If we can believe what we read, Lordstown Motors has made it past the next hurdles to becoming a real auto manufacturer. The electric truck company announced its Endurance pickup has received homologation certifications from the EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), opening the gates to retail sales. What’s more, the first customer deliveries “are leaving the Foxconn EV Ohio plant for customer delivery.” Production at the plant began in August, Lordstown saying it wanted to deliver 50 to customers before the end of the year, and as many as 450 more in the first quarter of next year. Earlier this month, the company had managed to build 12 units, acknowledging a slow ramp-up as it focused on ensuring quality and dealing with parts constraints. The pace is expected to climb through the end of 2022.
And in a year where six of the nine North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year finalists are battery-electric vehicles, the Endurance is one of the three finalists in the truck category — all three of which happened to be the semifinalists, too. The Ohio pickup is up against the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 for the judges’ honors in January.
According to the last timeline we got, the production goal through to the end of 2023 is 3,000 units. Achieving this still depends on finding the cash, even after making a new investment deal with production partner Foxconn that could put as much as $170 million into company coffers, assuming the deal passes regulatory oversight. In the meantime, kudos to Lordstown.