terra pickup will be a direct rival to the upcoming Ram 1500 Ramcharger. There may be an untapped market for extended range pickups, which could explain why Ram canceled the fully electric 1500 Rev and will only offer the range extender. No less than Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted publicly a few days ago that battery electric pickup trucks really are lousy at towing, which seems to buttress the case for trucks with both a battery and a range extender engine.

The Scout Direct Sales Model

Scout Motors says it is moving forward with its plan to cut Volkswagen dealers out and sell directly to the public á la Tesla. The dealers are hopping mad about that idea, with several in California already preparing to smack the company upside the head in court if it persists. How embarrassing for the company, then, that the fair state of Tennessee, where Scout Motors is building a $2 billion factory, prohibits direct sales. About a dozen other states also have similar bans that have been enacted at the behest of powerful dealer groups.

Scout wants to change that practice nationwide, starting with its home state of South Carolina, where lawmakers have introduced a bill in the South Carolina General Assembly proposing an amendment that would allow sales directly to consumers. According to the Associated Press, Scout is determined to get the law changed to help it as well as other EV makers like Tesla and Rivian. It has gone on a media blitz that includes stories in local outlets. Scout is also trying to secure support in a Republican dominated state with an argument that consumers should be free to buy whatever they wish directly, without a middleman. Scout says an opinion from the office of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office in the year 2000 endorses such legislation. If passed, it would represent a major overhaul to South Carolina’s laws governing car dealers and sales to the public.

“If a manufacturer cannot sell his own product, but must constitutionally pass that product through a ‘middle man,’ then our understanding of the free market system is way off base. The Internet is a worldwide web for trade, not a local instrument for protectionism,” wrote then-Republican state Attorney General Charlie Condon in the opinion. Condon’s opinion is 100 percent correct, but that counts for little when it comes to the wants and needs of powerful new car dealers. Even Tesla, which has sucked up to the great state of Texas and hailed it as bastion of liberty, is prohibited from selling its cars directly to Texans. Elon may have control over the entire federal government, but even he is impotent when when it comes to the automobile dealers in Texas. It will be interesting to see if car dealers in Tennessee can successfully oppose the move by Scout Motors to sell directly to the public.

The first vehicles from Scout Motors will roll off the assembly line in late 2026 or early 2027, so the company has plenty of time to grease the palms of state its case to the solons in the Tennessee legislature. Stay tuned for further developments.