Scout Brand To Bypass Volkswagen Dealers, Add Range Extender Engines

Join daily news updates from CleanTechnica on electronic mail. Or follow us on Google News!

The brand new Scout model from Volkswagen Group is setting off alarm bells at Volkswagen sellers in America. That’s as a result of the model intends to chop them out of the gross sales course of fully and provide prospects a 100% on-line direct gross sales mannequin. To make that occur, Scout Motors will depend on a digital platform that it’s constructing in-house. “Scout Motors doesn’t have any legacy apparatus,” Cody Thacker, Scout’s VP of development, informed The Verge just lately. “We kept asking ourselves, if an OEM could start over again, what would they do differently?”

CleanTechnica readers could also be skeptical of that declare, given Volkswagen’s travails with getting the software program in its electrical automobiles to work correctly. Lately, the corporate solid a $5.8 billion partnership with Rivian to faucet the American firm’s software program capabilities. In China, it’s paying Xpeng to carry out an analogous service. Does that bode nicely for Scout having the ability to create a complicated digital gross sales platform? The jury remains to be out on that query.

Not surprisingly, Volkswagen sellers in America are incensed. For years, they’ve been begging the corporate to offer them a pickup truck to promote. Volkswagen does promote pickup vans in different markets, however they are typically midsized choices, not the behemoths that People favor. The Scout Terra shall be a full measurement pickup truck that may compete face to face with the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, and Ram 1500. “This goes right into where 40% of the profit pools are in the US,” Keogh informed Bloomberg. “And these are the biggest single profit pools in the total global car market.” Many firms have tried to do exactly that with solely restricted success.

However, auto sellers are decidedly cool to the concept of promoting electrical autos in any respect. In an open letter to the Biden administration final yr, they argued “Americans aren’t ready for EVs” and claimed that electrical automobiles have been simply sitting on their tons regardless that a research by the Sierra Membership confirmed 66% of sellers haven’t any EVs in any respect on their tons. You possibly can’t promote from an empty wagon, individuals! That’s Gross sales 101.

Prospects Detest Sellers

The Verge says shopping for a automobile is without doubt one of the most loathed monetary transactions for People. In keeping with analysis completed by Scout, the automobile shopping for expertise consumes a median of 13 hours, 31 minutes per shopper. Simply 8% of customers have excessive or very excessive belief in sellers, leading to greater than 180,000 complaints about sellers to the Federal Commerce Fee yearly. Almost 70% of consumers favor unbiased service outlets over vendor service departments due to points like overcharging and delays. Add in that 49% of dealers are “not excited at all” to promote EVs and Scout thinks it is smart to easy out the automobile shopping for expertise.

“A big point of frustration for consumers is that they want transparency in pricing and they resent all the hidden fees and markups. Only through a direct-to-consumer model can we tackle these head on and resolve them,” Thacker mentioned. Scout envisions its gross sales platform as a spot the place prospects can do all of the issues they’d usually do at a dealership, like buy equipment, arrange service appointments, or get particulars about over the air updates. However as a substitute of chatting with a human vendor, they could as a substitute encounter an AI-powered chatbot. Scout says that it’ll launch 25 brick and mortar “Scout Workshops” and “Scout Studios” across the nation within the subsequent 5 years the place customers can check drive and find out about Scout autos.

The artist renderings Scout has introduced of the workshops all present slick wanting, ethereal areas with open work bays that enable prospects to sit down and sip espresso whereas overseeing the work being completed on their automobiles. Along with the brick-and-mortar areas, Scout can even provide customers who dwell greater than 45 minutes away from a Scout Workshop the choice to guide cell service by Scout-certified companions. Scout can even have Scout Studios, which can act as advertising and gross sales areas in varied areas across the nation.

It’s All About The Knowledge

Whereas that’s great information for potential Scout consumers, there may be extra to the direct gross sales mannequin than simply making prospects blissful. Scout additionally needs to manage buyer information extra carefully, which can enable it to focus on gross sales in sure areas, management car provides, and regulate incentives to maintain the corporate worthwhile. This isn’t a lot a replica of the Tesla gross sales mannequin as it’s a copy of the Amazon gross sales mannequin. “Only through a direct sales model can Scout Motors get a full 360 degree view of the customer,” Thacker mentioned. “This means that we can completely influence the customer journey. We can have unprecedented access to customer data, which drives deep customer insights, which can then drive intelligence throughout the business.” Dealerships at present handle a lot of the buyer information and relationships, together with financing, within the present mannequin.

Scout spokesperson Lindsay Bago informed The Verge“Just as utilizing franchised dealers may be appropriate for some brands and their customers, utilizing a direct sales model best supports our customers and our strategic customer first vision as we launch a new vehicle platform, a new production center, and a new retail network.” Scott Keogh, who was the top of Volkswagen of America, is assured the direct gross sales mannequin will work and assist the patron in the proper method. “Scout wants to be old school,” he informed The Verge. “We want a brand that you can have data trust and customer trust, because I think it’s finally into a place that people are apprehensive and rightfully so,” he continued. “We can control the customer data, secure the customer, and not badger our customers. So that’s what we’re looking to do, what it will do.”

Scout Will Provide EREV Functionality

Scout started incorporating an non-compulsory extended range version of its two fashions about 9 months in the past, Keogh informed Bloomberg. “Why did we do this? We listened,” he mentioned in an interview during which he claimed the EREV variants ought to “absolutely” resolve worries would-be EV consumers have about operating out of battery energy on lengthy drives. They can even be cheaper than comparable battery-electric fashions as a result of they’ll have the ability to make use of a smaller battery. The battery is the costliest a part of an EV. The prolonged vary fashions will have the ability to drive greater than 500 miles earlier than refueling and recharging, in contrast with the 350-mile vary anticipated from the battery-only variations of the brand new Scout fashions. If a full measurement pickup or SUV goes to have that kind of vary, a battery measurement of greater than 100 kWh is probably going. Scout has not supplied any particulars concerning the battery measurement or what the output of the onboard generator shall be in its EREV fashions.

The gasoline engine in an EREV doesn’t propel the wheels. It solely acts as an onboard generator to recharge the car’s battery. That’s all nicely and good, however CleanTechnica readers know as soon as battery energy is depleted, the output of the onboard generator determines efficiency. Since it’s usually lower than the ability obtainable from the battery pack, efficiency could also be considerably lowered, particularly if the car is closely loaded or towing a trailer. Up to now, firms going the EREV route haven’t been notably forthcoming with their prospects relating to informing them concerning the limits of the expertise.

The Traveler and Terra will arrive in 2027 and be priced beginning round $60,000, the corporate mentioned. When authorities EV incentives are factored in, the price will fall nearer to $50,000, however that assumes these incentives are nonetheless obtainable in 2027, and everyone knows concerning the phrase assume, don’t we? Keogh didn’t present worth data for the EREV variations, which shall be branded “Harvester” — a nod to Worldwide Harvester, the corporate that initially developed the Scout model. He additionally wouldn’t reveal a gross sales goal for the brand new model, though Scout expects the SUV mannequin often called Traveler will account for two-thirds of complete gross sales.

How Distinctive Will Scout Automobiles Be?

One purpose Volkswagen sellers might not be blissful is that the brand new autos from Scout will probably lean closely on present EV expertise developed by the father or mother firm. “Scout is a 100 percent separate brand, separate entity, separate structure, separate everything,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh informed The Verge. However Bloomberg experiences Scout might also might undertake some expertise from the newly introduced three way partnership with Rivian, Keogh mentioned. “There’s the possibility that that joint venture software could work its way into a Scout, absolutely,” Keogh mentioned, including that Scout hasn’t had any conversations with Rivian.

However Volkswagen has already mentioned it’s engaged on plug-in hybrid expertise to calm the fears of electrical automobile consumers. There are experiences that Cupraa sub-brand of SEAT which is a part of the Volkswagen Group, can also be contemplating a foray into North America. In that case, it’ll provide gasoline  powered automobiles together with plug-in hybrids and battery-electric choices. It could additionally market its automobiles by Penske Automotive Group as a substitute of conventional Volkswagen sellers. No marvel they could see themselves as being left to promote yesterday’s information as a substitute of the newest new fashions from the Volkswagen company elements bin. As far as we all know, Scout Motors will use a platform developed by the father or mother firm quite than a brand new platform developed in-house.

Lower than 12 hours after Scout Motors unveiled prototypes of its new electrical autos, Volkswagen sellers began threatening lawsuits. At present, dealerships in America have an iron grip on automobile gross sales, although some firms like Tesla, Rivian, and Polestar have discovered workarounds. Hyundai is testing direct-to-consumer gross sales by way of Amazon — albeit with a vendor concerned — and Honda is promoting its Acura EV solely on-line. Sellers have made direct-to-consumer gross sales as troublesome as potential, submitting lawsuits and lobbying closely by their commerce group, the Nationwide Vehicle Sellers Affiliation. True to kind, as quickly as Scout introduced its plan to go Scout-to-Shopper, NADA introduced that it “will challenge this and all attempts to sell direct in courthouses and statehouses across the country.”

How Will This All Play Out?

The unknown think about all that is politics. The incoming administration has nothing however harsh phrases for electrical autos or investments in  EV charging infrastructure. It’s broadly assumed federal incentives — which embrace each direct buyer rebates and manufacturing credit for battery producers — shall be eradicated early in 2025. That would change the entire electrical car panorama in America and the urge for food for brand new electrical autos from Scout or anybody else could also be dampened significantly. Then there may be the entire thought of prolonged vary EVs, No one in America (besides CleanTechnica readers) has any thought what they’re or how they work. If Scout is assuming all they should do is slap an EREV badge on the again and its autos will fly out the door to driveways all throughout America, it might be upset.

The upshot of all that is that Volkswagen Group might discover its spiffy new Scout model is DOA in America, regardless of how hip and classy its autos are. In actual fact, some have dared to recommend that there’s little visible distinction between the autos Rivian manufactures and those who Scout plans to provide. Perhaps VW ought to simply purchase Rivian, swap the badges, and be completed with it? The extra we find out about Scout Motors, the extra we expect it was a good suggestion at a sure second in time, however that second might have handed. Will probably be attention-grabbing to see whether or not Scout Motors can pull this off.