Wrapping things up after a long day here (soccer games, the scout thing, mountain biking with the family, ice cream with the kids, etc. Good day, but long
).
First time seeing the Scouts in person, and first time to that venue (and honestly, one of the only times I've been into Seattle area since I moved here... I'm not a city person).
Sitting here now, I'm still not 100% sure what I thought about it all. Of course it was nice to see the vehicles. But because of the crowd/press around the vehicles, it was hard to sit and "look" at the vehicles, especially as a "whole". It was much more of a "wait for the 2-3 people in front of me to finish looking at what they're looking at, and then I can occupy the space for a moment" sort of situation. But also you didn't want to linger too long, because there were other people waiting just behind you too.
This meant, for me at least, it was a bit harder to "take it all in". I'm not saying this to be negative for Scout, as it might just be a me thing, as I like to take my time, and don't like getting in other peoples way. So once I'd sort of done a lap around the vehicle, I mostly stayed farther away letting others work their way through.
Here are some other thoughts, mostly in no order, as I'm tired and want to sleep, but also want to get this recorded while its fresh.
Exterior Size: First impressions were that the dimensions, were accurate. I'd wager a lot of the feelings of "size" people are getting are from the tires (particularly for the Terra).
I actually didn't think the Traveler was all that big. I didn't quite get the "this is like a shortened Chevy Tahoe" vibes that I'd been thinking it might have, based on the listed dimensions.
I think a lot of that comes down to the pretty aggressive taper on the body (top of the cabin is narrower than shoulders, by about a foot or so). I say that, but I would have to go compare a few other vehicles (I know its a common thing, I just can't say with certainty that this is more than other comparable vehicles, as I haven't looked at as many of them in that closely in that way before. I'll have to do some more research here).
My wife on the other hand said she thought it was a lot bigger than she thought (she historically really struggles to visualize things though), and my 10yr old said "I thought it would be closer in size to the Jeep"... which is fair, as I told her it was sort of like the jeep... but didn't tell her any dimensions (which... may or may not have helped.
It did present a bit bigger than a Bronco, or a 4 door wrangler though. Mostly in terms of width (4 door wranglers can sometimes look long and narrow, if you know what I mean). And it didn't have the Broncos "wow, what large fender flares you have" vibe either.
Oh, and for context, I'm 6'1" barefoot, and the top of the Traveler was just about even with or above the top of my head, and the rack was taller still by ~3in or so. Looking at it, it didn't seem super tall though. In the sense that it didn't seem like I'd need a stepladder to get into it like some vehicles with lifts.
The Terra seemed to be about right in line with any other full-size pickup, in terms of the body dimensions. But with 37's, it has a presence for sure. I didn't think it felt obscenely large or anything like that. I spent overall less time looking at the Terra though.
Color: I thought the white was great. The satin was different/interesting, and I thought it helped make the details stand out more. I like white vehicles though, so I'm probably biased.
I've said my thoughts about the Silo Green color in the past, and after in person experience, I actually... thought exactly what I thought before. My wife didn't like it either. But this was indoors. Perhaps under different lighting it would look better to me. This is not intended to be a negative. Colors are personal. The Silo Green is just not my jam.
Interior Size: I actually think this is the hardest to evaluate. First because we know that the seats/etc aren't final, and also that they're fixed. Which means, we don't really know how they are positioned either. And then also, it's sort of hard to judge interior space when you're viewing it from outside the edge of fully opened exterior doors behind the viewing lines. I would say that I feel that the interior space didn't seem to quite be as large as I'd expect based on the dimensions. Again, I'd assume this is due to the taper
Interior Materials: Hard to measure, because we couldn't touch anything. But based on looks, I'm not sure if the hemp wood trim is something that I'd like. Lots of contrast, and an aggressive grain (sort of feels like Oak, or pine in that way, where it picked up a lot of stain in some areas and less in others). I preferred the interior of the Traveler in terms of the materials (the denim looks good, but I really didn't spend much time close enough to gain an opinion.
Fit and finish and everything seemed fine, although thats not really a big important thing with a non-production vehicle like this. There were a few more accessories on there than I maybe had remembered (I didn't watch/follow any of the stuff that happened in Scottsdale), things like the trailer hitch, and integrated winch, etc.
Overall, I liked them. I'm still plenty happy to be a reservation holder. But the real test will be when the production spec vehicles are there, and you can actually sit in/move around in the vehicles. We know the prototypes are ~85% the same (or whatever the number is) as production. But 15% can change a heck of a lot of the look/feel, enough to move the needle one way or the other.
The other upside for us locally, is that apparently the turnout was great. Which might play into future plans (future tours with production vehicles?? Service/sale centers?? no idea).
Ok, I'm tired, off to bed, its dark:30 in the morning now.
Happy Mothers day all
.
I do regular EV explanations when out working, I’d happily do it for Scout
