Lordstown Motors posts video of its electric truck

CEO says company on course for production

LORDSTOWN-- Lordstown Motors Corp. revealed to a small crowd at its production facility in Lordstown last month a short, secret video of its battery-powered Endurance pickup truck being put through its paces on a test track in Michigan.

According to founder and CEO Steve Burns, the footage was "proof of life" the startup was making progress toward launching the truck later this year, but those who saw it, including the media, were barred from the recording.

So for the first time Thursday, Lordstown Motors publicly revealed bits of footage of the Endurance. As seen on Lordstown Motors' Facebook page and on YouTube, the video was recorded March 3 with Burns putting the Endurance chassis with a black-and-white-camouflaged donor body through a series of maneuvers on a test track.

A 17-second video shows a wheel, which contains one of the truck's four hub motors, and suspension navigating mud and muck.

"Over the past 10 years we've developed a high degree of confidence in our In-Wheel Drive System. The system has been tested through every imaginable environment and has proven to be extremely durable. Such was the case when I drove the Alpha chassis for the first time," Burns wrote on the Facebook post.

A 13-second video previews other tests, including speeding along the track and motoring over bumps.

"There was a lot of anticipation for this event, and our top-notch engineering team stepped up to meet the challenge. It was exhilarating to test drive it for the very first time, and overall I am thrilled with our progress. We're continuing to make great strides every day, and I look forward to when we are in full production," Burns wrote.

The company plans to release video clips Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 23 of the truck in action. A public reveal of the truck is planned for June at the North American International Auto Show.

Meanwhile, during the novel coronavirus pandemic, staff -- including the executive leadership, sales and marketing teams and engineers -- is doing as much as possible at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

According to a statement Thursday, "We are working to maintain our schedule, which is dependent upon the performance of our partners and suppliers, who we are working with each day to stay on course and limit the impact of COVID-19. We are continuing to monitor the situation and prioritizing the health and safety of our workers and community as we do."

The company has a pledge from Clean Fuels Ohio, an advanced technologies advocacy group, to help drive the purchase of 500 Endurances and a letter of intent with Akron-based FirstEnergy to buy 250 of the electric trucks for its fleet.

In addition, Lordstown Motors is sitting on about 6,000 preorders in a transfer agreement with Cincinnati-based Workhorse Group for its commercial pickup truck, the W-15.

The agreement is part of a partnership between the companies that lets Lordstown Motors use Workhorse technology to produce the Endurance in exchange for Workhorse holding 10 percent of Lordstown Motors.

rselak@tribtoday.com