The workforce at Scout Motors — one of the vital anticipated additions to the electrical truck market — is trying to find the holy grail: the innovation of a startup with the backing of a significant automobile firm, and the custom of an American truck with the know-how of the perfect EVs.
“We’re an American, entrepreneurial, progressive startup on one hand, however on the opposite, now we have the backing of one of many world’s largest OEMs (unique gear producers) behind us,” Scout’s Head of Technique, Ryan Decker, advised The Cool Down.
Owned by Volkswagen, Scout is reimagining the once-iconic American model — well-liked from 1960 to 1980 — with two new automobiles that promise acceleration from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds and over 500 miles of vary, because of an non-compulsory gas-powered vary extender.
Their first automobiles might be a rugged utility car (RUV) Scout calls “Traveler,” adopted by “Terra,” an electrical pickup truck, with entry fashions beginning within the $50,000 vary.
Whereas 100-year-old automobile corporations “do not feel new and thrilling and contemporary,” Decker mentioned, startups “lack just a little little bit of belief.” So he believes Scout “has this actually distinctive probability to throw a dart proper within the center” of startups and legacy carmakers by infusing an iconic model with new life.
Volkswagen, which additionally entered right into a multibillion-dollar joint settlement with newer EV truck model Rivian final 12 months to share car software program tech, gives vital know-how round the way to ramp up factories, get good pricing from suppliers, and construct vehicles. These components, Decker mentioned, ought to give prospects confidence and belief of their model.
As for his or her automobiles, Decker advised us that Scout represents the “better of the previous world, the issues that made an American truck an American truck, with the perfect of the brand new world.”
Scout has adopted hallmarks of a standard truck: a strong door deal with, body-on-frame development, strong rear axles, huge tires, and heavy-duty suspension — “lots of these issues … no new EV entrant goes wherever close to,” Decker mentioned, “however these are the issues we actually needed to do to ship upon the promise of what makes an American truck a really purposeful car.”
The classic Scout vehicles have been recognized for being the OG “sport utility” automobiles, manufactured by Worldwide Harvester, who began out constructing tractors and farm automobiles after which shifted into making family-friendly vehicles.
“Now we have this actually distinctive probability to honor that legacy, to honor that present fandom, however to deliver it alongside into the longer term,” Decker defined.
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The corporate is even bringing again the previous bench seat as a nod to nostalgia and a purposeful side of the car as properly.
“We have all the time mentioned, the inside is a connection machine, actually a connection to the folks sitting subsequent to you, whether or not it is a associate, a canine, a child, after which connection to the precise operation of the car,” Decker added.
“However this factor’s not caught in 1980,” he later mentioned, “So what does that imply? Zonal structure, issues like over-the-air updates, having the ability to well combine equipment, greater than 800 horsepower coming via the drive models, that fast torque that you simply get from an electrical car — all types of actually cool options.”
It additionally means 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds — and eliminating the vary anxiousness.
“What an EV provides you is stellar efficiency — the torque, the acceleration, the low middle of gravity, the driving dynamics. However we’re not naive; it is not excellent,” Decker mentioned, including that vary anxiousness is an actual impediment to EV prospects.
“We all know that when you begin to resolve these issues, prospects not often go backward. They fall in love with an EV. They fall in love with the price of possession. They fall in love with the efficiency. However you bought to get them there.”
With a gas-powered range-extender that may ship over 500 miles, Decker hopes to assist “resolve these actually critical anxieties that we all know prospects have.”
“You may mainly refuel it wherever,” he mentioned. “You may refuel it with electrical energy. You may refuel (the vary extender) with gasoline. Nevertheless it preserves the EV nature of the car.”
Business specialists have taken discover of Volkswagen’s main latest investments in EVs, particularly within the truck market, one thing most automobile consumers do not usually affiliate with VW.
“Whereas many producers try to drag again on their EV methods, Volkswagen Group continues to be investing closely within the area,” mentioned Sue Callaway, co-founder of Glovebox Media and an automotive business insider. “Their funding in reviving the Scout title in addition to their funding in newcomer Rivian are the newest indicators of their long-term dedication to electrical energy. And Scout’s capacity to ship 500 miles of vary whereas holding the sticker worth to round $50,000 might be an actual differentiator for the corporate.”
Scout will compete with different pure EV vehicles, equivalent to the electrical Ford F-150. The corporate may also supply options to stablemate Rivian’s lineup, which can develop past its flagship SUV and pickup truck to incorporate two smaller-sized SUVs launching in 2026.
Scout’s automobiles might be engineered in Detroit and inbuilt South Carolina, the place the corporate not too long ago broke floor on a $2 billion manufacturing plant. And it hopes its “Made in America” standing is an asset for patrons.
“We all know consumers of automobiles in these segments truly actually wish to purchase an American-made car,” Decker mentioned. “Past that, they wish to purchase from an organization that has modified a group. That is precisely what we wish to do with our manufacturing facility in South Carolina. It is extra than simply jobs. It is healthcare, it is training, it is coaching, it is improvement. It is frankly actually a supply of pleasure for the Midlands area of South Carolina.”
Scout can be experimenting with a brand new gross sales mannequin — much like Tesla — that will not depend on sellers. “Scout Motors is an all-new firm, an all-new manufacturing facility … all-new all the things,” Decker defined. “So it was crucial for us to select an all-new gross sales mannequin that made sense for patrons.”
Scout is predicted to launch its Terra pickup truck and Traveler RUV fashions by the tip of 2027.
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