Scout Terra pickup truck and Scout Traveller SUV concept
reconnaissance
Nashville, Tennessee — VolkswagenOn Thursday, company-backed Scout Motors unveiled its first electric vehicle and announced plans to expand its lineup to include emerging plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in addition to electric models.
Scout, a former American car brand from 1961 to 1980, was expected to exclusively offer electric vehicles to expand the German automaker’s U.S. presence. Of course, the changes also include extended-range electric vehicles (EREV).
“As a fast-moving startup, we can pivot,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh told CNBC. “It was absolutely a no-brainer that we moved to offering range extenders a few months ago.”
EREV is basically a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. They include electric vehicle motors and batteries, as well as traditional internal combustion engines, used to power the vehicle’s electrical components when the battery loses energy. The engine essentially acts as a generator, providing power to the EV components when needed.
Scout Terra Pickup Truck Concept
Keogh said Scout added EREV to better protect the brand from market fluctuations if consumer demand for electric vehicles is lower than expected.
“We think electrification is the future. The range extender sets it up as an electric vehicle, so it introduces people to electrification, but it has a super smart ‘backup plan,'” he said in an interview Thursday. “It will drive like an electric car.”
He said Scout has no plans to offer traditional, non-electric vehicles with only internal combustion engines.
The company’s first vehicles – full-size pickup trucks and large SUVs – will capture about 40% of the highly profitable U.S. sales market.
Keogh said the company aims to achieve operating profitability within the first full calendar year after initial production of the vehicle, which will be produced at a $2 billion plant under construction in South Carolina.
“If you look at these profit pools, these two segments, from pickup trucks of this size to SUVs of this size…these are some of the largest profit pools in the world,” Keogh said.
Scout Traveler SUV Concept
reconnaissance
Achieving profitability during this period would be quite successful, as current EV startups, e.g. Rivian Cars and sobriety group After a few years, they were losing tens of thousands of dollars on every car they produced.
Meanwhile, Keogh said the software deal announced between Volkswagen and Rivian will not affect Scout’s operations. He described the $5 billion software deal, which includes a joint venture, as an “exciting opportunity” for Scout.
“It’s good for scaling. It’s good for technology. It’s good for everything,” Keogh said.
Scout’s plant in South Carolina plans to have a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. The Scout is expected to use batteries produced by Volkswagen’s joint venture battery maker in Canada, the most expensive component in an electric vehicle.
The company opened reservations for the vehicles on its website Thursday evening. Scout plans to sell vehicles directly to consumers rather than through the traditional network of franchised dealers like Volkswagen does in the United States
New SUVs, Trucks
Scout’s first two vehicles will be the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck, scheduled to go on sale in 2027.
The company unveiled “production concept vehicles” Thursday outside Nashville, Tenn., meaning they are largely expected to be the same vehicles that go on sale.
Scout Traveller SUV concept interior
reconnaissance
According to Scout, the Traveler and Terra are expected to start in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, subject to incentives. The company did not disclose pricing details for EREV.
The Traveler SUV is expected to account for two-thirds of the company’s initial sales, Keogh said.
According to the company, EREV vehicles will have a range of more than 500 miles, while all-electric models will have a range of 300 miles.
The Traveler and Terra designs were modernized versions of former reconnaissance vehicles. They share similar design features but have a smoother, sleeker look. The vehicle interior features large horizontal screens and soft-touch materials.
The Volkswagen Group spent $3.7 billion in 2021 to acquire Navistar, the successor to International Harvester, the original owner of Scout, and subsequently Volkswagen acquired the Scout trademark and name.
Scout Traveler SUV Concept
The all-electric Scout vehicle is designed to climb 100 percent grades and accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, while delivering nearly 1,000 pound-feet of torque. of torque, the company said.
Scout said the vehicles will be used North American charging standard, using an 800-volt architecture with a charging capacity of up to 350 kilowatts and the ability to charge in both directions, allowing the vehicle to act as a generator.
The market is tough and competition is fierce
This SUV is expected to compete with traditional off-road SUVs such as Jeep and Ford Bronco. toyota Land Cruiser. It’s larger than Jeep’s famous Wrangler, which is currently a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
The truck is a full-size pickup—a segment currently dominated by Ford, General Motors and Stellar Ram brand. But the electric pickup truck market that Scout competes in is still a developing market.
Automakers such as General Motors and Ford rushed to launch all-electric pickup trucks in the early 2000s to compete with several EV startups, many of which never materialized, and Tesla. Stellantis is expected to launch fully electric and EREV full-size pickup trucks next year.
Scout Traveler SUV Concept
But after the vehicle was rushed to market, sales slowed. Like the EV industry as a whole, large vehicles went from demanding high price premiums to being highly incentivized.
Overall, the electric “truck” market, which includes SUVs, sold nearly 58,000 vehicles in the first half of this year, according to Motor Intelligence estimates. Data show that this proportion is less than 1% of the approximately 7.9 million new light vehicles sold in the United States during the same period, but an increase of 35% from the first to the second quarter.
Keogh believes Scout can differentiate itself in the market with its products, lower prices and brand appeal. Keogh said more Scout products are expected to be launched in the coming years.
“Could we consider downsizing at some point in the future? Absolutely,” he said. “You want to throw the dart to the best spot first. I think we’ve done that between these two cars.”
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