Lordstown Motors recently revealed a new round of commercial, operational, and strategic development updates on the progress of its upcoming “Endurance” electric pickup truck. The most interesting part of that press release, though, was buried down in the fourth paragraph, which says that Lordstown Motors has signed a multi-year agreement to use batteries from LG Chem. That’s the same supplier Tesla uses — and, get this, it’s even the same battery.
Image courtesy Lordstown Motors
Lordstown Motors’ CEO Steve Burns had previously confirmed that the prototype Endurance made use of LG Chem’s 2170 cylindrical cell, which is the same cell used in both the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. And, while that’s not exactly huge news on its own, it’s an interesting play by LG, which has been seemingly content to commit more and more to Tesla, before Tesla’s plans to develop its own battery came to light at the company’s Battery Day, which had an impact on many of Tesla’s other suppliers, as well.
To this outsider, at least, it looks like LG Chem is taking some of its future EV battery eggs out of Tesla’s basket and putting them in Lordstown Motors’, and that may not be a bad move. “We remain on track to meet our September start-of-production timeline while continuing to see indicators of strong demand for an all-wheel drive, full-size electric pickup truck with 250 miles of range from commercial, government and military fleets,” Burns says. “We are hard at work in the factory preparing to begin Beta builds in the coming weeks.”
Lordstown Motors says that it’s begun work on the metal stamping and welding for the first 57 Endurance pre-production prototypes already, and expects to have its first beta version vehicles ready to begin real-world testing in March of this year. That’s just next month, kids, so there’s plenty to be excited about — but it’s not just the rapid move from concept to production. Lordstown is also expanding its plans to partner with Camping World’s 227 existing service centers, and is hinting at building an SUV version of the Endurance electric pickup, too.
The most exciting part of the latest corporate update, though, is confirmation of the rumored Lordstown Motors electric van, with plans to use hub motors to achieve all-wheel drive, a low ground clearance, and a class-leading range. All of which will have it primed to form the basis for the world’s first series production electric RV. Factor in a $49 billion RV market and, all of a sudden, the growing partnership with Camping World starts to make a whole lot of sense!
Image courtesy Global Market Insights.
What do you guys think? Is an electric RV something to get super-excited about, or is Lordstown Motors preemptively admitting to the defeat of its electric pickup at the hands of the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian, and upcoming Ford Lightning by going after a niche market right out of the gate like that? Scroll on down to the comments section and let us know.
Source | Images: Lordstown Motors, via Motorpasión.
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