Tesla’s Cybertruck is not the only electric pickup truck in town. Lordstown Motors revealed their own new electric pickup today. The truck’s debut happened via a digital livestream event on the company’s YouTube page at noon today. There was a lot of information about the electric vehicle that became clear. A recap on the new Endurance truck is below. 

Testing of the Endurance electric pickup

The reveal of the Endurance has been teased in a YouTube series for the last two months. The electric pickup has been seen in brief clips undergoing testing while wrapped in spy camouflage. The clips have shown the truck swerving while at speed, taking a bend in the road at speed, driving through mud, attempting a hill climb on a 15 percent grade from a complete stop, undergoing washboard testing, showing the suspension through bump testing, and undergoing weather testing.

The clips clearly showed a traditionally shaped pickup, with a defined cab and bed. They also showed at least one electric motor mounted in the front on a wheel hub assembly. Overall, the pickup shown was a pretty close match to the renderings the company released earlier.

The reveal of the Endurance

In today’s event, the truck was shown to the public for the first time with no camouflage. The truck was driven on-stage by Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States. He applauded the Lordstown team for bringing a new day for electric leadership in the United States. The Secretary of the Department of Energy, Dan Brouillette, was also present. He was really pleased with the advancement in technology. Steve Burns, CEO for Lordstown made big claims about the truck such as the Endurance having the best traction and handling of any pickup ever due to hub motors keeping the weight of the vehicle low, the safest pickup ever made due to big a crush area, and the best fuel economy of any pickup ever made.

The truck itself

As mentioned earlier, the truck itself did not change from the renderings released earlier. The belt-line that follows the parking lights and wraps back to the truck’s bed is still there, as is the accent line that starts above the rocker panels and wraps to the tailgate. The electric hub motors definitely stand out from behind the wheels. 

Where the Endurance pickup truck is being built?

The Endurance is being built at an old General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Other vehicles will follow. Lordstown Motors CEO, Steve Burns, spoke with the Detroit Free Press and alluded to an electric SUV and a smaller electric pickup also being in the works. Mr. Burns also spoke with Roadshow and offered this insight, “We didn’t buy a mass volume plant like this and not plan to fill it up.” Plans are for the plant to crank out 20,000 copies of the Endurance in its first year and announced as part of the reveal, 14,000 have already been pre-sold. 

Dealer network?

Like Tesla, Lordstown will sell its own vehicles. There is no dealer network established. Instead, Lordstown is accepting pre-orders on its website.

When are deliveries expected?

Lordstown boldly announced at the reveal today that they plan on being the first production all-electric pickup available on the market. To do so, they clearly plan on having deliveries begin in the next year to a year and a half. That is the only way to beat Tesla to market with a production truck. 

The reveal of the Endurance comes just a few months after Tesla debuted their Cybertruck to much fanfare. Both are slated as 2022 model year vehicles. So, they will be counterparts to each other from the very beginning. But, the soon to be made Texas Cybertruck has already had over half a million orders placed. So, it remains to be seen just how much traction the Endurance can get, especially considering that Ford and General Motors will also be joining the electric pickup truck market very soon. 

Here are some additional specifications of both trucks

Lordstown Endurance

• 600 horsepower
• 7,500 towing capacity
• 4-hub electric motivation (AWD)
• 20-inch wheels
• 3-year bumper to bumper warranty
• 8-year battery warranty
• 10 hour charge time 
• 250-mile range
• $52,500 starting price

Tesla Cybertruck (Tri-motor)

• 800 horsepower
• 7,500 towing capacity
• Tri-motor electric motivation (AWD)
• 4-year/50,000-mile warranty for comprehensive coverage per KBB
• 8-year/unlimited mile Battery and Drive Unit limited warranty per KBB
• 35-inch tires, no data on the size of the wheels as of yet
• 500-mile range
• 69,900 (tri-motor)

Between Tesla and Lordstown, the electric pickup truck market seems to be heating up with actual production plans. Hummer and Ford will soon be joining the fray with their electric production trucks. So, it is shaping to be a near-term electrified future for the pickup market full of competitors.