Scout's EVs will be available with a backup gas engine
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Scout Motors' Terra (left) and Traveler electric vehicle concepts, coming in 2027. Image: Courtesy of Scout Motors
Scout Motors, Volkswagen's new electric off-road vehicle brand, said its first models will be available with a backup gasoline generator — an acknowledgment of many Americans' anxiety about going fully electric.
Why it matters: As a bit of a latecomer to the EV market, Scout has the advantage of learning from the mistakes of other companies that made big bets on electrification, only to walk back their EV ambitions amid slower-than-expected sales.
- While rival carmakers are now scrambling to add hybrids and plug-in hybrids to their lineups as a bridge technology, Scout is offering an option to ease into EVs from the get-go.
Driving the news: Scout on Thursday unveiled concepts for a pickup truck and an SUV that are nearly identical to the actual vehicles that will go on sale in 2027.
- The Terra pickup and Traveler SUV will be offered in two variants: a fully electric model with a 350-mile driving range and an extended range version with a built-in, gas-powered generator capable of more than 500 miles.
- The trucks, with starting prices below $60,000 (before federal and state tax incentives) are aimed at the most profitable segments of the U.S. auto market.
- They'll be built in a new factory now under construction in South Carolina that could eventually employ 4,000 people.
Between the lines: Extended-range electric vehicles are a new breed of EV that is already popular in China and coming soon to North America.
- An EREV runs entirely on battery power, but includes a small internal combustion engine that automatically recharges the battery when it runs low.
- That means significantly longer driving distances (and fewer charging stops), addressing one of the biggest obstacles to EV adoption.
- Plus, an EREV is about $4,000 cheaper than a traditional EV because it uses a much smaller battery.
How it works: The EREV's gas engine acts only as an onboard generator — it doesn't power the wheels as in a conventional gas or hybrid vehicle.
- And because it runs primarily on battery power, it's more environmentally friendly than a hybrid like the Toyota Prius, whose gas engine is supplemented by an electric motor.
What they're saying: "You have a backup generator for your home. This is the backup generator for your car," Scott Keogh, Scout president and CEO, told Axios in an interview.
- "We do see electrification as the future," he added, noting that EV costs are coming down.
- "However long that bridge is, this is the technology that is going to take America to electrification," he said.
- The South Carolina factory will be flexible so that it can build either variation, depending on consumer demand.
What to watch: Next year Stellantis plans to roll out the Ramcharger, an EREV version of its Ram 1500 pickup truck that it says will have a 690-mile driving range.
- Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley was floored by Chinese EREVs during a recent visit to China and in August canceled plans for a three-row electric SUV in favor of "an advanced hybrid" SUV that is widely expected to be an EREV.
The bottom line: With their tiny gas engines as a security blanket, extended-range EVs could be a more affordable, less anxiety-provoking way to steer Americans toward electrification.
