Scout Traveler and Scout Terra forge a new path for EVs

1 week ago

Electric vehicles are inseparable from newness, whether it’s caller tech, caller designs, aliases caller companies for illustration Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla. But nan Volkswagen Group’s caller EV-only marque besides relies heavy connected nan past.

Unveiled Thursday, nan Scout Traveler electrical SUV and Scout Terra electrical pickup motortruck are modern interpretations of nan classical International Harvester Scout. Manufactured from 1961 to 1980, nan original Scout helped popularize nan thought of nan rugged, off-road-capable inferior vehicle, mounting nan shape for modern SUVs.

VW cherry-picked nan historical Scout sanction for what is different a caller enterprise, giving nan automaker nan off-road vehicles that were antecedently missing from its U.S. lineup and an excuse to silo improvement and income from its different brands. Scout Motors will manufacture nan Traveler and Terra astatine a caller mill successful South Carolina, pinch some models expected to get successful 2027.

Old-school wrong and out

With their relentlessly quadrate exteriors, nan Traveler and Terra surely seizure nan look of nan aged International Scout. But nan similarities are much than tegument heavy because, for illustration nan original Scout and different trucks of its era, nan Scout EVs characteristic body-on-frame construction, mechanical four-wheel-drive systems, and coagulated rear axles.

With these old-school underpinnings, nan Traveler and Terra person arsenic overmuch successful communal pinch gasoline off-roaders for illustration nan Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, and Toyota Land Cruiser arsenic they do pinch different EVs. The only institution that’s travel adjacent to doing thing for illustration this pinch an EV is Bollinger Motors, and it’s agelong since pivoted to commercialized vehicles.

In a akin vein, Scout interiors aren’t conscionable astir tech for tech’s sake. Buyers will still get a 16.2-inch touchscreen and 12.3-inch integer instrumentality cluster, but each switchgear is analog. You besides won’t find immoderate fancy (and fragile) physics doorway handles for illustration successful galore different EVs. Scout will moreover connection a beforehand chair spot — thing that went retired of manner pinch nan past Buick Century — successful summation to much accepted individual beforehand seats pinch a halfway console.

Gas-truck capability

The Scout EVs are dissimilar thing other successful the VW Group portfolio, and that’s because they connection capacity dissimilar thing from nan automaker’s existing brands. Scout promises a maximum towing capacity of 10,000 pounds for nan Terra pickup — surpassing astir gasoline midsize pickups — and 7,000 pounds for nan Traveler SUV. Both models besides boast a 2,000-pound payload capacity.

To maximize off-road capability, some trucks are designed to accommodate 35-inch tires, helping supply up to 12 inches of crushed clearance and 36 inches of water-fording capability. They will besides beryllium disposable pinch disconnecting beforehand sway bars and beforehand and rear mechanical locking differentials, nan second handling up to 1,000 pound-feet of torque. That will thief get some vehicles from zero to 60 mph successful 3.5 seconds, Scout estimates.

The modular all-electric versions purpose for 350 miles of range, but Scout will besides connection a range-extended powertrain dubbed Harvester, pinch a gasoline motor acting arsenic a generator to thief recharge nan artillery pack. Conventional DC accelerated charging is via a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector. The Scout vehicles characteristic an 800-volt electrical architecture that allows for accelerated charging astatine up 350 kilowatts, positive bidirectional charging that allows nan trucks to enactment arsenic mobile powerfulness sources. The Terra besides has AC outlets built into its 5.5-foot bed.

Forging a caller path

Pricing has crept up a spot since 2023, erstwhile Scout CEO Scott Keogh said nan brand’s SUV would commencement astatine astir $40,000. Scout now expects some nan SUV and pickup to unit for astir $60,000, though it expects pricing to beryllium person to $50,000 for nan SUV and $51,500 for nan pickup erstwhile incentives are factored in. Starting today, customers tin put down a $100 refundable deposit to reserve one. Sales will beryllium online, but Keogh promises Scout won’t waste customer data.

Even these prices undercut nan Rivian R1T and R1S (not to mention nan GMC Hummer EV and electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class) though Rivian plans to debut its $45,000 R2 SUV successful 2026. The Wrangler-like Jeep Recon is besides expected to hit nan Scout EVs to marketplace pinch a 2025 arrival.

If nan driving acquisition is arsenic authentically retro arsenic nan spec sheets suggest, though, Scout will guidelines retired from nan galore different electrical off-roaders crowding trailheads and charging stations. Electric powerfulness doesn’t require throwing retired different acquainted aspects of cars, but Scout whitethorn beryllium nan first marque to spell each nan measurement down that path.