(Bloomberg) -- Scout Motors, maker of a new line of electrified SUVs and pickup trucks backed by Volkswagen AG, says what most US car buyers want from the brand now is its models equipped with a gasoline-fueled engine to back up the battery.
Scout, VW’s big bet to finally become a significant player in the US market, was originally conceived as a pure electric vehicle brand. But in the face of slowing American consumer interest in EVs, Scout in October added plug-in hybrid versions of its two models, the Traveler sport-utility vehicle and Terra pickup, which are scheduled to debut in 2027.
And now reservations for the hybrid versions are outstripping demand for the pure EVs, according to Scott Keogh, Scout’s chief executive officer. He attributes that to EV resistance in “a portion of America” and worries about running out of juice in a pure-EV because there aren’t enough charging stations.
“This gives us a 50-state vehicle,” Keogh said Tuesday in a Bloomberg TV interview with Ed Ludlow at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. “The two challenges we see with electrification, charging infrastructure — and of course this takes that all off the table — and plus there’s convenience. I think with those two things, a range-extender makes a lot of sense.”
The technology Scout is using is known as a range-extended electric vehicle, or EREV, where the gas engine doesn’t drive the wheels, like in a conventional hybrid, but only acts as an on-board generator to recharge the battery. The configuration will allow Scout’s plug-in hybrid models to travel more than 500 miles before refueling, compared with a 350-mile range on its pure-electric variants.
EREVs have become popular in China, the world’s largest EV market, and they will appear first in America this year when Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV debuts the technology on its Ramcharger pickup truck.
VW announced plans in 2022 to revive and electrify the classic American Scout brand that was last sold in 1980. It gained rights to the Scout name when it acquired Navistar in a deal that closed in 2021.
The German automaker is building a $2 billion factory for Scout in South Carolina, which Keogh said doesn’t require much modification to add EREVs to the assembly line.
“This gives you ultimate flexibility,” Keogh said. “Regardless of the way America goes, we are put in a position for the next 20 or 30 years to have a tech platform that can navigate it.”
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