Scout Motors looks to the future with 3D modeled facility

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (WIS) - Scout Motors unveiled a 3D model presentation of a planned manufacturing facility coming to the Blythewood area of Richland County.

The presentation was held on Monday at 1:30 p.m., where an overview of the planned facility was presented. The presentation was followed by a discussion about the company’s future.

In March, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Scout Motors had selected the area as the site for a manufacturing plant.

“Scout Motors will provide thousands of South Carolinians with previously unimagined opportunities and prosperity for generations to come,” said McMaster during the announcement.

Scout Motors promised Richland County and South Carolina it would invest $2 billion to build a 1,100-acre electric vehicle plant, deliver 4,000 jobs to the community, and start making cars by 2026.

“We are building the plant that will employ over 4,000 employees. That’s the commitment that we have been given,” said Jan Spies, chief production officer.

At the beginning of September, state and county officials said the upcoming Volkswagen-backed electric vehicle plant’s construction had been delayed due to permits.

The tax incentive Scout Motors received was the largest in the state’s history.

WIS News 10 attended a public meeting with executives of the company. They said the construction of the facility has not begun yet, but it is expected to be within the next week or so.

Executives told WIS they were intentional in accomplishing the following:

• Keeping clear and transparent communication with the surrounding residents and businesses over their concerns.
• Articulating the extreme importance of creating a carbon-neutral plant - to include specific mitigation techniques of sound reduction, light reduction, and environmental protection.
• Creating a 3D display of the plant that includes a mock-up of the new I-77 interchange, the traffic patterns for deliveries (both truck and rail), the main buildings - which are being constructed to minimize noise pollution, and the hills and trees for landscaping they’ll create to have a green space as a sight and sound barrier to adjoining neighborhoods.

WIS previously reported on the construction of Scout Motors being on pause due to not having a wetlands permit.

Scout Motors General Council Neil Sitron talked about the current pause in construction.

“So construction as of right now, they’ve been doing the leveling and so on. All of that was part of the plan when we got to the point of submitting it, we stopped work because obviously, we can’t do work in the wetlands,” said Sitron.

Even with construction still on pause, the company plans to have the plant completed by the end of 2026.

A public meeting will happen at Doko Manner on Tuesday from 4-7 p.m., where representatives from Richland County and state agencies along with Scout Motors will speak with residents.

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