The race to mass-produce a viable electric pickup truck is on, and Lordstown Motors this week took a major step forward with the announcement that it is moving forward with a production line for the in-hub electric drive motors that will propel the LMC Endurance. The, ahem, beautifully named "Model L-1500 Endurance In-Wheel Motor" is being developed by Slovenian company Elaphe Propulsion Technologies Ltd., with which Lordstown has a decade-long relationship.
Lordstown's motor assembly line could be operational within 6 months, and is hoped to be producing motors for pre-production trucks by December. It's expected to take at least 9 months for the line to reach full capacity.
The LMC Endurance will be the company's affordable pure-electric work truck for fleet customers. Slated to start at $52,500, the Endurance will be powered by four individual in-wheel motors, much like the forthcoming Rivian R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, putting out a combined 600 peak horsepower - and more importantly, torque-vectoring all-wheel drive.
"The caliber of work Elaphe has produced is some of the best and most innovative in the industry," Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns said in a statement. "We're proud of the work we've done together up to this point and enthusiastic about what's to come."
The global coronavirus outbreak created problems for Lordstown Motors, which continued engineering work during the shutdown but had to put off readying its Lordstown, Ohio manufacturing plant as the pandemic forced critical funding to be delayed. Last month, the young EV company said it would have to push back its target production start date for the LMC Endurance, from December to January.
Its Michigan-based rival, Rivian, has actually fared worse, having to delay the start of production from December this year to June 2021. Lordstown Motors is one of a handful of companies pursuing what promises to be a hot segment, with pure-electric pickup trucks also on the way from Ford, GM, Tesla, and Bollinger Motors.
Will it beat the Tesla Cybertruck to market? It's too early to say, but we're liking Lordstown's chances more and more.