Scout Motors picks South Carolina for new $2B EV plant

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Volkswagen Group-backed automotive company announced plans this week to open a $2 billion electric truck and SUV manufacturing plant just outside of Columbia, South Carolina. Scout Motors Inc. and South Carolina officials said Friday that the company would be establishing its first manufacturing plant in Blythewood at an industrial site. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office said in a news release that at full capacity, more than 200,000 vehicles may be produced annually at the facility. The project is expected to create 4,000 or more permanent jobs. The State newspaper reports that county-level tax incentives have received initial approval and that it wasn’t immediately clear what state-level incentives may have been offered.