- The resurrected Scout Motors plans to build trucks and SUVs with electric or range-extended powertrains
- CEO Scott Keough says buyers overwhelmingly want the engine
Scout Motors, an icon of 1960s and ’70s off-road culture, will return to the market for the 2027 model year.
The company, now a subsidiary of Volkswagen, plans to build a midsize SUV called the Traveler and a midsize truck called the Terra. Each will be offered as a pure electric vehicle (EV) or with a range-extending gasoline engine.
Buyers have expressed a strong preference. Scout CEO Scott Keough tells Bloomberg, in an interview, “The market has spoken. Over 80% of the reservations are for the range extender.”
An extended-range electric vehicle (sometimes abbreviated “E-REV”) uses electric motors to drive its wheels, but also has a gasoline engine that serves solely as a generator to increase range. Owners plug them in to recharge for around-town trips and use gasoline on longer journeys.
Scout hasn’t released specifications for its vehicles, but industry rumors suggest they’ll get about 150 miles of range on electricity alone. A small 4-cylinder engine from parent company Volkswagen will recharge them on the go for trips longer than that.
Keough said demand may not mean the company rushes the engine-equipped versions to market. “Both of them are being developed, and both of them can be handled at the manufacturing line,” he told Bloomberg.
Scout is accepting reservations for both with a refundable $100 reservation fee.
