First Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup Trucks Leave Factory Floor for Delivery

The first 500 Endurance battery-powered pickup trucks made by Lordstown Motors(Opens in a new window) have left the Ohio factory and are on their way to customers.

It’s a milestone for Lordstown, which was founded in 2018 by Steve Burns. The company went public in 2020 with investors betting on buyers’ interest in the novelty of an electric pickup truck. Endurance initially planned to sell the vehicles to consumers, but now it’s switched to targeting commercial fleets, Car & Driver reports(Opens in a new window).

“The Endurance will provide benefits to customers that use their vehicles for work,” says(Opens in a new window) Edward Hightower, Lordstown’s current CEO and president. “It optimizes key attributes of traction and maneuverability, with our in-wheel hub motors, safety,…and five-star crash performance.”

Lordstown Endurance
(Credit: Lordstown)

The news comes after a tumultuous few years for the company. Burns stepped down as CEO in 2021—along with the company’s CFO—amid financial troubles, Electrek reports(Opens in a new window). The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice then began investigating Lordstown in March 2021 after a research firm accused them of inflating pre-orders, TechCrunch reports(Opens in a new window).

Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics conglomerate best known for producing Apple’s iPhones, stepped in to purchase the Ohio factory for $230 million(Opens in a new window) in November 2021. Foxconn has continued to provide the cash needed to complete production, including an additional $170 million investment(Opens in a new window) announced earlier this month.

Dash of the Lordstown Endurance
(Credit: Lordstown)

The Lordstown Endurance has a standard CCS charging port, which accommodates all levels of power.
(Credit: Lordstown)

In the meantime, other brands have successfully launched electric pickup trucks, such as Rivian, Ford, GMC, and more to come (though we’ll see if the Tesla Cybertruck makes it), robbing Lordstown of the ability to leverage novelty for clout. Now, the Endurance must compete on performance and price for its new audience, though the truck’s early reviews have been mixed(Opens in a new window).

Lordstown touts the Endurance’s extra power, made possible by four motors, one on each wheel. The Ford F-150 Lightning Pro(Opens in a new window) pickup truck, the commercial version of the popular F-150 Lightning lineup, has two motors—one in the front and one on the back. The Lightning Pro costs less ($52,000 for the Ford and $65,000 on the Lordstown), but has slightly more horsepower (462hp versus the Endurance’s 440hp).

Towing power is where the Endurance really hopes to shine, but even there it fails to truly impress at just 8,000 pounds. While the base model of the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro only tows 5,000 pounds, an upgrade will get you 7,700 pounds. The Rivian R1T(Opens in a new window) electric pickup truck base model promises 11,000 pounds for the same price as the Endurance, calling into question what defines a “commercial” vehicle.

Lordstown Endurance
(Credit: Lordstown)

Towing on battery-powered trucks has also been a hot topic since heavy loads can dramatically reduce range(Opens in a new window). That’s bad news for the Endurance, which is already at the low end of the spectrum at 200 miles. That could be easily cut in half with heavy towing over long distances. It remains to be seen which brand can create a truly powerful tow truck without sacrificing range and, in turn, overall utility.

Despite these drawbacks, the Endurance secured a nomination for the 2023 North American Truck of the Year(Opens in a new window), along with the Ford F-150 Lightning (electric) and Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 (gas-powered). The winner will be announced in January.