- Scout is constructing a $2 billion plant in South Carolina
- A part of the build-out consists of the flexibility to deal with contract manufacturing, or constructing automobiles for different automakers like VW
- This might assist fund Scout’s ventures and even end in cross-brand tech sharing sooner or later
Scout Motors, the off-road, U.S.-centric model spun off from Volkswagen, is on the brink of root itself in South Carolina. When its $2 billion Palmetto State plant comes on-line in 2027, it is working to set the model up for fulfillment—and never simply with its personal two introductory vans.
See, Scout goes about this in a reasonably good manner. Seemingly not like Volkswagen, Scout has a spotlight in the case of EVs. It is not about creating home equipment, it is about creating a way of life product {that a} shopper actually needs. And, positive, there’s going to be some tech sharing occurring amongst mother or father and baby manufacturers, which is why Scout is hitting the gymnasium early so it might flex its manufacturing muscle mass to the entire automotive trade.
Photograph by: Scout Motors
The Blythewood-based facility can have a three-phase launch. Based on Joern Petri, the automaker’s VP of Plant Launch, the primary section will probably be all about getting the doorways open and pumping out the Traveler SUV adopted by the Terra pickup. After it will get its footing, the plant will proceed to ramp up manufacturing to output round 200,000 automobiles per yr. And as soon as it does that? Properly, that is the place issues get attention-grabbing.
Scout really constructed its plant with contract manufacturing in thoughts. That implies that will probably be in a position to construct automobiles for different OEMs (like Volkswagen) out of the identical facility, permitting it to share its cool tech and instruments throughout manufacturers whereas serving to automakers meet U.S. manufacturing necessities for automobiles to qualify for the federal EV tax necessities with out the model constructing a complete new manufacturing facility by itself. A win-win, in case you ask me.
“We arrange the manufacturing facility in a manner that contract manufacturing is feasible for different VW manufacturers, or whoever is ,” stated Petri throughout a presentation late final month.
It additionally means a speedy launch of another fashions that Scout has deliberate sooner or later. I assume that is higher futureproofing than establishing a bunch of tents, proper?
Scout’s plant can be set as much as be fully modular. The already large plant is architected form of like Legos, that means that if the necessity for enlargement is there, the model can merely snap on some extra manufacturing facility and proceed constructing. The structure and land are each already there, so understanding that it might double manufacturing capability on very quick discover ought to be a optimistic for any automaker trying to reap the benefits of the model’s supply to deal with contract manufacturing.
All of that being stated, it is probably that Scout will not attain that time till nearer to the highest of the last decade. So whereas all OEMs proceed to get their battery-powered butts in gear, it is good to know that there are extra choices on the market to ramp up EV manufacturing. And if these vans prove half nearly as good as the general public thinks they are going to, I am positive people would not thoughts a little bit of Scout beneath the hood.
