A great name from an earlier era of off-roading is back, and Americans are already particular about it. Scout Motors says, in early reservations, its planned SUV is outselling its pickup truck 2-to-1. Data gathered unofficially by an enthusiast forum suggests that Scouts equipped with a range-extending gas-powered generator are outselling purely electric models 4-to-1.
The History
From 1961 to 1980, the International Harvester company built SUVs, and sometimes pickups, under the Scout name. The early Scout was one of the world’s first genuine SUVs — rugged styling, short overhangs for great rock-crawling angles, flexible truck frames, and 4-wheel drive (4WD). They competed with 1960s and 1970s Ford Broncos, Jeep Wagoneers, and other early SUVs for the attention of buyers who wanted something trail-worthy.
The Scout was, at times, available as a pickup, a classic hardtop SUV, and a Jeep Wrangler-like convertible off-roader with a fold-down windshield.
International Harvester abandoned its car business in 1980 to focus on commercial trucks and school buses. In the decades since its assets were sold and resold.
They landed with the Volkswagen Group.
In 2022, VW announced plans to restart Scout production. The new company, though owned by the German conglomerate, would be based in America and build cars in South Carolina.
The new Scouts would be electric vehicles (EVs). EVs have tremendous promise as off-road vehicles because it’s comparatively easy for engineers to design 4WD models. Electric motors are small and fitted directly to a car’s axles. You can build an EV with one motor per wheel if you wish, spinning each wheel separately to get out of tricky trail situations.
The Traveler and the Terra
Scout took the wraps off two models late last week. We expect both for the 2027 model year.
The Scout Traveler is the classic boxy SUV. The Scout Terra is a 4-door pickup. Both wear rugged, boxy lines for the sharp approach and departure angles that befit a serious off-roader. Both are filled with functional features such as fixed anchor points for ropes in their bumpers and so many places to strap gear inside that the walls might as well be pegboard.
There’s even an option for a front bench seat.
Both are planned as pure EVs, or as what’s sometimes called an extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV).
An E-REV works as an EV — only electric motors power the wheels. However, it has a gasoline engine that serves only as a generator. You can keep the vehicle charged and use electricity almost all the time. But you always have the option of a long trip far from chargers because you can recharge on the go.
It’s the same principle behind the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger. Scout hasn’t said what kind of engine will power the E-REV models because it doesn’t particularly matter. It’s just there as a roving battery backup. It won’t even be connected to the wheels. So you don’t need monster torque – just a trickle charge when you need it.
They have, cheekily, named the engine the Harvester.
Reservations So Far; and a Caution About Them
So far, it seems the average shopper wants an E-REV SUV.
The SUV part comes directly from Scout. The company tells CarScoops that about two-thirds of early reservations have been for the Traveler SUV.
The company hasn’t commented on how many want the range extender. A company spokesperson says, “The Harvester range-extender, connection-focused features like the bench seat, and a return to tactility and utility are resonating with consumers, and we’re seeing that enthusiasm reflected in reservation counts.”
But we may have a clue about the numbers.
An enthusiast forum has already popped up. The Scout EV Forum is tracking reservation numbers through a survey.
So far, they report, 81% of shoppers have reserved the Harvester edition.
We should sprinkle a few big grains of salt here. First, reservations are not sales. You can reserve a Scout with a $100, fully refundable reservation online. Automakers frequently report large reservation numbers only to see many fewer actual buyers.
Second, this isn’t a count of reservations from Scout. It’s a count of people who found the enthusiast forum and filled out a form there. It’s quite likely that most people who’ve reserved one have not done that.
But the numbers are intriguing conversation pieces, if nothing else, while we wait for the real Scouts to get here.
Internet interest in these cars is dramatic this week, and we all need something low-stakes to talk about, don’t we?
