Scout Motors mounts an electric comeback with new SUV and truck concepts

Decades ago, Scout Motors helped present America to the “sport inferior vehicle,” a quirky caller automobile that would yet travel to predominate our roads. The marque went bust successful 1980 — but now, it’s back, and it’s all-electric.

Scout, which is present an independent institution nether the Volkswagen Group, introduced its archetypal new-concept vehicles today: the Terra motortruck and the Traveler SUV. Both vehicles are body-on-frame, sitting connected apical a brand-new EV level unsocial to Scout. And some could commencement astatine nether $60,000 (with incentives) erstwhile accumulation begins successful 2027.

But beyond the novelty of launching a caller EV marque erstwhile sales are inactive struggling, and connected the eve of a large predetermination that could find the aboriginal of the car industry, Scout is trying to merchantability thing that nary 1 has truly tried before: a genuine throwback that besides feels modern and fresh.

“It’s benignant of this elemental concept, but pugnacious to execute,” said Scout CEO Scott Keogh, defining it arsenic “heritage meets ingenuity.”

The “Connection Machine” 

Before we get to the communicative of Scout’s comeback, let’s tally done the specs, due to the fact that determination are immoderate existent doozies here:

There’s a lot more, including a removable cabana roof, optional seat seats successful some the beforehand and rear, and a batch of tactile touchpoints, similar mechanical doorway handles, drawback bars, and big, chunky dials and switches.

When I archetypal spoke to Keogh earlier this year, helium told maine helium didn’t privation to marque different hyperminimalist EV, festooned with touchscreens, glassy surfaces, and haptic buttons. He wanted to marque thing that was existent and mechanical — thing that you could drawback and consciousness connected to.

“There’s decidedly a ample conception that wants to bring distant immoderate of the practice thing,” helium said this week. “They don’t privation to beryllium isolated from the car... They privation to person existent switches. They privation to person mechanical interaction and feel.”

Keogh says the institution is calling it the “Connection Machine” — a operation it appears to beryllium trying to trademark. The thought is that erstwhile you’re down the wheel, tearing done immoderate gravel oregon ripping up a 100 percent grade, you’re connected to the car done the carnal enactment of driving but besides your passengers, bumping up against each different connected the aforesaid seat seat.

In the zone

That said, determination are plentifulness of plan and engineering choices that beryllium that Scout has its sights acceptable firmly connected the horizon. The inclusion of a zonal architecture, alternatively than a domain-style electrical setup, volition assistance guarantee that the vehicles person a batch of “headroom” for aboriginal updates, Keogh said, reducing costs not lone connected the manufacturing broadside but besides for owners done reduced attraction costs.

Zonal architecture is inactive comparatively niche successful the car industry. Tesla has been doing it for years, but astir automakers usage domain architectures, with dozens of physics power units that power everything from powerfulness windows and airbags to braking.

Scout had the payment of starting with a “clean sheet,” Keogh told me. “All these things dependable rather insignificant but mounting up your IT architecture without a bequest strategy — this is huge.”

Platform politics

Another happening that caught my attraction was the quality that the Terra and Traveler would beryllium built connected “an all-new and proprietary body-on-frame platform.”

The information that Scout would make its ain platform, alternatively than borrow VW’s modular “MEB” electrical conveyance platform, mightiness onslaught immoderate arsenic unusual considering however costly and labor-intensive it is for a brand-new institution to make its ain bespoke platform. Sharing platforms is precise common, particularly erstwhile trying to rotation up an wholly caller accumulation line. (For example, the Audi RS E-tron GT is built connected the aforesaid level arsenic the Porsche Taycan.)

To beryllium sure, VW has been going done its ain struggles astir EVs. The company’s plug-in models are selling well, but its market share in North America is shrinking. And its bundle has been plagued by bugs and lawsuit complaints.

But Keogh assured maine that Scout wasn’t trying to disregard its advantages implicit immoderate of its rivals. The institution wants to support its individuality but volition inactive stock immoderate components with its genitor company, similar thrust units and different modules. Considering VW has ne'er earlier competed successful the off-road segment, Scout volition instrumentality those components and portion them unneurotic into thing that tin tackle the roughest conditions.

“The past happening we privation to bash is to drawback a 100 percent carryover level with each the modules,” Keogh said, “because past we’d beryllium a badge. And Scout won’t enactment arsenic a badge astatine all.”

Range life

The inclusion of a gas-powered scope extender is besides definite to rise immoderate eyebrows. At a clip erstwhile car buyers are flocking to hybrids, Scout surely could person gone that way and nary 1 would person complained. Instead, the institution opted to see a tiny gas-powered generator that charges the battery, alternatively than powering the engine.

The crushed for this was twofold. First, electrical trucks person historically struggled with range erstwhile carrying dense payloads oregon towing ample objects. Scout needs to person motortruck shoppers that they tin bash each the motortruck worldly they emotion without sacrificing range. The different crushed is that Keogh firmly believes that EVs are the future, and helium wanted a conveyance that enactment artillery powerfulness first, portion inactive offering a smidge of fossil fuels to assistance quell scope anxiety.

“It introduces the purchaser to electrification connected their American terms,” helium said.

Not dystopian

The look of the Terra and Traveler volition beryllium instantly recognizable to a batch of people. It successfully blends designs from Ram, Jeep, Range Rover, and Rivian (Scout’s main decorator hails from Stellantis and BMW), portion besides keeping the aforesaid iconic look and consciousness of the archetypal International Harvester Scouts from the 1960s and ’70s.

Keogh said the extremity was to onshore determination betwixt avant-garde and safe. In different words, not excessively dystopian, similar the Tesla Cybertruck, but not overly familiar, similar the Ford F-150 Lightning.

“I deliberation it’s got its ain stance and its ain world,” helium said. “But of course, if you spot small glimpses of Range Rover, small glimpses of Rivian, small glimpses of Ram, and a small spot of Scout, good that sounds chill to me.”