Scout Motors, an upstart electric vehicle company that plans a $2 billion assembly plant in South Carolina, is putting its headquarters in Charlotte’s Plaza-Midwood neighborhood. A $207 million investment is projected, along with as many as 1,200 jobs, at an average salary of $172,878, state officials said.
Scout is backed by German automotive giant Volkswagen Group, which bought the Scout trademark in 2021. An incentives plan was approved at today’s meeting of the state Economic Investment Committee. Total state and local incentives are expected to be $51.2 million, hinging on hitting jobs and investment targets. Mecklenburg County and the city of Charlotte will contribute $12.8 million and almost $7.3 million, respectively, for a total of almost $20.1 million.
The company’s plans to enter Charlotte were discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the neighborhood business association, according to Tonya Wilson, president of the affiliated Plaza-Midwood Neighborhood Association and Clifton Castelloe, a longtime board member of the merchants group.
Gov. Josh Stein attended an economic development announcement Wednesday, arriving at the Commonwealth development, where Scout is establishing offices, in a 1977 Scout II pickup. The Charlotte Ledger was first to report Scout’s interest in the site.
Scout has said it will invest $2 billion in the Blythewood, South Carolina, plant with a goal of making 200,000 vehicles annually once it is fully operational. The company has said it expects to start production in 2027 and eventually employ as many as 4,000 people.
“That’s kinda neat to have that kind of auto business in our neighborhood,” says Wilson, who owns the Wiloe Home & Gift store in Plaza-Midwood. “We are an evolving, established neighborhood that appreciates history and our small businesses and closeness as neighbors. We want anyone who comes here to be part of that.”
“We think it’s a great sign for neighborhood development and economic growth in our area,” says Castelloe, who, with his wife Michelle, owns the Moxie Mercantile shop in Plaza-Midwood. “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome them.”
The company says it is planning to make electric SUVs called “Travelers” and “Terra” trucks priced at $60,000 or less. Plug-in hybrid versions of Scout’s models are also planned. Blythewood is about 70 miles south of Charlotte and the North Carolina border.
A $5 million training hub at Midlands Tech Northeast, a community college in the Columbia area, recently opened to help train workers for the new plant. More than 14,000 people have sent emails expressing interest in working at Scout, Tim Hardee, president of South Carolina’s Technical College system, told The State newspaper in Columbia this week.
Scout CEO Scott Keogh told the Carolina Business Review TV program in Charlotte that the company’s headquarters could have “upwards of 1,000 high-paying jobs.” He is a veteran VW executive.
Elimination of tax incentives for electric vehicles and relatively high vehicle prices has prompted General Motors and other manufacturers to pull back on some of their EV plans. But Scout says it anticipated the changes and is ready to compete as more consumers favor EVs over gas-powered vehicles.
“We’re able to operate in this current environment because we’re set from the ground up to build in America, at our new facility in Blythewood, South Carolina,” Keogh told Car and Driver in September.
“Our intent always was exactly what we are seeing now with the administration and everything else. … Our product is coming in 2027 and 2028. The incentives were always going away in 2032. So there’s no way in the world we would build a so-called 50-year factory like we are in Blythewood based on a four-year window.”
Scout plans to sell vehicles directly to consumers, without a dealer network, which has sparked some lawsuits from some trade associations. North Carolina lawmakers have shown limited interest in allowing manufacturers to sell cars without dealer involvement, with the exception of EV pioneer Tesla.
Beyond its assembly plant, Scout this year announced a $300 million investment for a “supplier park” for smaller parts manufacturers to service the South Carolina factory.
Volkswagen Group had revenue of $353 billion in 2024. It sells more cars globally than any other company except Toyota.
The Commonwealth development is owned by Charlotte developer Crosland Southeast and asset manager Nuveen Real Estate, which is a subsidiary of TIAA. Crosland Southeast bought the mostly undeveloped 12-acre site in 2020 from a local real estate investor. It has built the Rowe apartment development there.
Parts of Plaza-Midwood are designated as historic by the city of Charlotte, which leads to more rigorous vetting of renovations in most Queen City neighborhoods.
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