Cue popcorn and American EV startup tears as the drama continues for the maker of the Lordstown Endurance all-electric truck. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Ohio-based Lordstown Motors, it has. A worst-case scenario has come to fruition. The company has filed a lawsuit against its main investor, Foxconn, and subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (a.k.a. a “restructuring process” to “maximize the value of its assets”).
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Make an Offer
Here’s the juicy bottom line: Lordstown is looking for a new owner for the Endurance. If buying an EV truck—like literally the whole dang business operation, not just one truck for your small business—was on your to-do list today, hit up Lordstown with an offer it can’t refuse.
Bad Faith
The relationship between Lordstown and Foxconn has officially gone sour, with Lordstown accusing global technology company Hon Hai Technology Group (and its affiliate, Foxconn Ventures, an Apple supplier) of fraud, bad faith, and repeated contractual breaches, allegedly having no intention of holding up its end of the various commitments. Apparently, “Foxconn simply used its variety of contractual arrangements with the Company as a tool to maliciously and in bad faith destroy Lordstown’s business—while leveraging resources gained through the partnership to advance its own business interests.”
Couldn’t Keep Up
Back in early 2020, then-CEO Steve Burns articulated that the company’s goal “[was] to build the first electric pickup truck in the United States and likely the world. ” Fast-forward a few years, and that didn’t happen. Lordstown was far from “the first,” considering production of the Endurance started in September 2022, long after its competition (Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV) were silently rolling off production lines.
Production Woes
By production, it’s more like a slow painful trickle; You can count the number of Endurances that Lordstown has sold and delivered on your fingers and toes. Perhaps the nail in the coffin, the EPA just slapped the Endurance with some bad, bad news in terms of range and efficiency. Suffice to say, lofty dreams and goals did not pan out.
Bankruptcy
Even before the recent lawsuit and bankruptcy filings, Lordstown had been plagued by issues: suppliers, recalls, finances, government investigations, and so on. On the bright side, despite a reported a loss of $171.7 million in the first quarter of this year, Lordstown enters Chapter 11 with cash on-hand and a debt-free position.
Lordstown Endurance, but for How Long?
Will Lordstown be the first of many EV startups to go belly-up or is this just an anomaly? Hopefully this is just the beginning of a new chapter for the Endurance.
Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup
Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup
Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup
Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup
Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup
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