Scout Motors, the classic off-road brand from the sixties, has been reborn as an electric vehicle company and is building a new SUV and pickup truck. The pioneering Jeep rival was brought back to life by Volkswagen in 2022 after the German automaker acquired Scout in 2020 (when it merged its commercial trucking company Traton with Navistar). VW made former Volkswagen Group America CEO Scott Keogh head of the new Scout, and said it would pump $1 billion into the company.
Two years later, Volkswagen’s new Scout has revealed two vehicles: the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck, which are advertised as affordable electric off-road vehicles built in the USA. One of the big selling points: more chunky mechanical buttons and fewer software controls. Oh, and an expected starting price under $60,000 before incentives.
Scout says it will start building the Traveler and Terra in late 2026, with a full production ramp in 2027. Can Scout pull off the modernized resurrection of a classic SUV and deliver it at a competitive price point compared to other electric off-roaders like Rivian’s R1S and the upcoming $45,000 R2? Does it help Scout that VW is now a significant investor in Rivian? Follow along below to find out where Scout is heading.
- Scout’s first EVs pushed to 2028.
The SUV pioneer owned by Volkswagen won’t start production on its first EVs, the Terra truck and the Traveler SUV, until 2028, not 2027 as originally planned, German publication Der Spiegel reports (as noted by The Drive). Given the dour mood around EVs these days, a one-year production delay isn’t the worse news.
VW and Audi dealers are suing Scout over its no-dealers plan
Image: Scout MotorsA coterie of Florida car dealers filed a lawsuit this week against Scout Motors over its direct-to-consumer sales model. The complaint alleges that Scout, which operates under the Volkswagen Group, is in violation of Florida law which blocks automakers from trying to bypass dealers by selling directly to consumers.
The suit, which was filed by nearly two dozen Audi and VW dealers, asserts that Scout’s plan to sell its vehicles in Florida is “unlawful” since it has yet to secure a license from the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The dealers are seeking a court injunction blocking Scout from selling directly to Florida residents.
Read Article >Scout Motors’ plan to ditch dealers is exactly what customers want
Image: Scout MotorsLess than 12 hours after Scout Motors unveiled a pair of buzzy electrified vehicles last week, car dealers started threatening lawsuits.
Scout, which is backed by Volkswagen, thinks that dealers are history. It would rather sell its EVs directly to consumers, following in the footsteps of Tesla, Rivian, and Polestar in completely rethinking the business of car selling. But unlike those brands, it’s doing so while receiving financial support from an incumbent automaker: VW.
Read Article >- Think Scout is just ripping off Rivian?
Think again, says The Autopian’s Jason Torchinsky, who has a highly detailed breakdown of the new Terra and Traveler EVs designs, as well as a thorough debunking of the sentiment that they’re just Rivian clones. I’ve personally read over a dozen comments on our own story accusing Scout of copying Rivian’s R1 designs. Like, you do know this company existed over 50 years before Rivian was even a glimmer in RJ Scaringe’s eye, right?
- Scout’s charge port looks... busy.
Scout’s Terra and Traveler EVs will come with the Tesla charging port, also known as NACS, right out of the factory. Unlike other EV makers, the company won’t have to bumble through an CCS-to-NACS adapter phase with customers. Both Scout EVs will come with an 800-volt architecture, so charging should be very fast. And as you can see, it will have plenty of 120-volt plugs too!
Plugs upon plugs. Image: Abigail Bassett Scout Motors mounts an electric comeback with new SUV and truck concepts
Image: Scout MotorsDecades ago, Scout Motors helped introduce America to the “sport utility vehicle,” a quirky new automobile that would eventually come to dominate our roads. The brand went bust in 1980 — but now, it’s back, and it’s all-electric.
Scout, which is now an independent company under the Volkswagen Group, introduced its first new-concept vehicles today: the Terra truck and the Traveler SUV. Both vehicles are body-on-frame, sitting on top a brand-new EV platform unique to Scout. And both could start at under $60,000 (without incentives) when production begins in 2027.
Read Article >- Here are the new Scout Terra truck and Traveler SUV.
Volkswagen is reviving the defunct brand as an off-roading electric vehicle for distinctly American tastes. At the reveal event in Tennessee, Scout executives are really emphasizing the mechanical, tactile controls, trying to draw a contrast to chilly, minimalist EVs with touchscreen controls. Our full write-up will go live in just a few minutes.
1/4Image: Abigail Bassett - Scout Motors is relaunching as an EV-only brand — and you can watch the reveal.
The VW-backed company is holding an event in Tennessee today to reveal its first EV concepts. You can tune in to the livestream through the brand’s website. And be sure to stick around and read our full rundown later in the evening.
Could we be getting a truck and an SUV? Only time will tell. Image: Scout Motors - Scout Motors sets a date for its first EV reveal.
The SUV pioneer that is now owned by Volkswagen plans on revealing its first battery-powered vehicle on October 24th, according to a banner on the company’s site. No specifics yet, but we’re likely to get a truck and/or an SUV, something designed for off-roading, while also being perfectly at home in a Target parking lot. Expect lots of “chunky” buttons.
You can’t see it, but the compass is slowly moving. Screenshot: Scout Motors VW will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian as part of new EV joint venture
Image: RivianVolkswagen is investing $1 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform. Rivian will receive an additional $4 billion over time, for a total sum of $5 billion.
The joint venture will be co-owned by Rivian and VW Group, which oversees brands like Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and its flagship Volkswagen. The two companies will introduce vehicles developed from the joint venture in the “second half of the decade,” they announced.
Read Article >Scout Motors wants to put the ‘mechanical’ back into electric trucks
“The godfather is returning,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh said. “If you think about it, Scout sort of invented the segment.” Image: ScoutTypically, when there’s a groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory, all the executives line up with their commemorative golden shovels and pose for photos throwing the first patch of dirt.
But Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh didn’t want to play any “fake shovel games” for the groundbreaking of his company’s new factory outside Columbia, South Carolina.
Read Article >Volkswagen names a new CEO to run its electric truck and SUV spinoff Scout
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThe electric rebirth of Scout, the classic off-road SUV brand, is getting real this week as Volkswagen names Scott Keogh as CEO of its new spinoff company. The former head of VW Group America, as initially reported by Axios, pushed for VW to start a new electric truck line after seeing a fully restored vintage Scout: “the rights to the brand were just sitting there,” Keogh said.
VW acquired the Scout brand through a 2020 merger of its commercial trucking company Traton with Navistar, which the German automaker initially bought part of in 2016. In May, it was reported that VW Group is willing to pump $1 billion into the new Scout brand and set goals to sell a quarter million electric off-roaders under the name annually starting in 2026.
Read Article >Volkswagen reportedly will resurrect Scout as an off-road EV brand for the US
The first model, a 1961 Scout 80, in pickup style with removable hardtop. DutchtowerVolkswagen is considering resurrecting the SUV pioneer Scout as an off-road electric vehicle brand, according to TechCrunch. The brand would be focused on the US market, where it would likely compete with popular nameplates like the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco.
According to TechCrunch, VW’s board of directors is set to approve the plan on Wednesday. The plan envisions Scout operating as a subsidiary of VW, much like Audi, Skoda, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bentley.
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