Scout Motors announced it would unveil its rugged electric off-roaders at an event on Oct. 24. The Volkswagen-owned brand is planning a pickup truck and SUV that are designed to go anywhere on electric power, much like its rival/partner Rivian.
In May 2022, Volkswagen announced plans to revive the International Harvester Scout brand it acquired from Navistar. At the time, the German automaker was led by Herbert Diess, who wanted Scout to develop into a distinct entity with a startup strategy to help Volkswagen conquer the U.S. market.
As an iconic brand with a huge following, Scout was the perfect vehicle to achieve that goal. However, the way Volkswagen planned Scout’s resurgence raised questions and angered U.S. dealers when they learned that Volkswagen was aiming to sell Scout EVs directly to consumers.
A few months after the announcement, Herbert Diess was ousted, but his plans to spin off the Scout brand into an independent automaker survived. Not only that, but Oliver Blume, the new CEO of the Volkswagen Group, gave the green light to produce the Scout EV at a new factory in South Carolina. That's a remarkable achievement, considering Blume had canceled other Electric vehicle factory projects, also for Audi in North America.
Scout Motors, as the new entity has been named, has moved at breakneck speed to begin building its South Carolina factory after securing more than $1.3 billion in state incentives. Despite Scout’s heritage and design sketches suggesting otherwise, Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh insisted the two EVs would not adopt a retro design. Instead, the Scout trucks will be modern EVs.
While we expected the first Scout model to be revealed this summer, we'll have to wait a little longer. Scout Motors has announced that the big reveal will take place on October 24. According to an email sent to the media, Scout will unveil both the Scout Off-road and truck concepts. A teaser animation on its website shows a compass embedded in the roof of the vehicle, and that's all we have from this announcement.
Since Volkswagen does not have a robust EV platform in its drawers and the MEB architecture is not suitable for off-roading, Scout Motors would have to figure out a lot of details in a very short time. Undoubtedly, the recent partnership with Rivian would help, if not with the entire EV platform, then at least with the most important components, the electric motors and transmission units. The EV startup has gained a lot of experience with its Enduro engines, which Scout Motors could certainly use.
The little we know about Scout vehicles comes from Keogh, who offered a few details at the Scout factory grand opening ceremony. The former Volkswagen of America boss said Scout wouldn’t worry much about aerodynamics, so its upcoming EVs would offer a dependable truck design with hard corners and turns.
Scout trucks will also have “real door handles” instead of recessed, self-explanatory handles like other EVs. “The car will stand up straight,” he said. “It’s not a jelly bean.” Keogh also revealed that Scout trucks will retain the iconic fold-down windshield of the original Scout models. In the cabin, passengers will find a similarly rustic approach, with mechanical “robust buttons.”