Lordstown Endurance Truck Falls Short Of Completing Desert Race, Withdraws At 40 Miles

Lordstown Motors Corp RIDE said on Sunday its electric pickup truck Endurance, which competed in the off-road desert race SCORE International San Felipe 250, failed to cross the finish line in Baja California, Mexico.

What Happened: According to reports, the Ohio-based startup’s electric pickup Endurance clocked about 40 miles, just one-seventh of the total distance of 290 miles.

The company had last week unveiled the pickup would participate in the race and said, every year, about 350 purpose-built vehicles compete in the harsh race and less than 50% ever cross the finish line. 

“We did not cross the finish line, but we are proud of the work our team and partners put in to make entering this race possible,” the company said in a tweet.

Lordstown did not provide any details but said its hub motors, battery pack and software performed well under the treacherous conditions in Mexico. 

The company said the race has provided valuable insights and it has pulled out of the race to now focus on the Beta builds ahead of production in September.

See Also: Lordstown Motors Unveils Endurance Pickup Beta Versions

Lordstown had last month said it will begin Endurance production in September. The pickups are made at a manufacturing facility previously operated by General Motors Co  GM. For its battery supply chain, Lordstown has signed a multi-year agreement with LG Energy Solution.

Rivals such as Tesla Inc TSLA, Ford Motor Co F, and Amazon.com Inc-backed AMZN Rivian are racing to start producing their own full-size electric pickups.

The Endurance pickup is expected to have a target range of 250 miles and a price of $52,500, or $45,000 after reducing the $7,500 federal tax credit. 

See Also: Lordstown Motors Debut Earnings Report Gets Clouded In SEC Inquiry Reveal

Why It Matters: The withdrawal comes at a crucial time for the electric vehicle startup which went public through a merger with a blank-check company DiamondPeak Holdings in October last year. 

It came under investor scrutiny after short seller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing the company of fudging order data and production capabilities.

Shares of the company dived 12% in March after the electric truck maker disclosed that it had received a request for information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding accusations by Hindenburg related to its order book.

The company said in January it had received more than 100,000 non-binding production reservations from commercial fleets for its electric truck. Hindenburg had said Lordstown’s orders are largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy.

Price Action: Lordstown shares, which have seen their value halved since the beginning of the year, closed 2.35% higher at $10.02 on Friday.

Photo by Trump White House Archive on Flickr