Volkswagen’s Scout Motors reveals first EVs, plans for plug-in hybrids

NASHVILLE, TN — volkswagen-backed Scout Motors unveiled its first electric vehicle on Thursday and announced plans to expand the brand’s lineup to include an emerging type of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in addition to EV models.

Scout, which was an American car brand from 1961 to 1980, was expected to offer only EVs as the German automaker expanded its presence in the United States, but the introduction of EVs was slower than expected. Due to high costs, the policy was changed. Of course, this also includes extended range electric vehicles (EREVs).

“We’re able to pivot because we’re a fast-moving startup,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh, a longtime auto executive who previously led VW’s operations in the U.S., told CNBC. told. “It was definitely a smart strategy for us to pivot to offering range extenders a few months ago.”

EREV is basically a type of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. These include the EV motor and battery cells, as well as a traditional internal combustion engine that powers the vehicle’s electrical components when the battery loses energy. The engine essentially acts as a generator to power EV components as needed.

Keogh said Scout added the EREV to better protect the brand from market fluctuations as consumer demand for EVs has been lower than expected.

“We think electrification is the future. The Range Extender is set up as an EV vehicle, so we introduce people to electrification, but we have a very smart ‘back-up plan’ so to speak. ” he said in an interview Thursday. “It drives like an EV.”

He said Scout has no plans to offer conventional, non-electric vehicles with only internal combustion engines.

The company’s first vehicles, a full-size pickup truck and large SUV, will cover approximately 40% of the lucrative U.S. sales market.

Mr. Keogh said the company aims to return to operating profit within the first calendar year after initial production of vehicles, which will be built at a $2 billion plant in South Carolina.

“If you look at these profit pools, from pickup trucks of this size to SUVs of this size, those are the two largest profit pools in the world,” Keogh said.

If it can turn a profit during that period, like current EV startups do, it will be quite a success. Rivian Automotive and lucid group After a few years, you’ll be losing tens of thousands of dollars for every vehicle you produce.

Meanwhile, Keogh said the software agreement announced between VW and Rivian will have no impact on Scout’s operations. He called the $5 billion software deal, which includes the creation of a joint venture, an “exciting opportunity” for Scout.

“It’s good for scaling. It’s good for technology. It’s good for everything,” Keogh said.

Scout’s South Carolina plant is scheduled to have a production capacity of 200,000 units. The Scout expects to use batteries from VW’s joint venture battery cell manufacturing company in Canada, which is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle.

The company started taking reservations for the vehicle on its website Thursday night. Scout plans to sell vehicles directly to consumers, rather than through a traditional franchise dealer network like VW does in the United States.

The first two Scout vehicles will be the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck, scheduled to arrive in 2027.

On Thursday, the company unveiled a “concept vehicle intended for production” (meaning it’s expected to be similar to the vehicle it sells) outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Both the Traveler and Terra will start at between $50,000 and $60,000 with available incentives, Scout said. Keogh said EREV pricing is also expected to be within that range. He declined to say whether the price will be higher or lower than the all-electric model.

Keogh said the Traveler SUV is expected to account for two-thirds of the company’s initial sales.

The company says EREV vehicles will have a range of more than 500 miles, and all-electric models will have a range of 300 miles.

The Traveler and Terra designs are modernizations of previous Scout vehicles. It has similar design characteristics but has a sleeker, more stylish look. The interior of the car features a large horizontal screen and soft-touch materials.

Volkswagen acquired the Scout trademark and name after the global conglomerate acquired Navistar, the successor to Scout’s original owner International Harvester, for $3.7 billion in 2021.

The all-electric Scout vehicle is targeted to climb 100% grades, accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds, and travel at nearly 1,000 pound-feet. According to the company, the torque is considerable.

According to the scout, the vehicle Compliant with North American charging standards, it is an 800-volt architecture with up to 350 kilowatts of charging capacity, allowing bi-directional charging with the vehicle acting as a generator.

This SUV is a Jeep, a Ford Bronco, toyota land cruiser. It’s larger than Jeep’s famous Wrangler, which is currently sold as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

This truck is a full-size pickup truck, a segment currently dominated by Ford. general motors and Stellantis rum brand. However, the electric pickup market in which the Scout competes is still a developing market.

Automakers like GM and Ford rushed to launch all-electric pickup trucks at the beginning of this decade to compete with several EV startups, many of which never materialized. tesla. Stellantis plans to launch an all-electric vehicle and an EREV full-size pickup by next year.

However, after rushing the vehicle to market, sales slowed. Like the EV industry as a whole, large vehicles have gone from commanding a significant price premium to being heavily incentivized.

This entire electric “truck” market, which includes SUVs, accounted for about 58,000 vehicles sold in the first half of this year, according to Motor Intelligence estimates. That’s less than 1% of the roughly 7.9 million new light-duty cars sold in the U.S. during the same period, but rose 35% quarter-on-quarter from the first quarter to the second, the data shows.

Keogh believes Scout can differentiate itself in the market with its products, low pricing and brand appeal. Additional Scout products are expected to arrive in the coming years, Keogh said.

“Could we consider scaling back at some point in the future? Yes,” he said. “You want to throw the dart in the best spot first, and I think we were able to do that between these two vehicles.”