Electric vehicle startup Scout Motors has accumulated roughly 212,000 reservations for its upcoming Terra pickup truck and Traveler SUV as construction on its South Carolina facility nears completion, according to CEO Scott Keogh.
The 1,600-acre facility located just north of Columbia, South Carolina, is approximately 85% complete, though site work and a $300 million supplier park remain under installation. Ground broke at the Blythewood site on February 15, 2024, when the Volkswagen-backed company began building its factory to revive an automotive brand that originally ran from 1961 to 1980.
The production facility has now entered its final phase and is actively producing its first validation builds. The body shop alone utilizes more than 750 robots to assemble each vehicle body from 160 individual components, culminating in 5,000 weld points per vehicle before it advances to subsequent production stages.
Scout plans to ramp up output over the coming months, transitioning from validation to pre-production units and eventually full production. The manufacturer aims to scale its operations to produce as many as 200,000 units per year with a workforce of 4,000 employees, alongside 1,000 additional jobs generated by the adjacent supplier park.
Full-scale production is slated to begin next year, with customer deliveries scheduled to start in 2028. Keogh said that achieving an order backlog covering 12 to 18 months prior to the start of production would be an ideal target for the company.
The No.1 thing for me is I want to go get the best volume as soon as possible. In my mind, it’s how quick can you get to 100,000 units? It’s at 100,000 units where you can start to punch through.
Scott Keogh, CEO of Scout Motors
Reservations for the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup originally opened in October 2024 following their public reveal. Scout will offer both battery-electric versions and extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, which use an engine to generate power for the motors and batteries.
Customer demand has heavily favored these configurations and utility vehicles. Approximately 87% of reservation holders selected the EREV powertrain, while 75% opted for the SUV body style.
| Metric | Count or Proportion |
|---|---|
| Total Reservations | Roughly 212,000 |
| EREV Powertrain Selection | About 87% |
| Traveler SUV Selection | About 75% |
| Target Annual Factory Capacity | Up to 200,000 units |
Reflecting this demand pattern, Scout intends to launch its vehicle lineup with the EREV variants first, followed subsequently by the all-electric models. Keogh’s comments come months after Rivian Automotive received criticism online for launching its R2 SUV with its highest-priced models first, despite that being a common practice across the automotive industry.
I think we could easily be up over 400,000 with reservations without doing too much effort. The big thing for us is how much of the initial production can we 100% presell.
Scott Keogh, CEO of Scout Motors
Both the Traveler and Terra models are expected to start under $60,000. The EREV variants are projected to feature more than 500 miles of range, compared to 300 miles of range for the all-electric models.
