- Scout Harvester plug-in series hybrid will use LFP battery chemistry
- Harvester versions won’t tow as much or accelerate as quickly as EVs
- Rear-mounted range-extender confirmed as a non-turbo 4-cylinder engine
The Volkswagen Group’s new Scout Motors brand isn’t scheduled to deliver its first vehicles for another two years, but details continue to trickle out.
Scout unveiled concept versions of its Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck last fall, with all-electric powertrains and a plug-in hybrid version dubbed Harvester. A drivable prototype of the Traveler recently appeared on Jay Leno’s Garage, with Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh fielding technical questions from comedian and automotive presenter Jay Leno.
Scout has previously quoted a total range of 150 miles all-electric, amounting to a total of 500 miles of combined gasoline and electric power for the Harvester models. With their plug-in series-hybrid powertrain, a gasoline engine acts as a generator to continuously charge the battery pack, similar to the Ram 1500 Ramcharger.
Scout Traveler prototype on Jay Leno’s Garage
The Scout CEO also confirmed that Harvester models will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in place of the nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells to be used in all-electric Scout models that aim for 350 miles of range. That’s an odd choice for a plug-in hybrid, where NMC is generally the standard due to its more flexible power delivery characteristics, plus their higher energy density so as not to add as much weight. But it may help keep battery costs and carbon footprint low, something Scout has indicated are priorities.
The Harvester models’ range-extending generator will be a naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder engine, Keogh confirmed, likely from the VW Group stable. Harvesters will have 15-gallon fuel tanks and, in addition to all-electric and hybrid modes, a “Heavy Duty Mode” intended for severe-use applications like towing, Keogh said.
However, towing capability will be substantially less for Harvester models than for all-electric models, Keogh indicated. He said the plug-in hybrids would tow up to 5,000 pounds, compared to 7,000 pounds for all-electric versions of the Traveler SUV and 10,000 pounds for the Terra pickup. That’s likely due to the choice of LFP battery chemistry, which is less able to produce bursts of power when called upon like NMC chemistry.
Plug-in hybrids will also be 1.0 second slower from 0-60 mph than EVs, Keogh said. But at 4.5 seconds, they’ll still be pretty quick for big off-roaders. And in an interview published in January, Keogh said the main motivator for customers reserving the Harvester plug-in hybrids is avoiding range anxiety, so those customers may not be as bothered by a dip in performance.
At the time of that interview, Keogh said reservations for plug-in hybrid models were outpacing all-electric models. He also told Leno that the Traveler SUV currently accounts for 70% of reservations, with just 30% of customers opting for the Terra pickup.
Scout is truly living up its name within the VW Group, which doesn’t currently have any range-extended EVs among its many brands. Nor do those brands use a body-on-frame architecture like one developed for Scout to ensure genuine off-road capability. Scout will also employ the VW Group’s 800-volt expertise while adopting Rivian’s zonal electrical architecture, which VW now has access to under its partnership with that automaker. Once pioneered by Scout, these features could be scaled to other vehicles within the VW Group.