Report: Scout EV Delayed. Only Hybrid Harvester at Launch / Start of Production

[MadGreek]

Scout Reportedly To Delay EV For Hybrid As VW Runs Low On Cash

Full article: https://www.theautopian.com/scout-to-reportedly-build-hybrid-trucks-first/

October 20, 2025​

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One of the more interesting bits Manager Magazin (German publication) reports involves the launch plan for VW’s newest brand, Scout Motors. The revived American nameplate that relaunched in 2022 plans to introduce an electric SUV and truck by 2027. Last year, the company revealed it would also offer its vehicles with a range extender option, which quickly became the most popular drivetrain amongst those placing pre-orders. Going by this article, it sounds like VW is smartly prioritizing those buyers:​

[A]ccording to information from manager magazin, the Scout electric truck, intended as a promising prospect for North America, will initially only be available with a combustion engine as a range extender – and not as a purely battery-electric vehicle.

Scout declined to confirm to me whether this is its plan, but considering the state of the EV pickup truck market in the US right now, it makes the most sense. Even the most popular pure BEV trucks occupy a tiny niche of the market, so building the battery-powered Scouts first wouldn’t have moved the needle.​

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[scoutman]

Not surprised by this and smart move considering the environment has changed drastically. Time will tell but if they added an ICE only option I think pre-orders would explode and future proof the company. It's going to be an interesting few years.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Not surprised by this and smart move considering the environment has changed drastically. Time will tell but if they added an ICE only option I think pre-orders would explode and future proof the company. It's going to be an interesting few years.

IMO, the Harvester is going to win over a lot of ICE owners. My brother is a bit of a diehard on ICE powered trucks. However, the Scout Terra Harvester has his attention. He told me he wants to test drive one. He wouldn't drive my R1T at all.

 

[TXR1S]

Probably smart, but damn that makes me sad. Not interested in buying a combustion car after owning an EV truck.

 

[SchnauzerDad]

Ugh, that changes things. I was hoping for a full EV Traveler. If it comes to pass that the BEV is going to be behind by 6 months or more, I'd probably switch back to the Harvester model. Unless it's going to be a lot more money for the Harvester model.....

 

[scoutman]

My question to the current EV owners do most charge at home? That would make life easier but I still love the ease of gas and not having to think about charging on the go. Also, the resale values on evs is horrendous basically forcing everyone to lease them or keeping it till it dies.

My business has 10 charging ports and for some reason they always have issues sometimes they work and then they don’t work. It has been it a total pain and I’m wondering if other ev owners have had issues with charging working away from home? Makes me not want an ev at all.

 

[SchnauzerDad]

My question to the current EV owners do most charge at home? That would make life easier but I still love the ease of gas and not having to think about charging on the go. Also, the resale values on evs is horrendous basically forcing everyone to lease them or keeping it till it dies.

My business has 10 charging ports and for some reason they always have issues sometimes they work and then they don’t work. It has been it a total pain and I’m wondering if other ev owners have had issues with charging working away from home? Makes me not want an ev at all.

I've been driving EREV's or full electric for 10 years. I never once have had to pay for charging. Like most people (but not all), I only go 20 to 50 miles per day when I drive my electric. My Fisker on a great day (75+ degrees) gets 320+ miles at 90% charge, maybe 220 when it's cold. I charge at home, obviously. When I had EREV's sure, having that range extender was great (or annoying in the case of the BMW i3's). But you sure never had to worry about it. Having issues at charge stations I wouldn't know about because I've never had to pay. Never had an issue at a free charger.

A related note is the performance of the range extender. With the i3 it was like 3 speeds depending on load. And if you exceeded the load and the generator couldn't keep up, then you fell into the dreaded BMW "limp of shame" and couldn't go more than 28 mph....ugh . With the ELR (or Volt powertrains) you get low or loud high speed maximum generator speeds that weren't very pleasing. I hope that someday, a car brand will make their generator with a variable generator that matches the need with the rpm to make it sound and feel like a real car, while charging up your battery and a bit more for good measure.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Probably smart, but damn that makes me sad. Not interested in buying a combustion car after owning an EV truck.

Yep. Even an EREV, I want another BEV, this may likely push the vehicle delivery window way past being able to get one the next cycle.

Bummer, even had our Traveler reservation in about as quickly as possible on reveal day, hoping we'd be in an earlier delivery range.

Rivian (or BMW again) might be getting us as a customer (again) when the current vehicles get turned in.

My question to the current EV owners do most charge at home? That would make life easier but I still love the ease of gas and not having to think about charging on the go.

Definitely. That's the big game changer for us, on our 2nd BEV and 2nd PHEV.

Personally, I wouldn't even own an EV (BEV/PHEV) if we didn't have home charging (or some option that was pretty close from a convenience/cost perspective, like maybe office space with very reliable and available charging, that was close to home).

 

[montecarlossfan]

Hopefully they don’t axe the EV altogether. I have a ford lightning and the quietness and not having to maintain things to the same degree is such a positive

Yep. Even an EREV, I want another BEV, this may likely push the vehicle delivery window way past being able to get one the next cycle.

Bummer, even had our Traveler reservation in about as quickly as possible on reveal day, hoping we'd be in an earlier delivery range.

Rivian (or BMW again) might be getting us as a customer (again) when the current vehicles get turned in.



Definitely. That's the big game changer for us, on our 2nd BEV and 2nd PHEV.

Personally, I wouldn't even own an EV (BEV/PHEV) if we didn't have home charging (or some option that was pretty close from a convenience/cost perspective, like maybe office space with very reliable and available charging, that was close to home).

A nice way to look at this assuming they don’t cancel the BEV altogether is we will get one after all the bugs get worked out .

 

[SusanL]

My question to the current EV owners do most charge at home? That would make life easier but I still love the ease of gas and not having to think about charging on the go. Also, the resale values on evs is horrendous basically forcing everyone to lease them or keeping it till it dies.

My business has 10 charging ports and for some reason they always have issues sometimes they work and then they don’t work. It has been it a total pain and I’m wondering if other ev owners have had issues with charging working away from home? Makes me not want an ev at all.

Absolutely have a home charger. I believe most EV owners have one, if they're able (eg, not in an apartment). My belief is that the perception of need for the harvester is purely psychological in most instances. Once people do the math for the low life time costs for a BEV (given lower maintenance costs) there won't a question what the market will demand. But the harvester gets people over that hump of not feeling confident in a new system. Tesla chargers are pretty ubiquitous on the highway for most trips.

 

[PMurphy]

Wow! Delaying the BEV’s makes perfect sense from a business standpoint but… For now I will sit tight and see how things develop. Not willing to bail on a Traveler BUT like most of us, I still have a lot of questions about the Harvester. Looks like the “get rid of the frunk” argument has legs!

We knew betting on a start up would be a wild ride so hang on we’ll see where this goes.

After a night to think about it my diesel Jeep Gladiator is looking even better as my drive it till it drops ride. Experience of others with prior generation EREV’s matches my impressions. Scout will need a well designed Harvester system to keep me on board. Here’s hoping!

 

[mcm4ss]

Not surprised by this and smart move considering the environment has changed drastically. Time will tell but if they added an ICE only option I think pre-orders would explode and future proof the company. It's going to be an interesting few years.

as much as I think electric is the future, I agree. A few years with ICE only as well as others, this would just go nuts. Would be great to see a competitor to the Bronco and Jeep.

 

[massy11155]

Wow what a horrible decision! Why are they focusing in producing the more complicated model? There’s a reason Tesla decided to forgo the range extender version of their Cybertruck in favor of the BEV. From a manufacturing stand point this makes zero sense.

 

[colinnwn]

From a manufacturing perspective it's less than ideal, but from a business case perspective this is the best thing they could do.

I think you are way overblowing the 'complexity'. Companies like Horse have drop in engine generators if Scout was concerned about complexity. China cranks out EREVs from dev to sales in half the time western companies do and they are well reviewed by western automotive press.

There are a lot of complicating factors why Tesla didn't move forward with a generator, not the least is they didn't design it from the beginning as an integrated unit at purchase, that you wouldn't have to crane into your bed. And sales of their BEV darling 80's lo-res video game vehicle have been abysmal so hardly anyone to sell generators to.

The Lightning and the Rivian (along with a few other BEV SUV bit players) have proven BEV trucks don't have a significant market in the USA right now. If somebody wants one and don't have a nostalgia for Scout, they could get one right now.

Not to get political but it's clear for the next several years at least charging infrastructure especially outside of the home will grow anemically. Yes private investment will still slowly accrue. But public investment is needed to get us over the hump of mass adoption and out into marginally profitable rural areas where people worry less like we can with gas stations.

Aside from going Harvester first which is absolutely clear it's the most desired based on reservations, the second best decision they could make would be to go ICE only. And to be clear I would never want them to go ICE only. But I also wouldn't be a BEV only truck buyer until early 2030's at best, depending on how charger infrastructure progresses.

 

[Kjbeggs]

I reserved a Terra Harvester, but had pretty much decided I was going to switch to just
EV when it came time to order. Now I'm not so sure...