Lordstown Motors Inks Deal for Wheel Motor Technology

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Lordstown Motors Corp. has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Elaphe Propulsion Technologies to develop the in-wheel motors used in the Endurance electric-powered pickup truck.

Per the agreement, the wheel motors will be manufactured at Lordstown Motors’ plant here by its employees.

“Our relationship with Elaphe goes back over a decade, and their commitment to Lordstown Motors Corp. and passion for the Lordstown Endurance is stronger than ever,” said Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns in a statement. “The caliber of work they’ve produced is some of the best and most innovative in the industry. We’re proud of the work we’ve done together up to this point and enthusiastic about what’s to come.”

Elaphe, based in Slovenia, will support and help manage Lordstown Motors’ 20,000-square-foot production line. Within six months, Lordstown Motors expects to use the line for beta and pre-production models, with full production beginning within nine months.

“While most vehicle manufacturers are focusing merely on catching up and competing with legacy electric powertrain technologies pioneered decades ago by pure-EV OEMs, Lordstown is making a giant leap forward by building its vehicles around the needs of their users and not around the traditional powertrain-integration-imposed tradeoffs,” said Elaphe CEO Gorazd Lampič. “We strongly believe that the packaging, modularity, redundancy and advanced functions of vehicle control that Elaphe hub motors enable are key to delivering torque in the way a true 4WD should be done. We are proud to be part of what Lordstown is trying to achieve.”

In addition to providing the technology for the in-wheel motors, Elaphe will also provide engineering support, technical assistance and consulting services to Lordstown Motors as it develops its Endurance truck.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.