Lordstown Motors Delays Truck Launch to January 2021

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Lordstown Motors Corp. has pushed back the launch of its Endurance electric-powered pickup to January 2021 due to COVID-19, CEO Steve Burns said in a letter posted on the company’s website.

The first trucks were initially scheduled to be delivered to customers late this year.

“Like the rest of the country and the world, Lordstown Motors Corporation is doing what we can to slow and prevent further spread of COVID-19,” the letter says. “As such, most of our staff has been working from home while carrying out as much of their work as possible; essential maintenance is still happening at the plant, and our design engineers continue testing and fine-tuning the technology that will power the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck.”

The truck was supposed to be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this summer, Burns continued, but that event was canceled due to the virus. The company still plans on showing off the truck publicly for the first time this summer, “probably via virtual reveal from our headquarters in Lordstown.”

Burns also noted two “big revelations” that have stemmed from the coronavirus outbreak: that demand for trucks is as great as ever, given that more people than ever are at home while trucks are used to make deliveries to sites that are still open.

Secondly, “The air quality satellite images that are showing the results of having less tailpipe emissions are staggering. Anyone that ever doubted that our air quality could be cleaned up dramatically by eliminating tailpipe emissions should now be cheering for the advent of vehicle electrification – especially truck electrification.”

The full letter can be read here.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.