Satellite Internet and Range Extenders: How Scout Motors Plans to Get Its Drivers Out There (original) (raw)
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Steven Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. In that time, he's written thousands of articles and tested just as many vehicles. Steven is Edmunds' director of editorial content and has previously been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. Steven has also contributed to Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and dozens of other publications. In his spare time, Steven loves to play the drums, cook, and drive his 2000 BMW M Roadster.1/9/2025
At CES 2025, Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh detailed how he plans to make the brand appeal to buyers interested in off-roading and overlanding.
Satellite internet connection will give the Scout Terra truck and Traveler SUV connectivity where other vehicles can't.
A range-extender option, called Harvester, will increase the driving range and battery life of these vehicles.
Electric cars have proven themselves to be ideal commuters and everyday machines for millions of buyers around the world. However, most people probably wouldn't make an EV their first choice for off-roading or overlanding. Scout Motors is looking to change that notion, showing off a novel way to keep its machines (and their owners) digitally connected even in the outback, while also providing more details on the company's range-extender solutions that could help its battery-powered truck and SUV get even farther out there.
On the satellite front, at CES 2025, Scout showed off a receiver that mounts neatly to the roof rack of the Terra truck or Traveler SUV, providing connectivity basically anywhere you can see the sky. Unlike the satellite connectivity that's starting to appear in consumer devices like Apple's iPhone, this won't be just for emergencies.
"The range extender allows you to go anywhere, and now this allows you to be connected anywhere," Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh said. "In America, 500,000 square miles is uncovered by cell towers. With the very positioning of our car, you can go anywhere and do anything."
Keogh declined to say which of the few but growing number of satellite internet providers the company will partner with to provide this service, but it seems safe to assume that it probably won't be Elon Musk's Starlink.
This form of connectivity will, of course, come at an additional cost, but Keogh expects that access will be relatively affordable by the time Scout's cars start shipping in 2027. The result will be a vehicle that could be your mobile office, even for those who are extremely mobile.
When taking advantage of that connectivity in the wild, Scout's dashboard interface, called Community UX, can be reconfigured into a dedicated camping mode. Rather than typical infotainment stuff, here it keeps things simple with a basic readout of how many days the battery will last when you're out boondocking.
Range extender increases capability and appeal
At CES 2025, Scout Motors brought a Traveler SUV with a bright red fuel canister hanging off the back. Obviously, this hints at the Traveler not being your average EV.
Keogh said a range extender has been a part of the plan for some time. "It was something we had on the back burner and in our minds," he said. "It moved to the front burner probably nine to 12 months ago."
The range extender will be a small displacement engine that, Keogh said, will be likely sourced from somewhere within the Volkswagen Group. Here, it'll be retuned to act as a generator. It won't need to provide good torque or throttle response. Instead, it'll run at a steady speed for maximum efficiency while spinning a generator to recharge the vehicle's battery.
Ryan Decker, head of strategy at Scout, said that the company's body-on-frame design is a real advantage here. The range-extender module can simply slot in behind the rear axle. "It's so far away you don't hear it, you don't feel it, so you still get the sensation of driving a quiet, small electric vehicle," he said.
The range extender has been designed with modularity in mind, easy installation that'll allow Scout to simply slap them in on the assembly line as needed. Regardless of which way the fickle American automotive market swings on EV adoption, Scout can quickly follow.
Keogh said the mere existence of the Harvester range extender also expands Scout's addressable market by up to 40% overall. In some markets, where charging infrastructure or public sentiment don't encourage EV adoption, that number is much higher. "We've always positioned Scout as a brand that wants to be a 50-state brand, sold everywhere," he said.
Keogh also promised that this extender will not be as limited as those we've seen in previous EVs, like the BMW i3. "You still have 100% gradability, you still have all the ground clearance, you still have a frunk, you still have all of the things," he said, making this a desirable option for anyone looking to tap into the Terra's 10,000-pound maximum tow rating.
But, beyond that, Keogh says even established EV advocates are keen on the Harvester for one simple reason: "It takes all of the drama out of electrification."
