VW’s Scout EV Brand Seeks Cheap Battery in Push to Go Mainstream

Keith Naughton, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Scout Motors Inc., the new US electric vehicle brand backed by Volkswagen AG, is seeking out low-cost battery technology so it can reach mainstream buyers with the sport-utility vehicle it has coming in three years.

With American buyers balking at the high price of electric vehicles, Scout has been scouring battery sources for the most cost-efficient options as it prepares to build 200,000 SUVs and plug-in pickup trucks at a new $2 billion factory it broke ground on Thursday in South Carolina.

“We’re in this startup position and we’re able to pivot,” Scout Chief Executive Officer Scott Keogh said in an interview. “We are looking at battery chemistry and different battery options to decide what to go with and what’s going to give us the best trade off of range and cost.”

Scout plans to give its SUV a starting price around $50,000, which Keogh believes will appeal to mainstream buyers. The average price of an automobile in the US is about $48,000, while EVs average closer to $60,000, according to automotive researcher Edmunds.com.

“We want to be dramatically more competitive on price to get into the mainstream,” Keogh said.

VW in 2022 formally revived the Scout brand, which was sold in the US from 1960 to 1980 by International Harvester, in hopes of making a dent in the American market that has foiled the German automaker for decades. VW acquired the brand when it purchased Navistar in a deal that closed in 2021.

Keogh said the Scout SUV will aim for buyers of Ford Motor Co.’s Bronco and Stellantis NV’s Jeep Wrangler.

“We’re in the camp of what we call a rugged utility vehicle,” Keogh said. “First and foremost, they’re good off-road.”