Lordstown confirmed Q4 start-of-sales for its all-electric Endurance model.
Over the next several months, the Lordstown, Ohio-based company announced it rolled the first two commercial release, production vehicles off the Foxconn EV assembly line Thursday. Beyond the serial production milestone, Lordstown Motors also said the Endurance truck had successfully completed FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) compliance testing and submitted applications to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) for their certifications.
“Our homologation and certification processes are proceeding as planned,” said Lordstown CEO Edward Hightower. As of this announcement, the company aims to deliver around 50 production units to customers this year. The remainder of the first batch of 500 trucks, the company says, will come in the first half of 2023, “subject to raising sufficient capital”.
Of course, the tail end of that statement is crucial. Right now, Lordstown Motors expects to end the third quarter with approximately $195 million cash and cash equivalents — short-term investment securities — available to it. That figure includes $27.1 million from equity sales during the quarter. Per the company’s release, “Our cash outlook is better than our previous outlook by approximately $75 million and we continue to explore opportunities for capital raising alternatives, including in connection with the initial Foxconn joint-venture program and strategic partnerships.”
Foxconn purchased the Lordstown plant this year for $230 million. Under the current agreement, the electronics manufacturing firm is under contract to build the Endurance and Lordstown Motors’ future electric vehicles.
Ramping up production next year
“We expect to increase the speed of production into November and December,” Hightower said in the company’s official statement. “We will continue to build at a slow rate as we address remaining part pedigree and part availability issues.”
Earlier this year, the company announced its intent to build 3,000 examples of its flagship truck by the end of 2023. Now, those trucks will make their way to fleet customers, for the time being, rather than through a retail dealer network or direct sales to consumers. Whether that situation will change largely depends on Lordstown Motors’ solvency into next year, and whether it can ultimately support its operations through sales income, beyond the capital raises it’s exploring in the coming months.
We had a chance to speak directly to Edward Hightower at the 2022 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Here are some of his comments on the Endurance’s current state and production moving forward:
