Scout Motors Unveil

[00:00:21] Hello everyone and welcome to Kilowatt, a podcast about electric vehicles, renewable energy, autonomous driving, and much, much more. My name is Bodhi and I am your host. On today's episode, we are going to talk about EV news, but not Tesla news. We will get to Tesla's news on our next news episode. It just so happens that we had a lot of Tesla last episode, so I thought we'd give the other car companies a little bit of time and love. Time and love.

[00:00:51] Let's start our love off with Waymo. Waymo recently raised another $5.6 billion. Alphabet, Waymo's parent company, led the funding round with, I don't know, seven or eight other companies to make up the $5.6 billion, which is a lot of money, but also not a lot of money when it comes to this stuff.

[00:01:14] Waymo is planning on using the $5.6 billion to expand services to other areas here in the United States. I would expect that they will start testing in areas that don't have, you know, perfect weather 366 days out of the year. I mean, I could be wrong on that. And by the way, before anybody emails me, I said 366 on purpose to be funny. Don't email me. All right. Ford is giving fleets a

[00:01:44] $7,500 discount on the F-150 Lightning Pro. That means that a fleet operator could get up to $15,000 off per Lightning Pro. That's the $7,500 discount that Ford's giving and the $7,500 tax credit that the U.S. is giving. Not a bad deal if you are a fleet operator and you qualify.

[00:02:08] I don't know exactly what the specific qualifications are for companies and the $7,500 tax credit. So do your due diligence. But I do know we have some people in the audience who do operate fleets. So go get them.

[00:02:24] Lucid's first SUV, the Lucid Gravity will be out by the end of the year. Now that's really soon. So I'm going to run down the detailed specs on the Lucid Gravity. It has three rows and it's electric. There we go. I finished the specs.

[00:02:44] It's going to start at $79,900. But just because it starts at that price doesn't mean those are going to be the models that Lucid initially ships. Usually they ship the mid to higher end tiers.

[00:03:00] And they do this one because, you know, they're working out their production problems and two because it makes them more money to start. But yeah, that that's that model that initially shipping model is going to be $94,900. I can't remember if it's the touring or the grand touring, but doesn't matter.

[00:03:22] It's just a stupid expensive car that most people can't afford. So congratulations to Lucid, though. I know they've been working really hard on the gravity and I don't mean to be dismissive. I'm just in a goofy mood this morning.

[00:03:37] So, yeah, it's going to be a good thing for the company. I'm sure not as good as Peter Rawlinson thinks it is. Peter Rawlinson thinks that it's they're going to sell, you know, tens of thousands and they'll probably sell thousands.

[00:03:53] This is a hard market to be in. You have the Model X, you have the Mercedes products, you have the BMW products at that tier, and then you have Rivians.

[00:04:05] So you have a crowded marketplace with a price that select few can afford. I mean, there's plenty of people out there who could buy this car if they want to, but there's all sorts of other options out there as well. So we'll see how it goes.

[00:04:20] I really do hope success on Lucid. I just based on Peter Rawlinson's previous statements about the Lucid Air Gravity, I think it's going to perform well for Lucid.

[00:04:34] I don't think it's going to perform as well as Peter says it is.

[00:04:40] Let's move on to Rivian.

[00:04:44] According to reports, the Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois is racking up some safety violations. Rivian has received 16 serious violations from OSHA.

[00:04:57] So if you're like, well, what is a serious violation?

[00:05:00] Well, a serious violation is one that the employer knows about and it involves a health or safety hazard and that employer has done nothing to correct it.

[00:05:12] Rivian had a total of 16 serious safety violations.

[00:05:16] Companies like Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Tesla, Chrysler, they received less than 10, not together, but each of them received less than 10.

[00:05:25] Although Tesla and Chrysler did have some repeat violations that they didn't fix, which actually carry heavier fines from OSHA.

[00:05:36] Interesting enough, and this is, you know, complete side jag here, but Subaru didn't have any violations.

[00:05:42] So congratulations to Subaru.

[00:05:44] Anyway, back to the actual story that we're talking about today.

[00:05:48] Bloomberg broke the story and some of the issues that were cited were lack of safety training and lack of proper equipment, which resulted in back injuries, amputated fingers.

[00:06:02] There was one story where an employee who worked in the paint shop, what didn't have proper respiratory protection, got sick and then threw up Rivian blue colored vomit.

[00:06:18] So Rivian blue is the blue, obviously, that Rivian has for their vehicles.

[00:06:22] So if true, not great, Bob, for sure.

[00:06:27] Here's what Rivian had to say about that.

[00:06:30] The safety of everyone at Rivian is our top priority.

[00:06:33] We are continually improving our processes and have not received any serious citations this year.

[00:06:40] It's incredibly disappointing to see how Bloomberg has misrepresented the facts of this story.

[00:06:46] Since January 2023, Rivian has received two serious OSHA citations.

[00:06:53] Initial criticisms should not be confused as final citations and to suggest otherwise is incredibly misleading.

[00:07:02] Now, I do know that in the world of government regulations, when it comes to OSHA and, you know, just even the fire stuff that we have, there are there might be wording for a violation that seems worse than it really is.

[00:07:19] Not saying it is worse or not worse.

[00:07:23] I'm just saying there are terms that are sometimes used that may seem like something is worse than it really is.

[00:07:30] If somebody really did throw up Rivian blue colored vomit, then, you know, taking governmental agencies out of this, that's a problem.

[00:07:40] And again, if this did happen, and I don't know if it did or not, there is either the lack of proper equipment, like the article stated, or the lack of training on how to use the equipment.

[00:07:52] And then there's another thing that kind of goes into this is employee negligence when it comes to following safety rules.

[00:08:02] Sometimes employees will push the boundaries for convenience.

[00:08:08] You know, they'll dance on that line of what the company says is safe and what they think is safe.

[00:08:16] I don't know what the instances here.

[00:08:19] I'm not calling out the employees.

[00:08:20] I'm not calling out Rivian because I just don't know if it's true.

[00:08:23] I'm just saying there are many factors that could cause this.

[00:08:27] And if it's true and it should be easy for the, you know, Bloomberg to find out this information that since January 2023, Rivian has only received two serious OSHA citations.

[00:08:43] And then, you know, they might have to walk this story back.

[00:08:49] Let's go ahead and move on to Volkswagen.

[00:08:53] Volkswagen is planning massively off in plant closures.

[00:08:57] One of the plants they're considering closing is in Germany.

[00:09:00] Another one's in Brussels.

[00:09:02] It looks like they are going to close that one.

[00:09:04] But they've not closed the plant in Germany ever.

[00:09:09] Never, ever.

[00:09:10] So this will kind of be a big deal if they have to do that.

[00:09:14] In total, they're looking at closing three plants, which could cost or not could, will cost thousands of people their jobs.

[00:09:23] VW is also considering, in addition to these other things, not in lieu of, but in addition to cutting salaries by 10%.

[00:09:31] So that's a pretty good chunk.

[00:09:34] So VW is struggling at the moment.

[00:09:37] And some are blaming this on Chinese automakers.

[00:09:43] And that could be 100% true.

[00:09:44] It could be that the Chinese automakers are coming in.

[00:09:47] Their vehicles are pretty good and very cheap or very affordable.

[00:09:53] Companies like BYD and NIO, they're putting pressure not just on VW, but all European automakers because of this.

[00:10:02] VW just seems like they might be the one that is feeling it the most.

[00:10:06] And look, there's more that goes into this kind of thing than a few Chinese electric vehicles coming into the European market.

[00:10:15] Yes, that is a factor.

[00:10:16] But there's other things that VW has had in its not so recent past or not so distant past that has caused them problems long term.

[00:10:28] So, you know, you have Dieselgate and we'll just start with that.

[00:10:34] And then from Dieselgate, you just kind of move up to things like, you know, the ID3, ID4 and all the software problems that they had.

[00:10:45] And then they started shipping the ID4s still with some of the software problems.

[00:10:51] And then, you know, they've just they've struggled a little bit.

[00:10:55] But I do think VW is building a good car.

[00:10:59] Is it the best car out there?

[00:11:01] Probably not.

[00:11:03] They could definitely.

[00:11:05] And when I say VW, I mean VW Group in general.

[00:11:08] They could definitely improve on some of that stuff.

[00:11:13] I still think the ID4 is a really cool looking vehicle.

[00:11:16] You know, they just they they they've had a hard time of it here in the United States.

[00:11:22] And it sounds like in Europe and the rest of the world as well.

[00:11:25] To blame this solely on Chinese automakers, though, I don't know that that's 100% accurate.

[00:11:31] Although it doesn't help when, you know, Neo recently started delivering their Envo L60, which is a Model Y competitor that starts at $21,000.

[00:11:41] At the moment, that's just in China.

[00:11:45] Right.

[00:11:46] But to give you a comparison, the Model Y in China starts at $35,000.

[00:11:51] So a competitor for or competitor to the Model Y is $14,000 cheaper.

[00:11:58] And by all accounts, the Envo L60 is a very, very good looking vehicle.

[00:12:03] And then you have like the Envo brand, the more affordable brand of Neo.

[00:12:11] Every year, they're going to come out with a new model.

[00:12:14] So in 2025, it's expected to be an actual SUV instead of a crossover, which will likely be a bigger growth driver for the company.

[00:12:25] And yeah, I mean, we'll have to wait to see what Neo has up its sleeve.

[00:12:29] But they are definitely making a difference.

[00:12:33] BYD is same thing with their vehicles.

[00:12:36] Just kind of as another note here, Neo is expanding to the Middle East and North Africa.

[00:12:42] So I just want to reiterate here, you know, it's probably irresponsible to blame the entire situation that Volkswagen is going through on Chinese automakers.

[00:12:54] It's easy to do in an article that's, you know, 1500 words or whatever.

[00:12:58] But in reality, there's a lot going on with Volkswagen at the moment.

[00:13:03] But, you know, on the other side, these Chinese automakers aren't making it easy for sure.

[00:13:09] And I think the tariffs start taking place in November.

[00:13:12] So we'll see if that helps out Volkswagen at all.

[00:13:16] My guess is if it does, it won't be in any meaningful way because, you know, the Chinese automakers like, again, Neo and BYD, their software is pretty good.

[00:13:29] Volkswagen software is OK.

[00:13:31] You know, there's still a lot to go there.

[00:13:34] So and it's something that Volkswagen recognized to the tune of five billion dollars to Rivian to help them develop their software and some of the other things that goes into their car, not just for the infotainment stuff, but for the back end as well.

[00:13:46] So kind of staying on the topic of Volkswagen Group, Scout Motors is, you know, in Volkswagen Group.

[00:13:56] If you are old enough, you'll remember there was a company called International Harvester.

[00:14:01] They built the International Scout from the years between 1961 and 1980.

[00:14:08] Interesting enough, they only delivered 530,000 Scout vehicles during the time that they were operating.

[00:14:18] But these were really cool looking work trucks and off-roading.

[00:14:24] I mean, I don't know if it was such a big thing as it is now back then.

[00:14:28] And if you're not old enough to remember what one of these vehicles look like, go to Google Images and type in original Scout SUV or original Scout pickup.

[00:14:37] They are small and boxy, two-wheel drive, not two-wheel drive, excuse me, two-door vehicles.

[00:14:43] Looked really cool.

[00:14:46] All right, let's get to modern day times here.

[00:14:51] We have updated versions of both vehicles.

[00:14:56] Scout Motors gave a 45-minute presentation this week.

[00:15:00] And I know that I said that I was going to have a, like a kilowatt community event where people could come on and we could discuss this.

[00:15:12] Honestly, this wasn't a great presentation for that because they didn't give us a lot of information about the vehicles themselves.

[00:15:19] They told a 45-minute story.

[00:15:22] And I would encourage everyone to go, and I'll try to remember to put the link in the show notes.

[00:15:26] But I'll encourage everyone to go and watch the 45-minute presentation because you can see the passion that everybody on stage has for that vehicle.

[00:15:36] They even spoke about one of the, I think she's an engineer.

[00:15:44] When she was a little girl, her dad worked for International Harvester building these vehicles, and now she's working for the company.

[00:15:53] And they had a cool little, you know, like commercial, heartwarming commercial kind of telling that story.

[00:15:59] But they didn't give a lot of details on the vehicle.

[00:16:04] They gave us a lot of story or context as to why they made certain design decisions.

[00:16:10] But I didn't know, I didn't think that it would play really well over an audio format.

[00:16:16] So I decided that we'll just talk about it here today.

[00:16:20] But I still plan on doing a community-involved episode of some sort.

[00:16:26] Just this one I don't think would have worked very well.

[00:16:30] So here's what we know about the Scout vehicles.

[00:16:35] First of all, they're all electric, which, you know, I think that was a pretty good guess to this point.

[00:16:41] The Scout pickup truck is called the Terra, and the SUV is called the Traveler.

[00:16:47] Instead of two doors, they're actually four doors.

[00:16:49] So that has kind of created some people to point out that both vehicles look a lot or took some design cues from the Rivian R1T and the R1S, respectively.

[00:17:02] Right?

[00:17:03] But I would argue that the Rivian R1T and Rivian R1S took design cues from the original Scout vehicles.

[00:17:11] Right?

[00:17:13] And you add a little bit of the Ford Bronco into that mix as well.

[00:17:18] Because the original Scout vehicles were just these kind of boxy, it was a boxy truck and a boxy SUV.

[00:17:25] Two doors.

[00:17:25] You throw a second set of doors on the back, and it's going to look similar to anything that is a box design.

[00:17:37] So I would say, yeah, these vehicles look a lot alike one another.

[00:17:42] I would say they're all probably sharing some design cues from the original Scout vehicles.

[00:17:48] Because it looks cool.

[00:17:49] It's a cool-looking vehicle.

[00:17:51] It's iconic.

[00:17:52] Why wouldn't you take some inspiration from it?

[00:17:57] So let's talk about the exterior of the truck.

[00:17:59] We'll start with the frunk.

[00:18:01] Looks like it's pretty sizable.

[00:18:03] You can fit the, you know, golf clubs in there.

[00:18:05] There's also some 120-volt outlets.

[00:18:09] And you can plug a few USB-C devices if you would like to do that.

[00:18:16] One of the things that I thought was really cool is the Traveler, the SUV version, has a spare tire on the back.

[00:18:23] So first of all, it makes it look like it's an off-road vehicle.

[00:18:26] And second of all, it's an EV that comes with a spare tire, which you don't really find all that often anymore.

[00:18:32] I'm not sure if the Terra comes with a spare tire or not.

[00:18:36] If it did, you would likely have to have it installed in the bed.

[00:18:40] Because it's unlikely because of the battery pack that it would fit under the bed.

[00:18:45] But it's a beautiful-looking vehicle.

[00:18:47] There was lots of cool things that they talked about in terms of design.

[00:18:51] I'm not really going to go into that.

[00:18:52] Again, I would encourage you to go watch the video yourself.

[00:18:55] The interior was beautiful.

[00:18:58] A bunch of really nice mixes, right?

[00:19:01] You had the touchscreens, but you also had physical buttons.

[00:19:06] One of the things that they talked about during the presentation is if you want to turn the volume up,

[00:19:11] you shouldn't have to hunt and peck on a touchscreen.

[00:19:14] You should be able to just turn it off.

[00:19:15] I agree with that.

[00:19:17] Could there be too many physical buttons?

[00:19:19] There look like a lot of physical buttons on there.

[00:19:21] And I would assume they all do something and they're not just there for aesthetic purposes.

[00:19:28] But yeah, if you could easily just turn the knob a little bit to turn up the volume of your vehicle, you're great.

[00:19:35] I can do this on my steering wheel, on my Tesla, so it's not that big of a deal.

[00:19:40] But yes, definitely physical buttons.

[00:19:43] People like that for sure.

[00:19:47] What about the actual software?

[00:19:49] Um, that's powering the vehicle.

[00:19:52] One might assume that the joint venture between Rivian and Volkswagen, uh, to create software for Volkswagen vehicles and Rivian vehicles that Scout would use this software, right?

[00:20:06] But Scout leadership, I can't remember if it was the CEO or whoever said it, said that that's something that the joint venture would announce.

[00:20:13] So they're not going to announce that at this time.

[00:20:16] But I would guess, yes, that's the case.

[00:20:19] The, let's see, you'll be able to do over-the-air updates, which, you know, everybody should be able to do that at this point in time.

[00:20:26] The vehicle will be able to run remote diagnostics on itself.

[00:20:30] So if there's an issue, it's already sent to Scout and they're aware of it when you schedule your appointment to get it fixed.

[00:20:38] They're also going to have a mix of standard repair bays and then on-site service.

[00:20:45] So if it could be done at your home or at your work, you'll be able to do that as well.

[00:20:50] If, if that could be done that way, one of the coolest features about the interior is you'll be able to have an optional bench seat in the front.

[00:21:00] Now this can't happen anymore because of seatbelt laws and just, you know, general, uh, responsible parenting.

[00:21:10] But when I was a little guy, I used to stand on the bench seat right next to my grandpa or my dad or my uncles or whoever was driving.

[00:21:18] And, you know, I would just be hanging out with them, like just standing there, which seems incredibly unsafe by today's standards.

[00:21:26] But back then it was totally acceptable.

[00:21:28] Uh, if I was sitting down, I got to shift the truck and, and it was, it was magical memories for me.

[00:21:36] Not sure that's going to be a magical memory for anybody else.

[00:21:42] Today's day and age.

[00:21:43] And I am of the age where I could, you know, at some point in time, uh, become a grandpa.

[00:21:49] I do have a, an older child who is, you know, capable of having children, whether if she will or not, that's up to her.

[00:21:57] But so one day I could be driving around on my scout, have her child, my grandchild standing next to me.

[00:22:04] I'm just kidding.

[00:22:05] Um, no, but the bench seat is something that a lot of people look on fondly of, you know, it was just, it was a more intimate time.

[00:22:15] When you were, you had three people across and sometimes four and five people across that bench seat.

[00:22:22] Nobody's wearing a seatbelt.

[00:22:23] I don't know.

[00:22:24] I'm talking about things that I have fond memories of that are just not a good idea to do today.

[00:22:30] But bench seat, a lot of people are excited about the bench seat.

[00:22:34] Moving on to the vehicles themselves.

[00:22:35] They're built for a variety of use cases, including off-roading.

[00:22:39] Like if you build a vehicle for off-roading, you could drive it to the office every day and you don't have to worry about any of this stuff.

[00:22:46] But if you're into off-roading, then you will want to know that it's a body on frame chassis for both vehicles, solid rear and front axle, rear mechanical differential locking or locking differentials.

[00:22:59] Again, if you're into off-roading, you know why this is important.

[00:23:03] If you're not, you're like me.

[00:23:04] Both vehicles will have up to 350 mile range.

[00:23:09] Although if you want a range extender, which is basically a gas generator, it'll get you an extra 500 miles.

[00:23:17] The generator is powered by gas and then that charges the batteries.

[00:23:21] Think like the Chevy Volt or Volt, not Volt.

[00:23:26] Speaking of Volts, this car will be powered by an 800 volt architecture.

[00:23:31] It'll have NACS ports and can charge up to 350 kilowatts.

[00:23:38] So pretty fast charging there.

[00:23:43] This part is a little contentious.

[00:23:46] This is going to be sold directly to consumers.

[00:23:49] Dealers are not having it, though.

[00:23:51] They are very upset about this and they're going to fight it.

[00:23:55] So we'll see where that goes.

[00:23:58] Instead of dealers, Scout is planning on having retail spaces called Scout Workshops.

[00:24:06] This is pretty common for direct-to-sales automakers.

[00:24:12] Although it's usually more common in the startups and not, you know, a company that happens to be a part of a very big automotive group like VW Group.

[00:24:22] But Scout several times in the presentation said that they are a startup and they're acting like a startup.

[00:24:31] They also have the funding of a very large automotive group, which, you know, granted right now is not doing that well.

[00:24:38] But VW definitely has plenty of money for now.

[00:24:43] Production is expected to begin in 2027 at Scout's South Carolina plant.

[00:24:50] But both EVs will have a starting price less than $60,000.

[00:24:55] And as of right now, they both qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit.

[00:25:02] Who knows if that's still going to be around in 2027.

[00:25:06] So don't rely on that.

[00:25:08] If you want to pre-order one, it just takes a $100 deposit.

[00:25:12] It sounds like, according to early reports, the Traveler, the SUV version, is getting the majority of the pre-orders.

[00:25:20] If it were me, though, and I'm, granted, I keep my cars for much longer than most people do.

[00:25:27] But if it were me purchasing this vehicle, I would buy the Terra.

[00:25:31] I'd buy the pickup truck.

[00:25:34] All right, everybody, that is it for me this episode.

[00:25:38] On Friday's episode, I am breaking down General Motors earnings call.

[00:25:43] GM had a pretty good quarter when it comes to EVs, so we'll talk about that.

[00:25:48] And, yeah, it should be out mostly on time.

[00:25:52] I'm trying to give it a little bit of space.

[00:25:54] I released our last episode on Sunday, this episode on Wednesday.

[00:25:57] So expect Friday's episode late Friday.

[00:26:02] So there's a little bit of space between episodes, and then we should be back on a normal schedule.

[00:26:08] All right, everybody.

[00:26:10] I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I will talk to you on Friday.