🎶 You Know It Makes Me Wanna Scout! 🎶

Hello! Let’s start with some housekeeping. With my schedule this week being pretty jam-packed (including the Scout reveal), there’ll be only one issue this week. Based on analytics, the Tuesday drop is more popular than the Thursday one, so many of you might not even notice.

In This Issue

• Scouting the Future

• Automotive Is Big In This Election

Scouting the Future

As I’ve alluded to a few times, the first reveal of the revived Scout brand is very, very soon. It’s not too often that we’re exposed to a new brand here in North America (yes, it’s technically not new new, but you know what I mean), and there’s a lot at stake.

While I have no inside information, I do have a lot of thoughts about how Scout could succeed and what it needs to do in order to succeed. In some ways, success depends on how independent the brand can be from its VW roots.

Yesterday (at the time of this publishing), first drive impressions dropped for the VW ID. Buzz for North America. It’s a vehicle that has been seemingly teased forever, and while other markets have been living with it for a while, it started to feel like Volkswagen completely forgot about us.

Not true. But the ID. Buzz hits U.S. shores with a reasonably hefty price tag for a reasonably low amount of range. The 91 kWh battery pack is good for an EPA-rated 234 miles in RWD trim, and 231 miles in AWD trim. As my friend Stephen Edelstein mentions in his review, “the MEB platform was engineered for volume production first and efficiency second.”

Range isn’t the be all, end all when it comes to EV ownership. But reduced range in a vehicle that starts at $60,000 and is not luxury-focused does make the product more difficult to sell.

(Editor’s note: Wait, I’m the editor! That doesn’t mean they won’t sell a bunch of ID. Buzzes. I just think there’s a bit of sticker shock in the starting price.)

I don’t expect off-road-focused vehicles from Scout to lead the industry on range. The type of vehicle(s) I’m expecting from the company are ones that typically aren’t aerodynamically efficient, and typically sport tires that are better for grip off road than rolling resistance on road.

What I hope is Scout can deliver on starting price. Most mainstream EVs these days start in the mid-$40k range. Now we can argue that’s still a ton of money, that appears to be the range for a bunch of EVs that are targeting the lower meat of the market.

I want whatever Scout offering to start in this range, too. If there is only a higher-end, premium offering that commands a higher price, that’d probably be ok. But that’s the area Rivian already plays in. A $47k-ish off-road-inspired Scout powered entirely by electricity with decent charge speeds could be a fun and compelling product.

Did you know if you’re a subscriber to this newsletter there’s a comment section for each of these posts? I’d love to hear from you there with your thoughts about Scout.