Harvester towing

[mbeadnell]

I would strongly suggest the harvester model towing more than 5k. This is going to be a deal breaker for most people and cause a lot of cancelled reservations. My opinion but I would not have announced something like this without all the details
In place to make a firm stance. This has created a lot of confusion and speculation and as a result many cancelled reservations. I would like to see the Terra at least able
To tow 7500 at minimum and the traveler at 5000k minimum. It makes no sense for both the tow the same with one able
To tow nearly 3k more on the pure ev models. This is just my suggestion. Keeping the price within the mentioned amount during announcement I hope is possible to have the towing range increased ( 7500 for Terra 5000 for traveler) that’s my suggestion and opinion.

 

[OH1984]

Everyone complaining wants the Harvester version, not the EV version.

Towing with an EV is a non-starter. I'm not going to unhitch to charge every 200 miles.

Understood. Yeah I have no knowledge on how much tow limits range etc.
maybe battery tech will be much improved by 2028. I hope you do find something to meet your needs whatever it may be.

 

[BartMan Terra Total EV]

Everyone complaining wants the Harvester version, not the EV version.

Towing with an EV is a non-starter. I'm not going to unhitch to charge every 200 miles.

I understand that and I truly hope everyone waits to see final numbers on the harvester before they cancel. Regardless if you go EV or harvester one will liklely need to stop and charge. With harvester it will be more then 200 (while towing) but not a huge amount more. Even if the Harvester does end up being gas and go it is a very small gas tank and it will liklely need a charge after 350ish miles (while towing).

 

[R1TVT]

Towing with an EV is a non-starter. I'm not going to unhitch to charge every 200 miles.

This may be true in your case, but not everyone's case. Pure EV trucks can be excellent for frequent and repeated hauling of things like boats for example (back and forth to the ramp), equipment trailers (job site to job site) or even basic homeowner needs like trailering to the dump. I envision more and more contractors / landscapers / trades people using EV trucks for daily trailering. It will just be far cheaper over time and they can charge up at end of day and overnight and be ready to roll out again the following morning. My only point being that Towing with an EV absolutely has its use-cases.

Not everyone is continuously using their trucks to tow for hundreds of miles at a time. Of course if you are long-hauling, you will absolutely be required to stop & charge more frequently, just as you will need to re-fuel more often in an ICE vehicle while towing.

 

[BeerParty]

Towing with an EV is a non-starter. I'm not going to unhitch to charge every 200 miles.

What if you did not have to unhitch to charge? Is that the only reason? Or just one of many?

I also have a Harvester reserved for just this reason (needing to unhitch to charge), but Walmart has released info about their plans to add chargers (

) and this will include chargers that offer pull through stalls. Walmart exec claims that 50% of their stores will have chargers by the end of 2025. By the time Scout starts taking orders I expect pretty good coverage. Needing to unhitch a trailer to charge is the only reason I am considering a Harvester. If Walmart delivers on these plans and there are pull through chargers available along my routes, I will probably change my order to a non-Harvester BEV.

 

[Slipshod]

What if you did not have to unhitch to charge? Is that the only reason? Or just one of many?

I also have a Harvester reserved for just this reason (needing to unhitch to charge), but Walmart has released info about their plans to add chargers (

) and this will include chargers that offer pull through stalls. Walmart exec claims that 50% of their stores will have chargers by the end of 2025. By the time Scout starts taking orders I expect pretty good coverage. Needing to unhitch a trailer to charge is the only reason I am considering a Harvester. If Walmart delivers on these plans and there are pull through chargers available along my routes, I will probably change my order to a non-Harvester BEV.

Lack of pull-through is a big part of it, but being able to refill the "generator" while boondocking and being able to go to Alaska are desirable. Though I might just do a long-term rental when I finally end up doing Alaska.

I also don't expect the pull-throughs to hit remote areas quickly.

 

[Slipshod]

This may be true in your case, but not everyone's case. Pure EV trucks can be excellent for frequent and repeated hauling of things like boats for example (back and forth to the ramp), equipment trailers (job site to job site) or even basic homeowner needs like trailering to the dump. I envision more and more contractors / landscapers / trades people using EV trucks for daily trailering. It will just be far cheaper over time and they can charge up at end of day and overnight and be ready to roll out again the following morning. My only point being that Towing with an EV absolutely has its use-cases.

Not everyone is continuously using their trucks to tow for hundreds of miles at a time. Of course if you are long-hauling, you will absolutely be required to stop & charge more frequently, just as you will need to re-fuel more often in an ICE vehicle while towing.

Let me be more clear. The unhappy people have a specific use case we were excited about, and we're complaining because it looks like they are revising the specs towards no longer meeting that use case. We're hoping that the production team (who seems to read here) will see there's enough of us that they'll consider including our needs in the final design.

Everyone trying to bring up other use cases that "work fine" aren't helping. I have no bias against EVs (I'm on my second one), I don't need to be educated, and I'm not interested in arguing about this. I just want the production team to understand that towing a camper/trailer with an ERV is an important use case to some people. Maybe there's enough of us for it to be valuable to make, maybe not. If not, I'll be cancelling my pre-order and looking at alternatives.

 

[BartMan Terra Total EV]

Let me be more clear. The unhappy people have a specific use case we were excited about, and we're complaining because it looks like they are revising the specs towards no longer meeting that use case. We're hoping that the production team (who seems to read here) will see there's enough of us that they'll consider including our needs in the final design.

Everyone trying to bring up other use cases that "work fine" aren't helping. I have no bias against EVs (I'm on my second one), I don't need to be educated, and I'm not interested in arguing about this. I just want the production team to understand that towing a camper/trailer with an ERV is an important use case to some people. Maybe there's enough of us for it to be valuable to make, maybe not. If not, I'll be cancelling my pre-order and looking at alternatives.

Totally understand. Quick question. Does the proposed Dodge ERV fit your needs?

 

[R1TVT]

Let me be more clear. The unhappy people have a specific use case we were excited about, and we're complaining because it looks like they are revising the specs towards no longer meeting that use case. We're hoping that the production team (who seems to read here) will see there's enough of us that they'll consider including our needs in the final design.

Everyone trying to bring up other use cases that "work fine" aren't helping. I have no bias against EVs (I'm on my second one), I don't need to be educated, and I'm not interested in arguing about this. I just want the production team to understand that towing a camper/trailer with an ERV is an important use case to some people. Maybe there's enough of us for it to be valuable to make, maybe not. If not, I'll be cancelling my pre-order and looking at alternatives.

100% understood, and certainly making your case here for others to see is fine.

Let me be more clear - I was simply clarifying your statement, which said "towing with an EV is a non-starter" because that is not true. Towing with an EV is a non-starter for you (which I understand, since you don't want to be inconvenienced). Not everyone is towing to Alaska or over 100's of miles. Most of the people that tow where I live are ONLY towing in a radius of about 50 miles, and usually under 50, so an EV could be an excellent option, in this particular case.

If it were me and I were towing a ~10K+ trailer regularly for 100's of miles, I would buy another 2500HD. I would rather have more buffer on tow rating and tow on a 2500 platform more specifically engineered for heavier loads, but that is just my own opinion based on a lifetime of towing.

 

[unpossible]

Chalk me up as one of the folks who was very disappointed to hear about the likely 5k tow rating for Harvester versions. I use cases that require 6.5 to 7k, and more would be better.

The Harvester seemed like a perfect way to extend EV towing range to something more usable, PLUS you get huge range when not-towing, PLUS more options to 'fill up' (i.e. with gas), PLUS you essentially get a giant-portable generator 'for free'. And in an off-road, American-branded-and-assembed, cool-looking vehicle that seemed to be notably less than $100k...it was perfect!

Then I sort of 'pushed aside' Scout in my mind after the Jay Leno video. It turned-out what I thought before really was too-good-to-be-true. I didn't want to think about Scout for a while after that.

For folks thinking the 5k will go up...I doubt it will / or not by much. They are probably running-out of physical space and $ budget to fit the battery, engine, and gas tank. So all three end-up pretty small.

When leaving home with a full battery and a full tank with the gas engine blaring, a Harvester would probably at that moment have the same practical towing capacity as the non-Harvester version (or very close, perhaps Harvesters would be slightly heavier using up some small amount of GVCWR). But engineers need to account for the situation where the battery level is very low and the user stops to fill-up with gas but doesn't recharge the battery. The user will pull out of the gas station expecting to get full range and full performance. But the little gas engine can only do so much and so the whole thing gets towing de-rated down to what the vehicle can handle with a mostly-empty battery.

I do wonder if they could derate something else - performance or range - to get the tow rating higher - but even then they probably can't make-up thousands of pounds without a bigger battery or bigger engine (probably much bigger, and probably both).

 

[ThatMattGuy]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

 

[J Alynn]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

I think your point of view is great and nobody has mentioned to date. Short of deep pocket pot holes on service roads that will be my off road experience. I won’t tow beyond a utility trailer several times a year and most driving will be local or highway so I want a comfortable ride so as you eluded to, it’s hard to solve for all and most of SM discussions and social media have been about off roading not trailer towing so you may be the first to have hit the nail on the head.

 

[Chavannigans]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

Totally different platforms so I would be inclined to disagree with this comparison.

I would also encourage you to look up offroading videos from Australia. Thousands of people have extremely capable 4x4s that tow various travel trailers in the bush every day. You can absolutely have both.

If you never plan to push your vehicle offroad that may make you smarter than us, but it doesnt mean we should accept woeful compromises for our own purposes.

With all the commotion these threads have stirred up I am sure Scout has it high on the list of things to address and will find a better performance balance for everyone before the first one rolls off the line.

 

[AlanL]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

Welcome!

Chiming in on the previous two replies. The Raptor isn't the best comparison to the Terra, the Raptor is a high speed desert runner truck. A lot of the 8200 lb limit comes from a softer suspension, maybe some from a heavier engine. The Tremor is the rock crawler-ish truck, it has a 10,900 lb limit. But I agree with your concern. Hopefully Scout can meet the expectation of dual lockers, front sway disconnect, factory 35s with room for 37s.

 

[TreeKiller]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

This is one of the reasons I like my Grand Cherokee Hemi Trailhawk so much and would buy another one if they were still putting the 5.7 in them. It is a very comfortable upmarket SUV with a rich feature set and 450+ mile range, can tow 7,200 (so it can tow my Wrangler on a flat bed) with a 275 mile range (per my own experience), and it is also highly capable in it's own right off road, with meaningful ground clearance, approach and departure angles, 2 speed transfer case with full time all wheel drive and locking center diff, rock crawl mode, rear LSD and 4 wheel electronic torque vectoring, etc etc etc.

For me, it is an ideal balance. I would like to move that ideal balance to an EV SUV (I will not buy a pickup truck). Whether anyone opines that a 350 mile range / ~175 mile towing range is "enough" or not, I do not care because it's not enough for me. So the Traveler Harvester is my choice assuming it can tow what I need it to tow. I can make it work with a 6k tow capacity. I hope they get it there.

 

[unpossible]

I have to say, I find this discussion fascinating. The high tow rating is actually one of my biggest concerns about these vehicles. It is impossible to have a vehicle perform great off-road and also tow heavy trailers great. Take the F-150 for instance. Sure, there's a version that can tow over 13,000 lbs, but the off-road focused Raptor version can't even tow 9,000 lbs. If the Scout is going to perform off-road like an F-150 with a 10,000 lb towing capacity, I'm not interested. I used to have one, and while I took it off-road, I had to stick to trails rated a 6 or below, and I expect to be able to do more than that with a Scout.

Scout first said 7k tow rating for the SUV (similar to a V8 Jeep GC) and 10k for the truck (similar to mid-upper range on many modern 150/1500 gas trucks and similar to current EV trucks). A lot of us assumed those ratings would apply to the Harvesters. But now it seems more likely a Harvester truck will be 5k - that is literally cut by half. Many of our Scout-Harvester fantasies need to change...there is no way around it.

The subsequent reply about the Raptor being a “high speed desert runner truck” was exactly my first thought, to the word, when I read this post. The Scouts and the Raptor are different species. And if someone wants a plug-in hybrid off-road vehicle and doesn't care much about towing, they can buy a Jeep Wrangler 4xe right now…no need to wait.

I have the opposite fascination, I’m surprised there isn’t more reactionary B&Cing out there.

And it’s not like the ~reduced Harvester tow rating is going to somehow make the Harvester Scouts better off-road - 'will be the same as the pure EVs….if that….determined by weight; size, clearances, and angles; suspension, etc. Speaking of that…they may come for you too - from what we now can see, I wouldn’t be surprised if ultimately the Harvester is less capable off-road too, or if there is a more off-roady package/variant of the Scouts that never makes it to the Harvester.

 

[unpossible]

This is one of the reasons I like my Grand Cherokee Hemi Trailhawk so much and would buy another one if they were still putting the 5.7 in them. It is a very comfortable upmarket SUV with a rich feature set and 450+ mile range, can tow 7,200 (so it can tow my Wrangler on a flat bed) with a 275 mile range (per my own experience), and it is also highly capable in it's own right off road, with meaningful ground clearance, approach and departure angles, 2 speed transfer case with full time all wheel drive and locking center diff, rock crawl mode, rear LSD and 4 wheel electronic torque vectoring, etc etc etc.

For me, it is an ideal balance. I would like to move that ideal balance to an EV SUV (I will not buy a pickup truck). Whether anyone opines that a 350 mile range / ~175 mile towing range is "enough" or not, I do not care because it's not enough for me. So the Traveler Harvester is my choice assuming it can tow what I need it to tow. I can make it work with a 6k tow capacity. I hope they get it there.

I have the same vehicle; black with the little red trim around. Fantastic truck. Love the V8. Transmission is great. Nothing else quite combines the off-road features, towing capacity, and livability-luxury. It does suck down gas.

 

[Chavannigans]

Scout first said 7k tow rating for the SUV (similar to a V8 Jeep GC) and 10k for the truck (similar to mid-upper range on many modern 150/1500 gas trucks and similar to current EV trucks). A lot of us assumed those ratings would apply to the Harvesters. But now it seems more likely a Harvester truck will be 5k - that is literally cut by half. Many of our Scout-Harvester fantasies need to change...there is no way around it.

The subsequent reply about the Raptor being a “high speed desert runner truck” was exactly my first thought, to the word, when I read this post. The Scouts and the Raptor are different species. And if someone wants a plug-in hybrid off-road vehicle and doesn't care much about towing, they can buy a Jeep Wrangler 4xe right now…no need to wait.

I have the opposite fascination, I’m surprised there isn’t more reactionary B&Cing out there.

And it’s not like the ~reduced Harvester tow rating is going to somehow make the Harvester Scouts better off-road - 'will be the same as the pure EVs….if that….determined by weight; size, clearances, and angles; suspension, etc. Speaking of that…they may come for you too - from what we now can see, I wouldn’t be surprised if ultimately the Harvester is less capable off-road too, or if there is a more off-roady package/variant of the Scouts that never makes it to the Harvester.

Welcome.

I agree with most of what youre saying here. But I dont think the harvester will have much influence in offroad performance unless you are trying to build a long travel setup because I am sure the Harvester would affect uptravel since it will be mounted over the rear axle.

 

[jonnygarner]

Hello all.
I am SO KEEN to reserve a Scout Terra Harvester. The range extender x towing capacity question is my ONLY concern.

@Scout I know you are doing a great job of listening and responding. This is my +1 for Scout Terra Harvester with towing capacity greater than 5,000lbs.

My use case is towing a 6,500lb travel trailer for around 10 days max on the road per year. The other 355 days of the year, I need a large vehicle for a mix of city/highway. A typical mix of kid moving around, some woodworking materials, furniture deliveries.

350 miles is a lot of BEV. I try to convince myself it is enough on its own, and on paper it looks great. And I love the simplicity of a BEV for maintenance costs vs. anything that needs gasoline and more moving parts. I own a Nissan Leaf for 8 years. I know what range anxiety is and how to deal with it in the real world.

But a realistic towing scenario for me with a 6,500lb travel trailer looks like this.

350 miles cut in half for towing, means 175 miles. But I can't comfortably drive anywhere near ZERO with a wife, kids, dog and travel trailer. So now my towing range is max 150 miles before I need to stop and recharge. I leave home with 100%.

My towing route has chargers but not many, and not often. Realistically one location I can stop at with 3 chargers available. So arrive and have to wait 40 mins to access a charger. No problem, I can rest and eat!

Now I have to unhook the travel trailer, leave it in a parking spot, and drive into the charger. Other EV's are already lining up to use the charger. So politely, I can fast charge for a max of 40 mins.

Now, after a 1.5 hrs stop I am 80% charged, and based on the above can tow about 100 miles before I have to stop and charge again. And likely repeat the 1.5 hrs stop.

So 150 miles driving. Then stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Now I'm not even sure if there is a charger available in the area, as we are getting more remote.

This is why for my use case I need a range extender for towing, and need a towing capacity of over 5,000lbs.

I am happy to be corrected, but for my situation this sounds like real world use.

 

[cyure]

Hello all.
I am SO KEEN to reserve a Scout Terra Harvester. The range extender x towing capacity question is my ONLY concern.

@Scout I know you are doing a great job of listening and responding. This is my +1 for Scout Terra Harvester with towing capacity greater than 5,000lbs.

My use case is towing a 6,500lb travel trailer for around 10 days max on the road per year. The other 355 days of the year, I need a large vehicle for a mix of city/highway. A typical mix of kid moving around, some woodworking materials, furniture deliveries.

350 miles is a lot of BEV. I try to convince myself it is enough on its own, and on paper it looks great. And I love the simplicity of a BEV for maintenance costs vs. anything that needs gasoline and more moving parts. I own a Nissan Leaf for 8 years. I know what range anxiety is and how to deal with it in the real world.

But a realistic towing scenario for me with a 6,500lb travel trailer looks like this.

350 miles cut in half for towing, means 175 miles. But I can't comfortably drive anywhere near ZERO with a wife, kids, dog and travel trailer. So now my towing range is max 150 miles before I need to stop and recharge. I leave home with 100%.

My towing route has chargers but not many, and not often. Realistically one location I can stop at with 3 chargers available. So arrive and have to wait 40 mins to access a charger. No problem, I can rest and eat!

Now I have to unhook the travel trailer, leave it in a parking spot, and drive into the charger. Other EV's are already lining up to use the charger. So politely, I can fast charge for a max of 40 mins.

Now, after a 1.5 hrs stop I am 80% charged, and based on the above can tow about 100 miles before I have to stop and charge again. And likely repeat the 1.5 hrs stop.

So 150 miles driving. Then stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Now I'm not even sure if there is a charger available in the area, as we are getting more remote.

This is why for my use case I need a range extender for towing, and need a towing capacity of over 5,000lbs.

I am happy to be corrected, but for my situation this sounds like real world use.

Welcome to the community. There’s lots of info on here and I know there have been lots of discussions about this. A great follow is @Jamie@ScoutMotors. He keeps us updated from the manufacturer side

 

[cyure]

Hello all.
I am SO KEEN to reserve a Scout Terra Harvester. The range extender x towing capacity question is my ONLY concern.

@Scout I know you are doing a great job of listening and responding. This is my +1 for Scout Terra Harvester with towing capacity greater than 5,000lbs.

My use case is towing a 6,500lb travel trailer for around 10 days max on the road per year. The other 355 days of the year, I need a large vehicle for a mix of city/highway. A typical mix of kid moving around, some woodworking materials, furniture deliveries.

350 miles is a lot of BEV. I try to convince myself it is enough on its own, and on paper it looks great. And I love the simplicity of a BEV for maintenance costs vs. anything that needs gasoline and more moving parts. I own a Nissan Leaf for 8 years. I know what range anxiety is and how to deal with it in the real world.

But a realistic towing scenario for me with a 6,500lb travel trailer looks like this.

350 miles cut in half for towing, means 175 miles. But I can't comfortably drive anywhere near ZERO with a wife, kids, dog and travel trailer. So now my towing range is max 150 miles before I need to stop and recharge. I leave home with 100%.

My towing route has chargers but not many, and not often. Realistically one location I can stop at with 3 chargers available. So arrive and have to wait 40 mins to access a charger. No problem, I can rest and eat!

Now I have to unhook the travel trailer, leave it in a parking spot, and drive into the charger. Other EV's are already lining up to use the charger. So politely, I can fast charge for a max of 40 mins.

Now, after a 1.5 hrs stop I am 80% charged, and based on the above can tow about 100 miles before I have to stop and charge again. And likely repeat the 1.5 hrs stop.

So 150 miles driving. Then stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Stop for 1.5 hrs. Drive 100 miles. Now I'm not even sure if there is a charger available in the area, as we are getting more remote.

This is why for my use case I need a range extender for towing, and need a towing capacity of over 5,000lbs.

I am happy to be corrected, but for my situation this sounds like real world use.

I hit save too soon. Another great follow is @SpaceEVDriver. He goes on trips in his Ford Lightning and is providing detailed updates of his trips and charging. I’m unsure if he ever tows though. Welcome again!