Enlarge / Lordstown Motors says it will begin limited production of the Endurance EV truck later in 2021. (credit: Lordstown Motors)
Life just isn’t getting any easier for Lordstown Motors. Last week, the startup issued a “going concern” warning, telling investors that it might not be able to start production of its electric work truck without a fresh infusion of cash. We saw the consequences on Monday morning, as the company announced that CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez have resigned. Angela Strand has been appointed as executive chairwoman and will helm Lordstown until a new CEO is appointed, with Becky Roof serving as Interim CFO.
Lordstown Motors emerged from another beleaguered startup called Workhorse, which planned to produce a plug-in hybrid work truck made from carbon fiber. But in 2018, the stock market was much less willing to hand out gigantic blank checks to electric vehicle startups, and that hybrid truck was shelved. Workhorse’s then-CEO Steve Burns departed the company.
On his way out, Burns licensed some of Workhorse’s technology (involving hub-mounted motors for each wheel), which formed the basis for Lordstown Motors. Lordstown would make a battery EV pickup instead of a plug-in hybrid truck, and it would do so in a former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio (giving the new startup its name).
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