Scout 435 LXF Li-Ion

The Scout 435 LXF Li-Ion is a 43'4" S-Class center console - Scout's designation for its luxury models 33 feet and up - and the newest introduction to the LXF line. It is built in Carbon Epoxy Construction, with carbon fiber and E-glass as the primary reinforcements in the epoxy infusion, over Scout's dual stepped bottom. It carries 22 degrees of transom deadrise on a 13'1" beam at 17,450 lbs dry without engines, draws approximately 28", and is rated to 1,800 hp. Fuel is 605 gallons, fresh water 66 and waste capacity 17.

The Li-Ion in the name is the reason the boat exists. Scout fits a Fathom 48V e-Power lithium-ion battery system as standard equipment and states plainly that no generator is necessary - the batteries are charged by the Mercury engines as well as by shore power, through one or two 40-amp chargers depending on the engine selection. EmpirBus digital switching, three Garmin 9217 multifunction displays, a 50-amp Glendinning shore power cord reel and a Seakeeper gyro stabilizer round out the standard electrical package.

Deck content is generous even by LXF standards: fifteen stainless flush-mount gunnel rod holders, eight pull-up cleats, dual hydraulic beach platforms port and starboard with boarding steps, an electrically actuated transom stern seat, a fully walkable transom swim platform with a removable ladder, integrated bow backrests, an electronic bow table with cushion filler, a Lewmar windlass with helm and bow foot switch operation, a bow anchor camera, Zipwake dynamic trim interceptors and heated helm seats in both rows. Scout builds the 435 LXF Li-Ion in Summerville, South Carolina and the boat is NMMA and Yacht Certified.

Scout rates the 435 LXF Li-Ion to 1,800 hp and publishes one tested bulletin for it: triple Mercury 600 V12 Verados, run with the Seakeeper aboard on Verado 12 stainless props in 35p/33p/35p. It is a recent test - dated August 2026 - which is unusual in this range, where several bulletins predate the current spec sheets by years.

The numbers are: top speed 70.2 mph at 6,400 rpm, zero to 30 mph in 6.97 seconds, and best fuel efficiency of 0.73 mpg at 37.7 mph. Scout's own table holds that same 0.73 mpg at 4,000 rpm and 43.8 mph, so the efficiency plateau on this hull is broad rather than a single narrow peak - useful if your normal cruise sits a few miles per hour either side of where the sheet says it should.

Scout publishes an estimated range of 441 miles on triple Mercury 600s with the Seakeeper, and footnotes it as an estimate based on fuel consumption at optimal cruising speeds and sea conditions. Treat it the way Scout labels it. The spec table also lists a range figure with optional fuel saddle tanks as TBD, so there is currently no published number for that configuration.

Two absences to settle before you order. Scout publishes rigged dry weights for twin Mercury 600s (approximately 21,250 lbs) and quad Mercury 425s (approximately 21,510 lbs) but not for the triple 600 package it actually tests - so the rigged weight for the boat on the bulletin is not published anywhere. And no bulletin exists for any package other than the triple 600s.

This is a cabin with published dimensions, which is more than the 425 LXF below it offers. Scout lists 6'6" of cabin headroom, 6'3" of head standing room and a 7'2" berth sleeping length. The head area is enclosed with a full-size toilet and a hot and cold sink, and the shower area is separately enclosed behind its own door.

The galley carries a sink, a single-burner glass cooktop, a microwave and a drawer refrigerator. A 12,000 BTU air conditioner is standard - and on this model it runs off the lithium house system rather than a diesel genset, which is the practical point of the whole architecture. Finish detail includes a 32" LED smart TV with speakers, port and starboard windows with privacy shades, a sitting area with a convertible berth, stainless accents throughout and LED accent lighting. Waste goes to a 17-gallon holding tank with overboard discharge.

Fresh water is 66 gallons, fed by a standard water heater, with retractable fresh and raw water hoses in the leaning post and a freshwater washdown on deck. The standard leaning post also carries an aft-facing seat with an under-seat cooler, a hidden grill drawer, and a tackle storage and trash unit.

The 435 LXF Li-Ion sits directly above the 425 LXF and below the 530 LXF, inside Scout's carbon band - the epoxy-infused carbon fiber and E-glass laminate the yard reserves for its 37-foot and larger models.

Its position is best understood against the 425 rather than against the wider market, because the two boats share almost everything. Same 13'1" beam, same 22-degree bottom, same 1,800 hp ceiling, same approximate 28" draft, 14 inches apart in length and 386 lbs apart in dry hull weight. What separates them is the systems architecture and the fuel: the 425 carries an 8 kW diesel generator on a 26-gallon diesel tank and 545 gallons of fuel; the 435 deletes the generator entirely in favor of the Fathom 48V lithium system and carries 605 gallons. The 435 also carries five more gunnel rod holders, a second hydraulic beach platform, and published cabin dimensions the 425 does not have.

It is not Scout's only generator-free boat - the 377 LXF and the 400 LXF Li-Ion take the same approach at smaller sizes - so the question for a buyer here is not whether lithium house power exists in the range but whether they want it at 43 feet with 605 gallons underneath.

Scout is family owned, has built in Summerville, South Carolina since 1989, and the 435 LXF Li-Ion is NMMA and Yacht Certified.

The 435 LXF Li-Ion is for the buyer who has decided the diesel generator is the part of the boat they are least interested in owning. Scout's answer is not a smaller genset - it is no genset, with a Fathom 48V e-Power lithium-ion system in its place, charged by the Mercury engines as well as from shore power. No diesel day tank, no genset service interval, no engine running at anchor to keep 12,000 BTU of air conditioning going.

It is a strong fit if your slip and lift take a 13'1" beam and 17,450 lbs before engines, if 22 degrees of deadrise matches your water, and if the extra 60 gallons over the 425 LXF is worth having - Scout's published estimate puts 441 miles behind the 605-gallon tank on triple Mercury 600s, footnoted as an estimate. It is also the better fit of the two if anyone in your crew needs the cabin to be a known quantity: 6'6" of headroom, 6'3" in the head and a 7'2" berth are published figures, and the 425 publishes none of them.

It is the wrong boat if you want a choice of engine packages. Scout publishes exactly one tested bulletin for this hull - triple Mercury 600 V12s - so unlike the 425 LXF and the 530 LXF there is no second set of verified numbers to weigh. It is also the wrong boat if you need a proven, conventional AC architecture for long stays at anchor with heavy hotel loads; that is a conversation to have with real usage figures for your own pattern, not with a brochure.

Two things to get in writing: the rigged dry weight with triple 600s, which Scout does not publish, and the fuel capacity, because the model flyer's equipment list says 615 gallons while the specification table, the performance bulletin and the model page all say 605.