Imagine toiling for years to realize an against-the-odds dream: starting a new automaker from scratch, acquiring a mothballed factory, developing advanced technologies and unveiling a prototype electric truck – only to lose it all within a few months.
That dramatic story arc describes the rapid rise and fall of Lordstown Motors founder Steve Burns. It also encapsulates the precarious state of the company he created to challenge Detroit‘s pickup truck dominance.
This profile charts Lordstown‘s origin story, innovations, stumbles and uncertain future in the high-stakes battle for EV primacy. For EV startups, Lordstown provides both inspiration and warning. Its ambitious vision spotlights American engineering capability and the power of public optimism. But missteps also reveal the fine line between progress and failure for new entrants upending a brutal status quo.
Genesis: A Bold Vision Built Upon the Rust of Detroit
Before plunging into Lordstown‘s demise and revival, we must examine its promising genesis. That story starts with the visions of Steve Burns, an unconventional serial entrepreneur with string of prior startups under his belt.
After previous EV venture Workhorse Group, Burns fixed his ambitions on breaking into the lucrative US full-size pickup market, long locked down by Ford, GM and Ram. Rather than develop a luxury lifestyle truck, Burns aimed squarely at commercial fleets with his aptly named Endurance.
Lacking Tesla‘s slick branding, Lordstown anchored its identity upon gritty realities: American factory workers and small businesses needing dependable, affordable work vehicles. The company christened its first prototype "Linda" after a plant employee suddenly forced into retirement by GM‘s closure of Lordstown Assembly. That sobering context reflects the community Burns auditioned to rally.
And Lordstown‘s earliest achievements justified enthusiasm. Burns pulled off a coup acquiring GM‘s shuttered 6 million sq. ft plant for just $20 million – a modern complex representing billions in replacement cost. He recruited top talent from Toyota, Tesla and others to lead engineering. And a savvy SPAC merger generated hundreds of millions in capital to fund initial production plans.
Key Milestones: Lordstown Motors Formation & Funding
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov 2018 | Lordstown Motors founded by Steve Burns |
| Nov 2019 | Lordstown plant acquisition from GM for $20M announced |
| Aug 2020 | Lordstown Motors goes public via SPAC at $1.6B valuation |
| Sept 2020 | Lordstown announces $675M capital infusion from IPO proceeds |
Lofty projection of somewhere between fantasy and determination, Burns told the Detroit News in June 2020: "We are going to be the first OEM to launch out of the gate with an electric work truck…no one is even close to making what we are making."
Such bravado offers insight into both Burns‘ shrewd promotional instincts and the immense pressure startups face to hype ambitions to secure funding. But it also risks credibility when operational realities drag optimism back down to earth.
Endurance: An Electric Workhorse Engineered for the Everyperson
Banking on Burns‘ vision, Lordstown‘s engineering team began developing what would become the Endurance pickup truck. Their mission: integrate consumer-grade technologies into a capable yet affordable workhorse able to log serious miles under punishing conditions.
Rather than engineering an entirely custom chassis, the Endurance adapted key components from Workhorse Group‘s existing W-15 pickup to save development time and cost. But Lordstown added several proprietary technologies aimed at improving efficiency, reliability and total cost of ownership including:
Lordstown Endurance Key Specifications
| Feature | Details | Advantages |
|---|---|---|
| Battery | 600V lithium-ion packs 109 kWh max capacity |
250+ mile range Fast charging |
| Motors | 4 direct drive hub motors 50 kWh max power each |
Improved control, traction, redundancy |
| Architecture | Lightweight aluminum frame Simplified design |
Less maintenance Lower repair costs |
| Intelligence | Vehicle control software Integrated sensors suite |
Optimizes power, handling, safety |
| Design | Angular body panels Full light bar |
Aerodynamic Stylishly utilitarian |
- In-wheel hub motors eliminate differentials, axles, gearboxes
- Advanced battery management and regenerative braking software
- Over-the-air update capability to improve features/performance
By effectively integrating consumer-grade technologies like giant touchscreens and advanced driver assistance systems with commercial-duty capabilities, Lordstown aimed to offer fleet operators the best of both worlds.
And the company took pride in the Endurance‘s all-American supply chain including sourced components and assembly in Lordstown‘s Ohio plant. But while this homegrown narrative stirred national pride, it also risked constraints to scaling production efficiently in later years.
Too Much, Too Soon: Spectacular Rise and Fall of Founder Steve Burns
Underpinning early enthusiasm for Lordstown Motors was the magnetism of Steve Burns. The gangly CEO entertained senior living residents in promotional stunts, hosted factory tours with politicians and made bold claims about taking on Detroit‘s automaking giants.
Investors, media and public officials alike hailed Burns as the kind of swashbuckling entrepreneur willing to pursue outsized ambitions and risk spectacular failure to advance American manufacturing. Lordstown soaked up praise as the scrappy underdog, in contrast with reviled figures like EV bad boy Trevor Milton of Nikola.
But the reality of transforming such vision into steady, large-scale automotive production ultimately exposed Burns‘ shortcomings. Engineer sources describe innovative ideas paired with unrealistic assumptions and timetables. And while hype attracted capital, it also drew skepticism from research firms and short sellers questioning Lordstown‘s capability to deliver actual vehicles.
In June 2021, these pressures sparked a shakeup resulting in Burns resigning as CEO and from Lordstown‘s board. The swift downfall of Lordstown Motors‘ visionary founder shows that startups must balance lofty visions with achievable targets, disciplined execution and transparency.
According to Asad Hussain, an automotive analyst with research firm Pitchbook:
"Lordstown‘s original leadership deserves credit for the speed of early progress in areas like plant acquisition and prototyping. But the combination of unrealistic targets, execution missteps and PR controversies proved combustible. The uncertainty now is whether a scaled-back Lordstown can regain momentum with more conservative, pragmatic leadership under CEO Daniel Ninivaggi.”
In retrospect, Burns succeeded tremendously in certain areas like promoting ambitious visions and attracting capital, while clearly falling short in consistent, realistic planning and transparency. Lordstown’s boom to bust arc under his leadership provides an amplified view of startup challenges balancing hype with delivery.
Foxconn Comes to the Rescue…But Can This Marriage Succeed?
By late 2021, a battered Lordstown Motors faced imminent collapse despite surviving leadership upheaval. But an unlikely savior emerged in Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant best known for producing iPhones.
After initially investing $50 million into the battered startup in November 2021, Foxconn purchased Lordstown outright for $170 million just 8 months later. While modest for an automaker with Lordstown‘s stated ambitions, the deal provided a vital injection of capital and manufacturing capacity needed to continue Endurance production plans.
Foxconn‘s takeover raises both optimism and skepticism. On the positive side, it connects Lordstown with a manufacturing partner operating plants worldwide capable of producing 30 million vehicles per year. Foxconn also has great interest expanding into EVs, with prior partnerships like Fisker‘s Project PEAR electric car.
But Foxconn has never manufactured complete vehicles independently. AndLordstown itself still faces large technical hurdles getting the Endurance into reliable, efficient volume production. As industry analyst Michael Dunne describes:
“On paper, Foxconn bringing its enormous scale and Lordstown contributing its plant and technologies seems a win-win. But neither partner has built cars independently beyond limited prototypes. So quality, manufacturing velocity and managing warranty repairs present massive operational challenges."
So while Foxconn offers Lordstown a vital lifeline, the unlikely partnership must still demonstrate capabilities transforming ambitious prototypes into high-quality production vehicles at large volumes.
Conclusion: Lordstown’s Uncertain Road Ahead
Love it or hate it, Lordstown Motors represents a quintessentially American moonshot story. Its wild arc traces heady hype, early achievements, stumbles, rescue and renewed hope all within several years. Whether it crashes or reaches some version of attained orbit now depends greatly upon execution.
At its core, Lordstown’s gambit involves erecting an entirely new automaker on the rusting remains of Detroit’s faded glory. The fact it progressed even modestly towards that goal represents achievement. But skepticism justifiably remains whether Lordstown can fulfill Steve Burns’ early fighting promise to take on – and somehow beat – far larger, savvier competitors.
Near term, the company’sfocus must center on getting the Endurance into efficient production at limited volumes to establish manufacturing ops and badly needed revenue. Engineering refinements should emphasize reliability and serviceability over feature additions. And Foxconn‘s capabilities optimizing supply chains can help control costs amid volatile conditions.
Long term, Lordstown might aim beyond strict automaking to open additional revenue streams. Licensing components of its technologies could prove lucrative. Or contracting to manufacture niche vehicles for established automakers and younger rivals might better leverage the modernized Lordstown plant‘s production capacity.
There is no shame in scaled-back ambitions after grandiose visions fall short. With focused realism and determination, Lordstown Motors could still emerge as a smaller but sustainable player electrifying American trucks in some form over the coming decade. Not bad for a rag tag team that dared directly confront Detroit’s towering establishment.
