The Lordstown Endurance now has official EPA range figures, and they aren’t exactly competitive.
We’ve covered quite a bit of news surrounding Lordstown Motors over the past several months, little of which has been encouraging. While it has built some Endurance pickup trucks for real-world customers, it’s been hammering out quality issues and trying to secure the funding it needs to keep going, or else it will go bankrupt.
Now, the Environmental Protection Agency published range and MPGe numbers for the Endurance and…oh, boy. The top-line figure of driving range — the first number everyone looks at and criticizes with any EV — is just 174 miles. Keep in mind, that’s with a relatively large 109-kWh battery pack. For a bit of perspective, the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV manages up to 285 miles on slightly less juice (its battery is 107.8-kWh in terms of usable capacity).
But, then again, the EQS isn’t a truck.
What about a direct competitor like, say, the Ford F-150 Lightning? The standard range truck with the smaller 98.0-kWh pack manages 240 miles on a charge, or 68 MPGe. Consider that against the Endurance, for which Lordstown originally promised 75 MPGe, and today’s official rating of just 48 MPGe is lackluster, to say the least.
It’s a shame, because we’re consistently rooting for more competition in the EV space, beyond the big names of established players. The Rivian R1T (which coincidentally manages 303 miles out of its 105-kWh “Standard Pack”) is a remarkable first effort for its creator. Giving consumers more options for vehicles that fit their needs from companies they appreciate and want to support is a great goal, but whether you should stake your cash on a truck that’s uncompetitive (at least on paper) from a company that’s in real danger of going under is almost certainly a non-starter for almost anyone.
We’ll see what happens. Lordstown may indeed turn things around, but it’s doubtful these figures will sweeten the deal for fleet buyers.
