COLUMBIA – Scout unveiled its two Scout vehicles to South Carolina Friday night – The Traveler SUV and The Terra truck – before a crowd of about 150 state, county, and local elected officials, including Blythewood’s County Council Representative Derrek Pugh, Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin, Blythewood Councilwoman Erica Page, Fairfield County Senator-elect Everett Stubbs and Blythewood Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Deb Dollarhide.
Scout CEO Scott Keogh presented the vehicles Friday night during a reception at 701 Whaley in downtown Columbia.
“This is a substantial endeavor,” Keogh said of bringing back the Scout.
“We will move quickly. We want to know that 200,000 cars and the factory construction is on time – three million square feet of building going up as we speak: the parts shop, body shop and assembly shop. Ideally, we’ll get all these shops sealed in the first quarter and start putting equipment in next year. Come see the plant,” he said. “It’s magical what’s happening there.” That was the first of several references Keogh made to Disneyworld.
“We want to build a cool experience – call it Disneyworld, Scoutville or Scoutland – we want America to come here, drive these cars, take them off road, take them everywhere. We want to deliver these cars out of here and show them the Scout magic,” he said.
Keogh talked about the size of the operation – 1,100 acres of facilities. But he said the most important thing is the jobs Scout will create – 4,000 real jobs directly in the plant, with real benefits: health care, child care, and access to 21st century training for jobs that he says will transfer in the future.
“On top of that we have 5,000 jobs coming from the supply base,” he said. “We anticipate a big portion of these suppliers will be in South Carolina.”
Keogh said he wants to put Columbia and Blythewood on the map.
“We want the world to see us as a really cool company doing really cool things in a really cool state.”
With that, the black covers were pulled to reveal the two vehicles to the cheers and applause of the crowd.
Keogh also talked about the addition of a gas generator to Scout’s EV SUV and truck.
“We’ve been listening to the market and took on this super idea. First and foremost, you will get both these vehicles as electric vehicles with a 350-mile range. There’s a market for that,” he said. “Second, keep the dry unit battery, shrink it a little, and add a super cool engine off the rear axle.”
The optional extended range system, called Harvester, will include a small gas-powered engine that will recharge the vehicle’s high voltage battery when needed, extending the 350-mile electric power range to more than an estimated 500 miles. That means drivers can refuel anywhere they can find a pump or a plug, without losing the packaging and performance benefits of a 21st-century electric vehicle.
“You get everything you want in a Scout, off road and no compromise, and you still keep the EV,” he said.
“No matter which way the future tides flow, we can go in either direction,” Keogh said. “We won’t be stuck if there’s a shift.”
Following the presentation, those attending swarmed the two vehicles, snapping selfies standing next to them and behind the wheel.
The vehicles were on display at the USC/Missouri game on Saturday.
Read more about the vehicles unveiled Friday night in the Nov. 21 issue of The Voice.