New basic EV truck

[ruffdog]

VW now owns the rights to the old Scout name and intellectual property. They are starting up a new brand called the Scout: The Scout Terra is a pickup truck, and the Scout Traveler is an SUV. Unlike most other car makers who brought back some old names but resemble the original in name only, these Scouts actually are reminiscent of the original Scouts.

The Scout starts at $50k.

Scouts always come back

 

[CPTKILLER]

While not technically an EV but rather a small hybrid truck, this is a good review on a Ford Maverick Hybrid.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a61791307/2024-ford-maverick-hybrid-reliability-maintenance/

 

[Jstpssng]

While not technically an EV but rather a small hybrid truck, this is a good review on a Ford Maverick Hybrid.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a61791307/2024-ford-maverick-hybrid-reliability-maintenance/

I have always thought the hybrid Maverick would be a good vehicle for running around, with enough bed space to go to the dump or put a wet dog. It would especially fit my needs as a 2nd vehicle if it came with a rear seat delete the way they do or did with the Ranger.
Still, 26k miles is hardly an indicator of longetivity.

 

[tradosaurus]

The option-challenged vehicle offers a choice of two battery sizes for the rear-wheel-drive truck: a 52.7-kWh battery pack targeting 150 miles of range and an 84.3-kWh pack with 240 miles of range.

If the larger battery pack puts the truck over $30k that will be a deal killer I believe. Single cab pickup with a small bed might be hard to sell too.
And I read a comment that Slate is an anagram for Tesla.

 

[2manyrocks]

Daughter had a Honda hybrid. Regular mechanics would change the engine oil, but anything related to the electric hybrid system required expensive dealer parts and service so we got rid of it around 125k miles.

In the case of an EV with no dealer system, IMPO the owners are screwed when anything in the propulsion system fails. Normal mechanics wont touch it in my experience.

Also, I dont get VW’s lean toward EV at all when they already make efficient gas and diesel systems that are more affordable.

 

[EddieWalker]

You bring up a good point. With more electronics going into gas and diesel vehicles, it's becoming harder and harder to find a mechanic that will work on them. The guy I go to now for my 2012 F150 truck and my wife's 2016 Chrysler minivan is always fixing something electronic. He refuses to do any work on diesel vehicles and just laughs when I asked about Electric Vehicles.

If you have an Electric Vehicle, is the dealer the only option for repairs?

This might be the biggest reason not to get one. And I really like the idea of having one as a second vehicle for running to town and doing errands.

 

[tradosaurus]

Dealerships that carry EV's are required to have trained technicians to service them.

 

[ruffdog]

" In Wisconsin, auto manufacturers are prohibited from selling directly to consumers. Instead, they must sell their vehicles to dealerships, which then sell them to the public."

Why Wisconsin bans car makers from selling directly to public

 

[2manyrocks]

Some greedy dealers tacked on huge markups above MSRP in recent years.

 

[ponytug]

...

If you have an Electric Vehicle, is the dealer the only option for repairs?

...

I wouldn't overlook YouTube for the mechanically inclined.

In many locales, there aren't alternatives, but I do know of a few 3rd party companies that specialize in EV repair. (e.g. Leaf, Tesla) But the after sales repair may be only batteries and hardware. Software is a different ball of wax in my experience.

I would not say that the issue is limited to EVs; I would generalize it to vehicle software in general, including tractors from some vendors.

To give a personal example, I own a GM vehicle in which the infotainment system has been buggy since day 1. GM has not managed to fix the bugs in over a decade, despite some of them being pretty fundamental, e.g. no heat. That lack of repair (for whatever cause) doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies about GM's ability to write code, nor their post sales commitments to customers. So, yeah, I'm never considering GM again. Despite initially denying the sales, GM's quietly, and illegally selling customer driving and location data doesn't help my warm and fuzzies, either.

My point being that there are lots of ways to end up owning an orphan vehicle, only one of which is that the company is small, or went out of business.

Back to Slate, making a $20k bet feels a lot better to me compared to a $60k+ bet on competitor's EV.

All the best,

Peter