Consultants Forum Advertise
Subscribe
Close

  • Free for qualified executives and consultants to industry

  • Receive quarterly issues of Area Development Magazine and special market report and directory issues

Subscribe Now
Renew

Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Lordstown Motors Acquires Lordstown, Ohio, Manufacturing Plant

11/11/2019
Lordstown Motors Corp., a new original equipment manufacturer, expanded with the acquisition of the GM manufacturing complex in Lordstown, Ohio.

According to company officials, the 6.2 million square-foot Lordstown factory is a fully-equipped automotive plant that has produced over 16 million vehicles to date. The move paves the way for LMC to begin production of the Endurance pickup truck, the industry's first all-electric pickup truck purpose-built for fleets starting in late 2020.

"We are committed to the people of Lordstown, we will locate our headquarters in the Lordstown plant, and we plan to build the Endurance pickup truck utilizing experienced workers who helped produce millions of vehicles in this very same plant," said Steve Burns, LMC CEO. "We're honored to have the opportunity to build electric vehicles in Lordstown because the people of Lordstown and the plant are and will be the history and future of the auto industry. When the first Endurance electric pickup rolls off that line, it will be a great day for Lordstown, Ohio and America."

"The quality and precision of the production robotics and equipment in the Lordstown facility is evident," said Rich Schmidt, Chief Production Officer, Lordstown Motors, and former Director of Manufacturing, Tesla, Inc. "Our team feels this is a factor to help us hit the ground running in building the Endurance pickup truck."

Lordstown Motors will be licensing components of Workhorse Group's proven electric drive technology in building the Endurance electric pickup truck, a plan designed to achieve greater speed to market. The agreement with Workhorse also provides the opportunity to transfer 6,000 existing pre-orders received by Workhorse for its W-15 prototype to LMC.

The Endurance pickup truck is designed to be the first production vehicle that utilizes a 4-wheel-drive hub-motor system, a design that reduces the number of moving parts. With its hub motor design, Lordstown engineers have set out to re-invent the electric vehicle. Fleet managers benefit with less breakdowns, lower maintenance, and most importantly, less cost. The overall benefit is an attractive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), which translates into a significantly lower lifetime operational cost compared to traditional pickup trucks.

Company officials said Endurance pickup truck is designed with features fleets want, like an onboard power export, allowing fleet workers to run power tools at the job site without the need for a portable generator or leaving the truck running. The truck is engineered to be lightweight, with all-wheel drive and a low center of gravity, while maintaining ground clearance. Lordstown Motors has set a goal to make the Endurance™ pickup truck the safest, most economical, and greenest electric pickup truck ever built.

"Lordstown Motors, along with other planned investments in the area and other start-ups, are positioning Northeast Ohio as a hub for technology, which completely reshapes the future trajectory of the whole Mahoning Valley," said Jim Tressel, President of Youngstown State University. "Think of being in the epicenter of EV technology. We must take charge of our future."

Exclusive Research