Extra, Extra....Read All About It!

  • From all of us at Scout Motors, welcome to the Scout Community! We created this community to provide Scout owners, enthusiasts, and curiosity seekers with a place to engage in discussion, suggestions, stories, and connections. Supportive communities are sometimes hard to find, but we're determined to turn this into one.

    Additionally, Scout Motors wants to hear your feedback and speak directly to the rabid community of owners as unique as America. We'll use the Scout Community to deliver news and information on events and launch updates directly to the group. Although the start of production is anticipated in 2026, many new developments and milestones will occur in the interim. We plan to share them with you on this site and look for your feedback and suggestions.

    How will the Scout Community be run? Think of it this way: this place is your favorite local hangout. We want you to enjoy the atmosphere, talk to people who share similar interests, request and receive advice, and generally have an enjoyable time. The Scout Community should be a highlight of your day. We want you to tell stories, share photos, spread your knowledge, and tell us how Scout can deliver great products and experiences. Along the way, Scout Motors will share our journey to production with you.

    Scout is all about respect. We respect our heritage. We respect the land and outdoors. We respect each other. Every person should feel safe, included, and welcomed in the Scout Community. Being kind and courteous to the other forum members is non-negotiable. Friendly debate is welcomed and often produces great outcomes, but we don't want things to get too rowdy. Please take a moment to consider what you post, especially if you think it may insult others. We'll do our best to encourage friendly discourse and to keep the discussions flowing.

    So, welcome to the Scout Community! We encourage you to check back regularly as we plan to engage our members, share teasers, and participate in discussions. The world needs Scouts. Let's get going.


    We are Scout Motors.
Could see this being a subscription based idea. You pull up to a charging facility on the highway and switch out with a fully charged one to keep going. Would be a bit of a pain unhooking/hooking up the trailer, but it could help with long trips with a camper.
 
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PPE is Audi/Porsche speak for Premium Platform Electric and is another EV component platform that is more luxury-oriented. It is essentially another skateboard platform but has a bit more flexibility for heavier luxury vehicles, plus numerous improvements over the current J1 and MEB EV platforms. Different software as well.

View attachment 840

Scout will be using an all-new body on ladder frame EV chassis. There could be some component sharing (electric motors for example) between the various platforms as that just makes sense from economies of scale perspective. We are working on a code name for the new Scout platform... :D
I love coming up with code names!
Code name ideas for the Scout platform:
Scoutboard
BOFE (Body-on-Frame Electric) or just BFE (to go with PPE)
ELC (Electric Ladder Chassis) or LCE (Ladder Chassis Electric)
REL (Rugged Electric Ladder)
RPE (Rugged Platform Electric)
RFE (Rugged Frame Electric)
APE (Adventure Platform Electric)
ORE (Off-Road Electric)
 
Scout…let’s try to avoid recalls. Test it longer if necessary. We’ve been waiting 42 years already. What’s 6 extra months!

......and we will be your guinea pigs for those six months. Putting them through the paces and reporting back directly to Scout Motors, not news media outlets 😁.
 
We will be doing our best to take our first concepts/intro models out on the road to tour around the country. Chris and I are also of the mindset that once the vehicles are introduced we do our best to build as many colors and trims (pre-production) that we can so we can get photos right away of all the different combinations and hopefully get them into circulation for both testing and so people can see them in person.
Please don't forget about Canada!!
 
Some comments made by Scout CEO Scott Keogh in connection with the President’s Forum at Hobart and William Smith colleges.

“A lot of things were promised with digitization, with social media — this great connection and interaction — but we actually find out it’s led to more fear, isolation, paranoia,” he noted. “We think there is a possibility for an authentic, really physical connection. We feel we can make a car that can do it. Yes, it’s got a little bit of nostalgia to it but of course we are bringing it into the future and modernizing it.”

 
Some comments made by Scout CEO Scott Keogh in connection with the President’s Forum at Hobart and William Smith colleges.

“A lot of things were promised with digitization, with social media — this great connection and interaction — but we actually find out it’s led to more fear, isolation, paranoia,” he noted. “We think there is a possibility for an authentic, really physical connection. We feel we can make a car that can do it. Yes, it’s got a little bit of nostalgia to it but of course we are bringing it into the future and modernizing it.”

Love HERITAGE meets INGENUITY. What a simple way to sum up the new Scout Motors venture
 
Love HERITAGE meets INGENUITY. What a simple way to sum up the new Scout Motors venture

That is the guiding ethos behind the company and we are having fun. Lots going on behind the scenes and Chris and I are working hard to start getting more updates we can talk about. They started clearing the site where the factory will be built this week. Hopefully should have some photos very soon.
 
CarPlay news

GM have announced plans to phase out Apple CarPlay support. Why? They have a deal with Goggle, believe they can make a vast sum of money from subscriptions and want to monetize privacy intrusive data gathering techniques that are prevented by iPhone.

They are working on a new in-car entertainment system that will only make select apps available to users and do so in a way the GM can monetize. Apparently, the problem with CarPlay is that is enables users to run whatever apps they want and use services they already use in other places.

Reuters reports:
”GM Chief Executive Barra is aiming for $20 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue from subscriptions by 2030.”


This is nuts! For context, $20 billion is about the amount of money Apple made from all the apps on their App Store in 2022, with 2 billion active devices, hundreds of thousands of apps and sales in 175 countries.

Let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. GM sells 6 million vehicles a year. They only plan to put their new system in new EVs which are currently 1.7% of their sales. But let’s say they expand this and put their new system in all new vehicles, including gas and hybrid, starting today. That would put the system in about 40 million vehicles by mid 2030. For GM to make $20 billion in in-car subscription revenue from that many vehicles they would need to take an average of about $500 a year in subscriptions per vehicle!

See the reaction of Ford CEO Jim Farley in a video interview with Joanna Stern at the WSJ

Meanwhile… Porsche have just added a new Apple integration which supports EV Routing directly in the Apple Maps app. I would love to see this integration in the Scout.

People love their phones and they love CarPlay and Android Auto. Nobody wants to pay subscriptions for things their phone already does. One example of this is the Car Crash detection feature in new iPhones. A potentially life saving feature like this should not be a subscription, it should just work for everyone. People love that they are able to take their phone from place to place and vehicle to vehicle and all their personal stuff moves with them. They also love that CarPlay is fast and responsive and gets updated frequently so that their in-car experience improves over time with both software and hardware updates. Any programmer that wants to make an app for use in the car can do so via CarPlay. Some of these apps are very small businesses run by one person. GM’s approach will apparently only allow for deals with the giant companies who can pay for exclusivity. The entire venture is founded on Google paying for exclusivity - to shut out Apple.

This isn’t going to go well for GM because CarPlay is a huge factor in a car buying decision. About 80% of new car buyers have iPhones. Interestingly, Warren Buffet recently said, [if an iPhone user had] to give up a second car or give up their iPhone, they'd give up their second car” and on another recent occasion he said “if an iPhone owner was offered $10,000 in exchange for their iPhone and never to buy another, they're "not going to take it”.


GM are underestimating how much people love their iPhone.
 
CarPlay news

GM have announced plans to phase out Apple CarPlay support. Why? They have a deal with Goggle, believe they can make a vast sum of money from subscriptions and want to monetize privacy intrusive data gathering techniques that are prevented by iPhone.

They are working on a new in-car entertainment system that will only make select apps available to users and do so in a way the GM can monetize. Apparently, the problem with CarPlay is that is enables users to run whatever apps they want and use services they already use in other places.

Reuters reports:
”GM Chief Executive Barra is aiming for $20 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue from subscriptions by 2030.”


This is nuts! For context, $20 billion is about the amount of money Apple made from all the apps on their App Store in 2022, with 2 billion active devices, hundreds of thousands of apps and sales in 175 countries.

Let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. GM sells 6 million vehicles a year. They only plan to put their new system in new EVs which are currently 1.7% of their sales. But let’s say they expand this and put their new system in all new vehicles, including gas and hybrid, starting today. That would put the system in about 40 million vehicles by mid 2030. For GM to make $20 billion in in-car subscription revenue from that many vehicles they would need to take an average of about $500 a year in subscriptions per vehicle!

See the reaction of Ford CEO Jim Farley in a video interview with Joanna Stern at the WSJ

Meanwhile… Porsche have just added a new Apple integration which supports EV Routing directly in the Apple Maps app. I would love to see this integration in the Scout.

People love their phones and they love CarPlay and Android Auto. Nobody wants to pay subscriptions for things their phone already does. One example of this is the Car Crash detection feature in new iPhones. A potentially life saving feature like this should not be a subscription, it should just work for everyone. People love that they are able to take their phone from place to place and vehicle to vehicle and all their personal stuff moves with them. They also love that CarPlay is fast and responsive and gets updated frequently so that their in-car experience improves over time with both software and hardware updates. Any programmer that wants to make an app for use in the car can do so via CarPlay. Some of these apps are very small businesses run by one person. GM’s approach will apparently only allow for deals with the giant companies who can pay for exclusivity. The entire venture is founded on Google paying for exclusivity - to shut out Apple.

This isn’t going to go well for GM because CarPlay is a huge factor in a car buying decision. About 80% of new car buyers have iPhones. Interestingly, Warren Buffet recently said, [if an iPhone user had] to give up a second car or give up their iPhone, they'd give up their second car” and on another recent occasion he said “if an iPhone owner was offered $10,000 in exchange for their iPhone and never to buy another, they're "not going to take it”.


GM are underestimating how much people love their iPhone.
I saw this article too and was dumb founded that they would risk it. The whole notion of subscription based “services” in vehicles is insulting. That BMW is thinking of heated seats as subscription is ridiculous.
Please don’t go subscription route on the new Scouts.
 
CarPlay news

GM have announced plans to phase out Apple CarPlay support. Why? They have a deal with Goggle, believe they can make a vast sum of money from subscriptions and want to monetize privacy intrusive data gathering techniques that are prevented by iPhone.

They are working on a new in-car entertainment system that will only make select apps available to users and do so in a way the GM can monetize. Apparently, the problem with CarPlay is that is enables users to run whatever apps they want and use services they already use in other places.

Reuters reports:
”GM Chief Executive Barra is aiming for $20 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue from subscriptions by 2030.”


This is nuts! For context, $20 billion is about the amount of money Apple made from all the apps on their App Store in 2022, with 2 billion active devices, hundreds of thousands of apps and sales in 175 countries.

Let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. GM sells 6 million vehicles a year. They only plan to put their new system in new EVs which are currently 1.7% of their sales. But let’s say they expand this and put their new system in all new vehicles, including gas and hybrid, starting today. That would put the system in about 40 million vehicles by mid 2030. For GM to make $20 billion in in-car subscription revenue from that many vehicles they would need to take an average of about $500 a year in subscriptions per vehicle!

See the reaction of Ford CEO Jim Farley in a video interview with Joanna Stern at the WSJ

Meanwhile… Porsche have just added a new Apple integration which supports EV Routing directly in the Apple Maps app. I would love to see this integration in the Scout.

People love their phones and they love CarPlay and Android Auto. Nobody wants to pay subscriptions for things their phone already does. One example of this is the Car Crash detection feature in new iPhones. A potentially life saving feature like this should not be a subscription, it should just work for everyone. People love that they are able to take their phone from place to place and vehicle to vehicle and all their personal stuff moves with them. They also love that CarPlay is fast and responsive and gets updated frequently so that their in-car experience improves over time with both software and hardware updates. Any programmer that wants to make an app for use in the car can do so via CarPlay. Some of these apps are very small businesses run by one person. GM’s approach will apparently only allow for deals with the giant companies who can pay for exclusivity. The entire venture is founded on Google paying for exclusivity - to shut out Apple.

This isn’t going to go well for GM because CarPlay is a huge factor in a car buying decision. About 80% of new car buyers have iPhones. Interestingly, Warren Buffet recently said, [if an iPhone user had] to give up a second car or give up their iPhone, they'd give up their second car” and on another recent occasion he said “if an iPhone owner was offered $10,000 in exchange for their iPhone and never to buy another, they're "not going to take it”.


GM are underestimating how much people love their iPhone.
Yeah, the move away from CarPlay boggles me. It just comes across as greedy when you take away a feature that customers love.
 
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This is a few weeks old, but I was looking closer at the pictures today. I also read the comments section. I know trolls will be trolls but not very good for Jeep. I am sure Scout is paying close attention as I think the Recon will be a closer competitor than Rivian R1S. Certainly if the price point comes in where as our thinks it will. Anyway, what do all of you think about the Recon???
 
This is a few weeks old, but I was looking closer at the pictures today. I also read the comments section. I know trolls will be trolls but not very good for Jeep. I am sure Scout is paying close attention as I think the Recon will be a closer competitor than Rivian R1S. Certainly if the price point comes in where as our thinks it will. Anyway, what do all of you think about the Recon???
I agree this seems a closer competitor to Scout than the R1S. I'm a fan of the design. I wouldn't hate to be seen driving this around. Very interested in specs when they become available (esp. range and fast charging rate). The R2 will also be a significant competitor to watch for—perhaps we'll get our first glimpse of that next year.