New EREVelations on the 2027 Scout Traveller/Terra Harvester Come to Light

CEO Scott Keogh sheds some light on Scout’s production journey, challenges, and future product plans.

We just heard from startup brand Scout’s CEO Scott Keogh at an Automotive Press Association event, where he worked to manage launch timing expectations, gave an update on the legal battle for direct sales, talked about how nearly 90 percent of reservation holders for the 2027 Scout Traveler SUV and Terra truck want the gas engine, and tried to explain the peculiar positioning of said engine. We also gleaned a few factoids to help handicap what that engine will be—which also sheds some light on the launch timing—and about what will be next for Scout.

160,000 Reservation Holders

To date 160,000 potential buyers have registered to keep in touch with Scout. Of those, three-quarters want an SUV, one-quarter the truck. But perhaps more interesting is the fact that 87 percent of hand-raisers are interested in the “Harvester” extended-range electric-vehicle (EREV) variants of the Traveler and Terra, with its gas-engine generator, smaller (~63kWh/150-ish-mile) battery, and 500-mile overall range.

Will They Commit to Scout?

It’s unclear how many of these reservation holders were fully aware of the Scout EREV’s reduced capability relative to the BEV model (the EREV truck’s towing capacity, for example, drops from 10,000 to 5,000 pounds) when they made that choice, or whether they’ll follow through and pony up for a Scout knowing the Ram REV or next-gen Ford F-150 Lightning EREV may be able to tow about three times as much.

Scout Knows Where They Live

Despite being owned by the world’s second-largest automaker, the Volkswagen Group, Scout operates like a startup. The brand is determined to go to market with a direct sales model, despite numerous ongoing legal challenges contending VW’s corporate ownership “grandfathers” Scout into existing dealer franchise laws.

Keogh expressed confidence Scout will prevail in these legal challenges and follow Tesla, Lucid, and others to market this way. He deems this retail option mission critical from an efficiency standpoint. “Now that you have customer data and AI and monitoring tools, you can be dramatically more efficient with every single car that you make and where that car goes to squeeze every bit of profit out of it. We have a $65,000 asset, a car, and what we need to do is get that asset into a driveway as quickly and efficiently as possible.” This is best done with direct sales, he contends, routed through showrooms and repair facilities located where the hand-raisers live.

Why Put the Engine Where the Beetle Did?

Keogh made much of Scout’s clean-sheet design opportunity, unbound by legacy product, platform, powertrain, or assembly plant baggage. Trouble is, the first two years after the company’s September 2022 incorporation were spent designing a battery-only platform. It wasn’t until October 2024 that a gasoline range-extender was announced, at which point optimal packaging options were few. Keogh reminded us the original target was for cars rolling down the line in 2027 and into customer hands shortly after that, and he claimed early prototypes will begin being produced this year. But as we and others have reported, that timing has slipped a bit, and it’s the EREV engine that’s to blame.

We asked Keogh to take us through Scout’s rationale for the rear-mounted engine, and he pointed to ease of manufacturing—it installs as a module, with vastly simplified exhaust routing. It also leaves the original frunk, SUV interior and truck bed packaging unchanged. He noted that the vehicle’s size and floor-mounted battery means the Scouts suffer none of the driving-dynamics challenges that have bedeviled earlier rear-engine vehicles.

But the fact remains (which the CEO dodged), that hanging mass aft of the rear wheels necessarily reduces potential cargo and trailer tongue-weight, so it’s difficult to imagine that a clean-sheet EREV truck—especially one interpreting a traditional design that includes a long hood—wouldn’t have put the engine right where Ford and Ram will—in the front.

What About that Engine?

All we know for certain is that it will be a naturally aspirated four-cylinder sourced from Silao, Mexico, and based on legacy Volkswagen architecture. We know that plant currently builds the EA211 in 1.5-liter turbo form, and the EA888 engine as a 2.0-liter turbo. Logic suggests Scout will take the 1.5-liter aluminum-block engine, re-plumb it for free breathing, cam it for mostly continuous-rpm duty in the 1,800–2,000 rpm range for level cruising, 3,200–4,200-rpm when towing a load up a grade, and occasional forays to 5,000 rpm in short bursts for peak power. It should need about 230 hp.

The Big Challenge

Leaning an inline engine over far enough to fit under an existing floor creates huge challenges for oiling, positive crankcase ventilation, cooling, exhaust heat management, and more. Oiling is the biggest challenge, because gravity is less helpful at such extreme angles, and it may be no help at all when traversing a hillside on an angle. Dry sump and active scavenging are expensive propositions. We imagine Scout may have torn down a 1996–2000 Toyota Previa (above), which featured a bespoke inline-four engine designed to operate at an angle 15 degrees from horizontal. This on-road minivan managed to get along with wet-sump lubrication—using an automatic oil-replenishment system. But the whole setup proved so complex and costly, it was abandoned after one generation. So, yeah. Scout has its work cut out for it.

What’s Next for Scout?

CEOs tend not to talk openly about future products, unless they really want to make their startup company seem as if it will survive to produce future products. CEO Keogh told to expect an obvious derivative from the SUV as the next product. Extending the body to the length of the pickup and including a third row seat is that obvious choice. “And then where would we go? The obvious choice would be one step down.” So, if and when Scout fully gets its legs under it, the midsize Rivian R2 could have a new domestic competitor.