Lordstown Motors’ plan for $52,000 electric pickup truck slips to next year

Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle startup, is pushing its plan to deliver a $52,500 electric pickup truck to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The startup is affiliated with Workhorse, which has been working on its own plug-in hybrid pickup truck.

The former plans to use EV technologies from the latter in order to build its own all-electric pickup truck at the Lordstown factory, which they bought from GM last year.

Last year, Lordstown Motors announced that its first vehicle, the Lordstown Endurance, is going to be a $52,000 pickup truck with 4 in-wheel hub motors and a range of over 250 miles.

They released a few renders of the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck:

The startup even claimed that it is going to beat Tesla and others to market with the first all-electric pickup by Q4 2020.

However, like many other companies amid the coronavirus crisis, Lordstown Motors announced today that its plan has slipped into 2021.

CEO Steve Burns wrote in a letter today:

“Thank you for your continued support, as we ‘endeavor’ to bring the Endurance to life. We look forward to introducing you to the world’s first-fully electric pickup truck this summer, and handing the keys to fleets across the country in January 2021.”

Lordstown Motors first planned to unveil the electric truck at the Detroit Auto Show in June, but the whole show has been canceled.

The company still plans to unveil the vehicle this summer – likely during a virtual event.

Here are the specs that the company has so far released about Endurance electric pickup truck:

• Base Price: $52,500
• Safety Rating (Front, Side, Rollover): 5 / 5 / 4
• ADAS-LDW, AEB, Rear Cross Traffic Alert
• Software – OTA (Over the Air Updates)
• Fault monitoring – OTA realtime
• EV Range (EPA cycle): 250+ miles
• Charging time (95% SOC, Level 2-7kW AC/Level 3 DC): 10 hrs / 0.5 to 1.5 hrs
• Off-board power for tools and accessory (stationary) 120V, 30 amp
• Seating Capacity: 5
• Towing Capacity: 7,500 lbs
• Drivetrain layout: 4 Hub Electric Motors
• Brakes Front/Rear: Custom in hub motor brakes
• Wheels: 20 in
• Horsepower Peak: 600 hp
• Electrical Power Steering Assist
• Top Speed (Software Governed): 80 mph (128 kph)
• Gradeability at GVW: 30%
• Warranty: 3-years bumper-to-bumper; 8-year battery warranty

Electrek’s Take

I can’t blame them for pushing the deliveries just by a month or two during this crisis, but I already had doubts about the startup keeping its timeline before the pandemic and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more delays.

When announcing the plan last year, they were talking about delivering the truck within roughly 12 months while they didn’t even have a working prototype to show.

They are trying to bring a vehicle with in-wheel hub motor to volume production. It has never been done on that scale before.

I wish them the best, but I think the timeline is too aggressive right now. I’ll remain skeptical until we have better insight into the progress at the factory and seeing an actual working prototype.