Lordstown doesn’t have enough money to produce Endurance
The world of the electric van is particularly bubbling nowadays with the recent launch of the Ford F-150 Lightning and the imminent arrival of the Rivian R1T. It is in this arena that must defend oneself Lordstown, this young American shoot who planned to launch his truck Endurance this spring. However, for lack of money to start the assembly of the vehicle, the project is still on the ice.
According to information reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Ohio-based company does not have the funds to start production of its Endurance electric truck. This revelation comes from an official regulatory document and confirms that the first fleet operator customers who were to receive their trucks earlier this year are not about to see it.
Still, the Lordstown Endurance truck looked promising. The manufacturer had ruled that it would have a power of 600 horsepower from four wheel motors and that the range would be around 400 km, which is competitive with the other trucks offered. Fleet customers were to be the first to receive them while private customers waited for their truck by the end of the year.
This isn’t the first time the Ohio-based company has been on a tightrope. It has been criticized by the firm Hindenberg Research over the past year as false statements were allegedly made by the executives of the company. They falsely claimed that more than 100,000 trucks had been booked by fleet operators, which would have misled investors.
Moreover, an investigation by the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was opened following this revelation, weighing down the value of the company’s share.
All these findings cast doubt on the viability of the company, but also on the achievement of Lordstown’s objective of being the first commercial electric truck on the market. It risks losing its anticipated lead over the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro dedicated to fleets, which will arrive in spring 2022. In the meantime, beta tests aimed at assessing truck performance continue.
As of this writing, the Lordstown website still reports a delivery in 2021 for the first copies of the Endurance truck. The initial advertised price is US $ 52,500.
