‘You Don’t Hear It, You Don’t Feel It’

When Scout begins producing the Terra truck and Traveler SUV in a few years, it’ll likely have a critical component from Volkswagen Group. The revived brand will offer range-extended versions of its models, with an engine that charges the battery. Scott Keogh, Scout’s CEO, told Edmunds that it’ll probably source it from somewhere within the German automaker.

The brand has time to finalize those details before production kicks off in 2027. The brand showed off its first two models last October, a stylish pickup and SUV, after a 44-year hiatus. The revived carmaker will build them on a proprietary body-on-frame platform with a battery of up to 350 miles of range.

The engine, which Scout will tune to act as an efficient generator for the battery pack, will increase the vehicle’s range to more than 500 miles, according to Keogh. It’ll sit behind the rear axle at the back of the truck, far away from the driver, and its modular design will allow Scout to install them as needed.

“It’s so far away you don’t hear it, you don’t feel it, so you still get the sensation of driving a quiet, small electric vehicle,” strategy head Ryan Decker told Edmunds.

Scout sourcing its range extender from VW Group is an obvious choice for the brand. VW acquired the rights to the Scout name in 2021 through its Traton subsidiary after it completed its merger with Navistar, the previous rights holder. VW announced plans to revive the Scout brand in May 2022.  

The automaker hasn’t provided any concrete details about the electric powertrain yet, but claims its EVs will hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds and have nearly 1,000 pound-feet of torque. The addition of the Harvester range extender will broaden the brand’s potential customer base to those who don’t want to worry about recharging on the road or off.