Lordstown Motors Somehow NOT Dead, Builds 2 Trucks

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Look, I’m as surprised to type this as I’m sure you are to read it — but here we are. Lordstown Motors, the guys who famously spent millions building a go-fast race truck that only went 40 miles before selling their Lordstown, Ohio factory to Foxconn so they could build tractors in it have, against all odds, actually begun building Lordstown Endurance pickup trucks in the old GM Lordstown plant.

So far, they’ve built two (2).

That’s Right: Two.

This one and that white one, I guess? Photo by the author.

While Tesla posted news about delivering more than 300,000 vehicles last quarter, some underappreciated scribe was toiling away on a press release announcing that Lordstown Motors had, indeed, begin producing its hub-motor powered electric pickup truck. “Lordstown is pleased to announce that our first two commercial release production (CRP) Endurance™ vehicles have rolled off the production line at the Foxconn EV Ohio plant,” reads the official release, adding that, “the third (is) expected to be completed shortly.”

“We will continue to build at a slow rate as we address remaining part pedigree and part availability issues. We expect to increase the speed of production into November and December,” said Edward Hightower, Lordstown CEO and President. “Our homologation and certification processes are proceeding as planned.” Those certification processes include FMVSS crash testing that has been completed successfully, as well as EPA and CARB applications that the company notes have been submitted (but not yet approved). Though, being a zero emission BEV probably means they’re likely enough to get a rubber stamp from both agencies.

The company claims these two (three?) trucks are part of a larger, 500 unit production run that will get the Foxconn-owned plant up to speed, with deliveries expected to happen within the next 6-8 months. “We expect to deliver approximately 50 units to customers in 2022,” reads the release, “and the remainder of the first batch in the first half of 2023.” (Subject to raising sufficient capital, of course!)

As for the Lordstown Endurance itself, I— I just can’t, you guys. I really, really want to make a joke about the fact that both Lordstown Motors and Nikola have managed to get their electric trucks into production while Tesla pushes back its own truck projects in favor of a sketchy robot demonstration that would have gotten laughed out of the room if anyone but Elon had been doing the demonstrating, but a whole press release just to say, “We built 2! And we’re working on a third one!”??

It’s just too sad.

 

 Source | Images: Lordstown Motors.


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