Lordstown Motors’ CEO Steve Burns outlined further plans about the electric pickup.
Lordstown Motors recently released a few new renderings of its upcoming all-electric Lordstown Endurance pickup truck, which looks quite attractive.
Lordstown Motors’ CEO Steve Burns, in a very interesting interview with the Detroit Free Press, has outlined what to expect in the near future.
First of all, since the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit was canceled, the company intends to unveil the pickup virtually, “likely in late June”.
Then, Lordstown Motors expect to collect pre-orders for all 20,000 units, scheduled for production in 2021. The plant itself “has capacity to make up to 600,000 vehicles a year” according to the article, but we would call it “potential” (considering the size and previous volume under GM) because it would require investments.
Assuming that in 2019 pickup truck sales amounted to some 2.5 million, Lordstown Motors’ initial target is for less than 1% of the market.
By December 2020, the company hopes to build first 30 pre-production Endurance.
The expected range of the Endurance to be about 250 miles (402 km) – previously we have read at least 200 miles (322 km).
Steve Burn hopes to be not only first on the market, at least a few years ahead of GM, Ford and others, but also to “dominate the all-electric pickup market segment.”
Lordstown Endurance
To make it happen, Lordstown promises better performance (using all-wheel drive in-wheel hub motors, produced jointly with Elaphe Propulsion Technologies): “If you’re stuck in the mud next to a traditional pickup, we’ll come out first.” 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) acceleration should take just 5.5 seconds without payload and thanks to the EV architecture, the handling will be great:
“We expect it to be extremely rough and rugged, but it’s silent and fast. It’s strong enough to tow, but if you’re not towing it’s very fast,”
“Typically, when a pickup’s bed is empty, it doesn’t drive well because the engine is in the front and the weight is there, Burns said. In the case of the Endurance, the center of gravity is low and the in-wheel motors put weight on the four corners.”
A side effect of no engine is the frunk – front trunk – just like in Rivian R1T.
Most importantly, the Lordstown Endurance is promised to offer lower total cost of ownership (TCO), which is one of the main selling points for fleets – the primary target group.
“”After hundreds of years of refinement and countless hours of engineering, a pickup truck only gets about 17 mpg and it’s not going to get any better,” Burns said. “So it really needs a reset. We’re not coming out with a 10% better pickup truck, we’re coming out with a 500% better pickup truck and it’s safer, it’s quieter and it’s fun to drive and it costs less to own.””
Lordstown Endurance
Following models?
According to Steve Burns, the company is already planning following models (“including a midsize pickup and an SUV”) – the second one will be introduced within a year of the launch of the Endurance.