Commercial electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors says it has slowly started production of its first model, the Endurance pickup.
The struggling company says it has built two trucks and a third will be completed shortly. It plans to ramp up production depending on the quality and availability of parts, he said in a statement Thursday. Lordstown expects to deliver 50 trucks to customers this year and up to 450 more in the first half of 2023, provided it can raise enough capital.
The trucks are being built at a former General Motors small-car assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, near Cleveland, which was acquired last year by Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics maker. Lordstown says it will look to Foxconn and other companies as sources of new capital.
“We expect to increase production speed in November and December,” CEO Edward Hightower said in the statement. Earlier this year, Lordstown said it hoped to produce 3,000 of its flagship Endurance electric trucks before the end of 2023.
The company has had trouble raising money and getting trucks out of the factory to customers. In its quarterly filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, its auditors raise doubts that the automaker will be in business next year.
Lordstown Motors said it expects to end the third quarter with about $195 million in cash and equivalents, including $27.1 million from sales of shares during the quarter. The company says its cash outlook is $75 million better than its previous outlook as it explores options to raise more money.
Shares of Lordstown Motors fell 6% to $1.90 in Thursday morning trading amid broader market declines.
