Believe It or Not: Lordstown Motors Resumes Production
The Ohio-based Lordstown Motors has reportedly resumed assembly and delivery of its all-electric Endurance pickup this month, after having to pause production in February to address quality concerns.
“While our experienced team has made significant progress in addressing the underlying component and vehicle sub-system issues affecting the Endurance build schedule, we remain committed to doing the right thing by our customers and to resolve potential issues before resuming production and customer shipments,” Edward Hightower, Lordstown Motors CEO and president, said late in February.
But the problems appear to have been dealt with. According to Reuters, things are back on track. The company had previously alleged that it was dissatisfied with some of the components being supplied for the Endurance and would need to pause production. During the downtime, the company said it would be “diligently working with suppliers on the root cause analysis of each issue and potential solutions, which in some cases may include part design modifications, retrofits, and software updates.”
Among the highest profile defects was a wonky electrical connection issue that could result in a loss of propulsion while driving and a secondary issue involving calipers that featured faulty thrust washers that might leave the parking brake nonfunctional. Both problems resulted in the company issuing low-volume recalls (it hasn’t yet built a lot of vehicles) via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Though a return to production doesn’t mean the business is out of the woods. In February, Lordstown had only managed to put up 31 vehicles for sale and had to recall 19 of those from those delivered to customers – along with some others that were being used by the firm internally.
While the company had warned that supply chain woes might result in less-than-ideal volumes through the first quarter, production has fallen short of what just about everyone expected. Meanwhile, the hype surrounding EV startups has abated and many are now looking at the burgeoning brand with more skeptical eyes.
This has been reflected in the Lordstown stock, which has seen its value absolutely crater since February of 2021.
The company said on Tuesday that it expects production and deliveries to resume at a “very low pace.”
[Image: Lordstown Motors]
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A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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This is like the modern equivalent of a plucky low volume sports car manufacturer that is always on the brink of bankruptcy and can never figure out how to make the damn thing correctly without completely going under.
Yawn. Yet another golf cart with a pickup bed. And likely to be a very expensive one even though all of these genre are outrageously priced.