NS to serve Scout Motors' major electric vehicle plant coming to South Carolina
5/3/2023
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
Chalk up another automotive customer for Norfolk Southern Railway. Or, at least have some chalk at the ready.
NS will serve a new $2 billion Scout Motors Inc. electric vehicle (EV) plant in Blythewood, South Carolina, that’s projected to start producing trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in late 2026. A groundbreaking is anticipated in June or July.
The 1,100-acre plant will be built on a 1,600-acre site bordered by Interstate-77 and Blythewood Road. It will be less than 20 miles north of Columbia and near such major cities as Atlanta, Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The facility also will be situated close to ports in Charleston and Savannah, Georgia, several universities focused on automotive engineering and an NS mainline.
Scout Motors is an independent U.S. company owned by Volkswagen Group. International Harvester previously produced Scout off-road vehicles — a precursor to SUVs — from about 1960 to 1980. The company sold the Scout brand to Volkswagen in 2021.
Now, NS is playing a role in an ongoing effort to resuscitate a vehicle model that featured fold-down windshields and removable hard-top roofs.
Shown: A rendering of the sprawling 1,100-acre plant. At full capacity, the facility will employ 4,000 people and produce more than 200,000 vehicles each year. Scout Motors Inc.“We are excited to be part of bringing back this iconic brand,” says Craig Hudson, NS’ group vice president-industrial development.
The Class I became involved in the project late last year, he says. Commercial real estate firm JLL spent nine months analyzing 74 sites in more than a dozen states for the Scout Motors plant, seeking the right combination of technical requirements, proximity to a strong talent base and access to critical transportation infrastructure.
NS worked with the state of South Carolina to propose the large plot in Blythewood, says Hudson.
Officials at the new automaker and JLL were intrigued by the large pool of skilled workers in the Blythewood vicinity, the state’s willingness to be a collaborative business partner, and the proximity to a major interstate and rail. Plus, South Carolina is a major player in the global automotive industry, already home to more than 500 automotive-related companies and 75,000 auto industry employees.
NS now is working with the state and Palmetto Railways to develop rail infrastructure for the plant, says Hudson. Palmetto Railways typically partners with the state on any such infrastructure built in South Carolina.
Design work will begin in 2023’s second half on the infrastructure, which will include track to be built from NS’ mainline to the plant, a switching yard to be constructed nearby and a bridge to be built over I-77, says Hudson.
“The new rail line will go over the interstate,” he says.
Scout Motors’ new plant will be part of what’s characterized as the “battery belt,” a growing EV manufacturing region that’s gaining dozens of production facilities and factories dedicated to lithium batteries and other associated supplies. The belt includes multiple states in the Southeast — from North Carolina to Georgia to Alabama to Mississippi — and several in the Midwest, such as Ohio and Michigan.
The largest originator of auto shipments in North America, NS currently serves 26 assembly plants and 35 vehicle distribution terminals in 17 states. Norfolk Southern Railway “The Scout Motors facility will be one of the larger ones in the belt,” says Hudson.
A battery supply is vital to EV production. To that end, chemical manufacturer Albemarle plans to build a $1.3 billion lithium hydroxide processing facility nearby in Chester County to help meet soaring demand for lithium-ion batteries.
The largest originator of auto shipments in North America, NS currently serves 26 assembly plants and 35 vehicle distribution terminals in 17 states. NS officials are noting strong EV activity levels of late in the railroad’s 22-state network.
At any given time, the Class I is monitoring a pipeline of 30-plus battery/EV-related leads and opportunities in various stages, from original equipment manufacturers to suppliers, NS officials say.
For example, SK Battery America Inc., Toyota, and Ford/CATL continue to expand their battery production, and Novonix and Albermarle Lithium keep broadening their roles as EV suppliers.
Since 2020, a number of companies have invested about $85 billion in manufacturing EVs, EV chargers and batteries. Last year alone, various automakers announced domestic EV manufacturing facilities at a total cost of $13 billion, more than triple such plant investments in 2020.
