- VW’s new Scout-branded vehicles and SUVs are scheduled for 2026, and now we all know they are going to be constructed within the Palmetto State.
- The $2 billion plant will create an estimated 4000 jobs and can have the ability to produce 200,000 EVs a 12 months.
- Presently, VW builds the ID.4 in Chattanooga and has plans to extend EV manufacturing there, however the South Carolina plan will probably be Scout-specific.
Volkswagen will construct electrical autos for its upcoming Scout Motors model in South Carolina, the corporate introduced this week. The EV plant will probably be VW’s second car manufacturing facility within the U.S., nevertheless it will not make something however Scout fashions.
VW’s board of administration has introduced that the corporate will construct a brand new meeting plant for Scout autos in Blythewood, South Carolina, at a value of $2 billion. The plant is predicted to start producing an electrical pickup truck and “rugged” SUVs with the Scout title in 2026. The brand new Scout EV plant will create an estimated 4000 jobs and have the ability to make over 200,000 autos a 12 months when absolutely operational. These will all be Scout autos, not EVs for different VW manufacturers, a VW spokesperson informed Automotive Information.
VW presently operates one manufacturing unit within the U.S., in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The corporate introduced final Might that it’ll spend over $7 billion in North America over 5 years to “increase its product portfolio, regional R&D, and manufacturing capabilities” within the area. Volkswagen began constructing the ID.4 in Chattanooga in July 2022, with plans to supply 7000 EVs a month. This quantity ought to improve all through 2023. The automaker additionally began up a battery engineering laboratory in Chattanooga final 12 months and has stated it intends to “construct up” battery cell manufacturing within the U.S.
The brand new Scout plant suits in with different commitments VW made as a part of the $7.1 billion announcement from final Might. At the moment, VW stated it will launch not solely the American-assembled ID.4 in 2022 but additionally the ID. Buzz in 2024 and “new electrical SUVs from 2026.” VW additionally builds EVs in Europe and China and has talked a couple of new Canadian battery plant.
VW took management of the Scout model in 2021 when it acquired Navistar (which was the successor to Worldwide Harvester, which created the unique Scout). VW formally revived the model in 2022. Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh, previously CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America, wrote in regards to the plant on LinkedIn and stated that “What began in 1960 comes full circle at the moment. Scout is as soon as once more reimagining the adventures that an off-road car can ship – solely this time, it is with an all-electric platform. As we speak, we’re nearer than ever to placing an vital American icon on the street.”
Nowhere in these manufacturing unit bulletins did we be taught any particulars in regards to the autos themselves, however Keogh’s phrases trace at some all-electric outside enjoyable is on the best way. “Scout has at all times been the car that takes your loved ones tenting and in addition exhibits up on the job web site each morning,” he wrote. “This isn’t altering. Scout’s versatility stays intact, and America’s love of driving will probably be revived.”
Contributing Editor
Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electrical autos, hybrids, and hydrogen vehicles since 2006. His articles and automotive critiques have appeared within the New York Instances, Automotive Information, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Vehicles.com, Automotive Discuss, and different shops. His first green-car media occasion was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been monitoring the shift away from gasoline-powered autos and discovering the brand new expertise’s significance not only for the auto business, however for the world as a complete. Throw within the latest shift to autonomous autos, and there are extra attention-grabbing modifications occurring now than most individuals can wrap their heads round. Yow will discover him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a brand new EV.