Lordstown Motors of Ohio has announced that it “has experienced performance and quality issues with certain Endurance components.” That led to a temporary halt in production and deliveries to customers, and it would lead to the company’s first ever recall.
According to the company, it has filed paperwork with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to voluntarily recall affected trucks due to “a specific electrical connection issue that could result in loss of engines.” push while driving.”
That issue affects 19 vehicles that have been delivered to customers or are being used by companies. Additional vehicles at the factory will also require a recall.
Lordstown seems to explain that it’s not just the specific recall, but that there are multiple issues behind the production discontinuation.
Lordstown Stamina 2023
“The team is actively working with suppliers to analyze the root cause of each issue and potential solutions, which in some cases may include part design modifications, retrofit and software update”.
Lordstown did not provide any further details on the nature of the problems, and as of the time of publication, the company has not provided any further details on the matter to Green Car Reports.
The company announced that it intends to “provide more detailed updates on the status of these issues during an upcoming earnings call.”
The Endurance is notable from a technology standpoint because it is the first such electric truck — and the first light truck or passenger vehicle for the U.S. market — to use hub motor in wheel. But there is no indication that the technology is affected by the recall.
Lordstown Endurance wheel hub motor
Lordstown also made no mention of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group, which built Endurance at GM’s former Lordstown plant. Lordstown acquired the foundation stone, still fitted for vehicle production, in 2019 for about $20 million. Then it sell factory to Foxconn as part of a $230 million deal announced in November 2021 and completed last May.
Foxconn plans to build vehicles based on MIH platform for electric vehicles at the factory, as well as vehicles being conceived with Lordstown. Products announced (or likely) for the factory include pearthe India Oneand a self-driving tractor—also, potentially, for products from the company’s Foxtron EV brand.
Lordstown’s founding CEO, Steve Burns, was disqualified in 2021 after an SEC investigation found that the company had inflated the order claim. While the company initially said that there would be a consumer version of Endurance, it later insisted that it would only build it for fleets.
