- Lordstown Motors has announced it’s moving the delivery start date of its Endurance electric pickup to fleets from late 2020 to January 2021.
- The startup automaker will unveil the production version of the truck in early summer, although it’ll probably be a virtual event.
- CEO Steve Burns noted in a blog post that now more than ever, it’s an important time to produce commercial electric trucks.
The coronavirus pandemic has delayed more than a few cars from both established automakers and startups. The latest to be pushed back is the Lordstown Motors Endurance. Originally the pickups were expected by the end of 2020. In a post, CEO Steve Burns announced that the company would be “handing the keys to fleets across the country in January 2021.”
Like another electric-vehicle startup, Lucid, Lordstown had planned to unveil the production version of its first vehicle this spring at the New York auto show. Since that event has since been moved to late August, Lordstown now plans to have an unveiling in early summer and admitted it’s likely the event will be virtual.
In his post, Burns said that the company had two big revelations. One, that air quality satellite images have shown the result of reduced tailpipe emissions during the stay-at-home orders, which he called “staggering.” That could make a case for cleaner delivery-vehicle options. Second, that the stay-at-home orders would be far more difficult without trucks. “The experience would be much worse—almost unsurvivable—if commercial trucks didn’t keep rolling. Trucks bring supplies, workers, and tools to stores and to our homes,” Burns said in his message.
Lordstown Motors’ CEO did not mention whether the delivery of its Endurance to consumers will be delayed beyond late 2021. With a starting price of $ 52,500, the consumer version of the truck will presumably enter a crowded electric-pickup space with offerings from Tesla, Rivian, and GM.
