Born again truck brand Scout Motors hit a significant milestone this morning, breaking ground in Blythewood, South Carolina, the site of its future US hub for electric truck production. We’re still a ways away from the public debut of Scout’s flagship model. Still, there’s a lot to be excited about, and the brand’s heritage is already garnering a loyal fanbase in full support of its all-electric transition.
Born again brand Scout Motors stems from a classic nameplate of off-road vehicles from the ’60s and ’70s built by International Harvester. While only about 530,000 Scout trucks were built during its 20-year production run, the early Jeep competitor… harvested a relatively small but passionate fanbase.
Today, it’s not difficult to find someone whose grandfather drove a Scout II or grew up seeing one around town – creating an impressive level of heritage and nostalgia for such a scarce fleet. Volkswagen Group is looking to capitalize off that heritage and revive the namesake for the modern, all-electric age.
In 2022, the Group confirmed it would revive the brand as an entirely electric marque that still delivers the rugged, off-road performance the original Scouts are still celebrated for. Following a recent partnership with Magna – no strangers to impressive electric performance on tough terrain, it’s clear that Scout Motors means business.
While we’ve only seen teaser renderings of Scout’s first two EV models in development, we know they will be built in the US. In March 2023, Scout and the Governor of South Carolina announced the Palmetto State would become the new home to the budding VW Group brand.
Scout has since expanded its US footprint in Novi, Michigan, where its electric trucks are currently being designed and developed, while a new Innovation Center is erected nearby. This morning, Scout officially broke ground on its South Carolina production facility ahead of an EV debut this year.
Build of Scout EV truck facilities now underway
Large trucks hummed in the background, leveling Blythewood, South Carolina’s iron-rich soil, as a crowd of local and state officials, media, and classic Scout enthusiasts gathered for the EV-centric automotive brand’s groundbreaking ceremony earlier today.
No shiny shovels, no hard hats, and no ceremonial digging – just a coming together of individuals from the automotive industry and South Carolina residents to join in the excitement for the opportunities the new facilities will provide.
As detailed above, Scout trucks are classic vehicles with a legacy, but the name, although noteworthy, was only its own brand once Volkswagen Group stepped in. Still, the legacy and constancy of the vehicles that led to today’s latest chapter are a massive part of Scout Motor’s company ethos.
For example, the land in Blythewood acquired by Scout was previously owned by the Swygert family, who lived there from 1961 to 2013. The red house that still sits on the property (seen above) was built by David Swygert, and the Scout team intends to keep it there.
The original Scout trucks from International Harvester were built in Fort Wayne, Indiana. So to pay homage to its roots in off-road builds, Scout Motors organized a cross-country rally of owners of the classic vehicles to transport a brick from the original plant to South Carolina to be part of the upcoming construction, with plenty of stops through mud, water, and rocky terrain along the way.
When construction is complete and at total efficiency, Scout expects the new facility to produce 200,000+ electric trucks per year – operating 40 EV jobs per hour. Being an all-electric brand, Scout’s Chief Production Officer, Dr. Jan Spies, says the company will rely on green energy alternatives to reach carbon neutrality while reducing key inhibitors such as energy and water usage.
Scout will debut two bespoke EVs this summer
Following the groundbreaking ceremony, the media got to sit down with Scout Motors President and CEO Scott Keogh to discuss the future of the young all-electric brand. From the get-go, Keogh expressed the advantage Scout Motors has as a clean slate that already has momentum in heritage, backed by the purchasing and production expertise of Volkswagen Group.
That said, Scout intends to do its own thing when it comes to EV development and design. Dr. Spies told us that the platform technology Scout’s first two trucks will sit atop is “not a twin, daughter, or brother” to any of the platforms currently used in the larger VW Group.
Spies said this bespoke platform gives Scout an advantage in terms of development speed and offers a beautiful opportunity to deliver a unique car for its environment. Keogh shared similar intentions when speaking to the young brand’s potential in the US market:
That’s what Scout does. It gives you a brand with credibility, it gives you the name with the character, and it allows us to plunge into the two biggest profit pools in America (pickups and SUVs). That’s the strategic intent, and that’s exactly what we’re executing.
I think the smart thing, though, is to structure the company with a clean slate as a startup, so you’re not inheriting the legacy challenges. A company which the (Volkswagen) Group is, of 660,000 employees is going to have a whole different series of systems and processes than a startup that right now has 350 employees. So I think that was the genius of this thing. It’s allowing us to execute at a good pace and good speed as opposed to always following the prescribed path.
Keogh sees Scout’s electric trucks as something other than a brand for one particular audience. We’ve been assured they’re badass and “robust,” designed to tackle the elements and stay true to the legacy of trucks that inspired it. The CEO imagines Scout’s image to become something similar to Levi’s as a “cool, iconic American brand.” They can be worn out to a nice sushi dinner in Malibu and on the dirt paths of a construction site.
That being said, if you think the Volkswagen Group sub-brand is just reviving a popular name from the ’70s, polishing it up, and electrifying it for consumers to get groceries in, that’s not the goal. Keogh elaborated:
In terms of our competitors, I think in my mind we want to make what we would call sort of a tribe community type of vehicle. Not a mainstream ‘just another SUV.’ Who has done a great job of this to give credit? I think certainly Bronco has done a good job of this, I think at the higher-end Defender has done a fantastic job of this; Wrangler obviously has its thing. So, the part will have a point of view but it’s definitely going to be more in the camp of ‘we’re not building something to navigate the strip malls of America,’ were building something like, ‘navigate America.’ So I think it’s going to be a community, cool oriented car.
Keogh relayed that the final design of its first two trucks is super close, with the engineering of the EVs not far behind. The young automaker intends to unveil both models this summer but told us production will require some cadence while the plant continues to scale. Which model will be built first has yet to be determined… or at least made public.
Scout will acquire battery cells from an outside supplier but intends to assemble its own modules in-house at the South Carolina facility. The company is still determining the most effective sales strategy for Scout Brand trucks and continues to explore all options.
We will learn more as the official debut of Scout’s first two electric trucks approaches in Q3. Stay tuned. Want to see more? Here’s Scout’s animated rendering of the incoming US facility:
Source: Scout Motors
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ChargePoint is rolling out a new program called “Safeguard Care” to ensure its EV chargers stay online. The service proactively sends trained technicians into the field to routinely check ChargePoint stations – before things go wrong.
These technicians inspect the chargers, clean them, repair what they can on-site, and run a test charge to ensure everything works before they leave. If they come across something they can’t fix, the issue gets escalated to ChargePoint’s support team for follow-up.
“As the original manufacturer of the chargers, we are able to ensure the highest standards of service and support,” said JD Singh, ChargePoint’s chief customer experience officer. “With Safeguard Care, ChargePoint is giving station owners and EV drivers peace of mind knowing that chargers will be in pristine working order.”
The service, which is starting in five launch markets across the US (ChargePoint hasn’t said which ones, and I’ll update if it answers me), is in addition to ChargePoint Assure, its existing hardware and software monitoring system. It benefits high-traffic charging sites like parking garages, office buildings, and public charging hubs, especially ones that don’t have a dedicated on-site maintenance crew.
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This move is part of ChargePoint’s broader effort to make public EV charging more reliable. In recent months, the company has introduced anti-vandalism upgrades and more proactive monitoring tools. But Safeguard Care marks an interesting shift toward proactive, rather than reactive, boots-on-the-ground support. Technicians usually aren’t dispatched until the EV charger software sends a notification to support that something’s gone wrong. I’ll be curious to see if this new in-person approach makes a difference with EV charger reliability.
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PayPalreported better-than-expected results for the second quarter and raised its full-year guidance for transaction margin dollars and earnings per share. The stock slipped more than 4% following the report.
Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.40 adjusted vs. $1.30 expected
Revenue: $8.29 billion vs. $8.08 billion expected
Sales increased 5% from $7.89 billion a year earlier, as CEO Alex Chriss worked to roll off lower-margin revenue streams.
Transaction margin dollars, a key measure of profitability, rose 7% to $3.84 billion, marking the company’s sixth straight quarter of growth.
Growth in that metric slowed sequentially, down from 8% in the first quarter when excluding a one-time benefit that boosted results earlier this year. Branded checkout volumes also slowed to 5%, compared with 6% in the first quarter when adjusted for Leap Day.
Total payment volume, an indication of how digital payments are faring in the broader economy, beat estimates, coming in at $443.6 billion, compared with the $433.6 billion analysts had projected, according to StreetAccount. The number of active accounts rose 2% to 438 million, versus expectations of 437.8 million.
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PayPal shares are nearly 10% lower so far this year.
PayPal shares have fallen 8.4% for the year, as of Monday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up about 10% in 2025.
Venmo revenue grew more than 20% from a year earlier, following a 20% jump in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. Total payment volume for Venmo increased 12%, its highest growth rate in three years.
Chriss has focused on better monetizing key acquisitions such as Braintree and Venmo. DoorDash,Starbucksand Ticketmaster are among businesses now accepting Venmo as one way consumers can pay.
“We delivered another quarter of profitable growth, driven by continued strength across many of our strategic initiatives ranging from PayPal and Venmo branded experiences” to acting as payment service provider and other services, Chriss said in the statement.
For the third quarter, PayPal forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.18 to $1.22, compared with the average analyst estimate of $1.20. Transaction margin dollars are expected to increase 4% to between $3.76 billion and $3.82 billion, the company said.
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Ahead of PayPal’s earnings, some analysts had struck a cautiously optimistic tone. Goldman Sachs noted that branded checkout growth was likely to improve sequentially to around 6%, up from 4% in the first quarter.
Morgan Stanley pointed to stronger e-commerce data and progress on PayPal’s checkout initiatives. Advanced integrations are now live at 45% of U.S. merchants, up from 30% in December, and are expected to help branded checkout volumes reaccelerate. The bank also flagged ongoing momentum in Braintree volumes.
PayPal now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of $5.15 to $5.30, up from its prior forecast of $4.95 to $5.10. While third-quarter guidance is roughly inline with expectations, the updated outlook implies a stronger fourth quarter. The company also projects free cash flow of $6 billion to $7 billion for the year.
Electric bikes are booming in popularity in just about every demographic in the US. From teens riding to school all the way to elderly folks getting back on a bicycle for the first time in years, electric bikes are becoming ubiquitous. But as speeds and power levels have increased, Connecticut is responding with new laws.
Westport Police Lt. Serenity Dobson recently spoke to CTInsider about the phenomenon of more teens riding their e-bikes to school instead of being driven by their parents. “The whole entire bike rack is filled with these bikes that look like electric dirt bikes.”
Moped-style e-bikes have become increasingly popular with teens, with companies like Super73 ushering in a new wave of electric bikes with design cues borrowed from classic mopeds of decades past.
But Dobson says that these e-bikes are too easily modifiable, increasing speed and motor power past acceptable limits.
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“These bikes come stock at 30 mph, but you can cut the controller, and so then they can go 60, 70 mph, and the kids know how to do this,” Dobson said, adding that there has been a “huge increase in middle school-aged kids” riding e-bikes, particularly in the summer when school is out. “There are a lot of YouTube videos where it can show you how easy it is for someone to modify it.”
It’s not clear that such speeds are actually capable on stock parts from nearly any electric bicycle, and legal electric bikes are not capable of exceeding either 20 or 28 mph, depending on their classification, but Dobson may be referring to Sur Ron-style electric motorbikes, which are off-road electric motorcycles that look like small dirt bikes.
Connecticut already uses the common three-class system that codifies legal e-bikes as up to 20 mph (32 km/h) and 750W (one horsepower) for Class 1 and 2, or up to 28 mph (45 km/h) for Class 3 e-bikes.
But now the state is updating its e-bike laws, adding that any e-bike with over 750W of power will be considered a “motor-driven cycle” and require a driver’s license. Over 3,500W? That will be considered a motorcycle and require a motorcycle endorsement to legally ride, as well as registration and insurance like a motorcycle.
The new laws are expected to come into effect in October.
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