In This Article:
Scout Motors will lean on Volkswagen Group’s Mexico manufacturing hub for a critical piece of its upcoming extended-range EV energy system: the engine.
VW Group CFO Arno Antlitz said Scout will source the engine, which will serve as the gasoline-powered generator in the Harvester extended-range system, from VW’s engine plant in Silao, Mexico.
Antlitz, speaking during the automaker’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts and media April 30, did not identify the engine but said it’ll be naturally aspirated and not turbocharged.
It’s the latest detail to be released about the Harvester system.
Sign up to get our afternoon video email. The video focuses on a new topic in the news each day.
Scout CEO Scott Keogh, speaking on MotorTrend’s “The InEVitable” podcast in an episode released Feb. 13, indicated the startup would use a VW Group engine and said there were “good, high-output, four-cylinder, small engines that package well, that are industrialized in the region,” but did not say where it would come from.
Scouts powered by the Harvester system will feature a smaller battery pack about half the size of the electric-only version, likely in the 60- or 70-kilowatt-hours range, Keogh said. Scout anticipates a range of 500 miles for the extended-range models.
Scout began taking $100 refundable reservations for the Traveler SUV and the Terra pickup Oct. 24. Antlitz said 80 percent of reservations have been for Scouts with the Harvester system.
In January, VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said Scout had already gathered over 50,000 reservations. Keogh said 70 percent of reservations have been for the Traveler.
The Silao plant builds engines for the Jetta compact sedan, Taos subcompact crossover and Tiguan compact crossovers, which are assembled at VW’s plant in the Mexican state of Puebla. The Silao factory also supplies engines for the Atlas and the Atlas Cross Sport large crossovers, which are produced in Chattanooga.
Scout production is set to begin at a $2 billion South Carolina plant in late 2027. The factory in Blythewood will have capacity to produce more than 200,000 vehicles annually.
Scout initially was to be an EV-only brand but later pivoted to add the extended-range variant, as consumer preferences shift and EV adoption slows.
Antlitz said the Harvester system has been met with positive consumer feedback.
“We are much more optimistic that we can hit the plant volume,” he said.
When asked by an analyst if VW Group has any flexibility to reallocate what it’s spending on Scout toward capacity and more output for the company’s existing brand portfolio, Antlitz reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the young brand.