Vehicles
Vehicles are used to manoeuvre on planetary surfaces. Planetary gravity affects the handling of vehicles. Currently, only the Scarab is available. Every ship can store it with a Planetary Vehicle Hangar.
SRVs are purchased separately from the Hangar module. If the player dies in their SRV, they will return to their ship, regardless of if it is still landed, or has taken off automatically. Any SRV damage is automatically repaired upon returning to the ship.
Scarab
The Scarab is a Surface Recon Vehicle that allows pilots to drive around planetary surfaces in the Elite Dangerous: Horizons expansion.[1]Combat-wise it is outfitted with a shield and a plasma repeater turret.
The Scarab takes up one vehicle bay in the Planetary Vehicle Hangar. This module provides the on-board hangar space to carry and repair an SRV, which is purchased separately from the Hangar module. This may use an Internal Compartment.
The Scarab can move at different speeds on different surfaces. On roads in cities the scarab can easily reach a top speed of 38m/s with 4ps. On other surfaces the speed is much less, such as little hills and rocky terrain. Gravity also affects how fast the Scarab can move. Unlike guardians, sentries, and Goliath skimmers, the Scarab is not detectable in a ship. It is possible to detect a scarab while in another scarab. The Scarab appears from a ship as a little light moving across the surface.The Scarab features working headlights and brake-lights.
SRVs have a Wave Scanner which is an unidirectional long-range forward facing scanner that detects a variety of vehicles and points of interest.
Development
There are plans for more classes and sizes of Surface Recon Vehicles (SRV). They will have different Internal Compartments for the Planetary Vehicle Hangar module which provides the on-board hangar space to carry and repair an SRV.
In 2016, David Braben said "No ETA yet, but it is planned."[1]