Ohio-based Lordstown Motors, the maker of the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, has filed for Chapter 11 chapter and is in search of a brand new proprietor, the corporate introduced right this moment. Moreover, the American EV startup has filed a lawsuit in opposition to its essential investor Foxconn, claiming that the know-how firm dedicated fraud and persistently didn’t stay as much as its industrial and monetary commitments.
Late final week, we reported that the ex-CEO and founding father of Lordstown Motors, Stephen Burns, offered all of his remaining inventory within the EV startup in three separate transactions between Could and June.
Previous to this, the Ohio-based agency that operates in a former Basic Motors manufacturing facility mentioned that it was contemplating suing the Taiwanese investor after it allegedly stalled the acquisition of extra shares amounting to roughly $47 million, which may have stored the EV maker afloat. With out the additional capital, Lordstown anticipated final month that it will stop manufacturing of the Endurance “within the close to future” and noticed chapter as a worst-case situation.
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Now, that situation has come true. Within the courtroom submitting in opposition to Hon Hai Know-how Group (together with its affiliate Foxconn Ventures), Lordstown says that the investor “had no intention of residing as much as its commitments, significantly with respect to the brand new car improvement platform.”
As a part of the settlement between Lordstown and Foxconn, the American startup acquired an funding of roughly $50 million out of a deliberate whole of $170 million, which gave the corporate much-needed capital and helped the Taiwanese tech agency to ascertain itself as an vehicle producer. Moreover, Foxconn paid an extra $230 million to Lordstown to purchase the previous GM manufacturing facility the place it operated, the place it deliberate to construct the Endurance electrical pickup underneath contract.
Below the Chapter 11 restructuring course of, the Ohio-based EV maker is trying to promote the Endurance car and associated belongings, saying that it’s “a completely homologated and licensed, production-launched car that may function a springboard for the proper OEM or different strategic purchaser into the broader North American EV full-size truck market at a fraction of the price and time it will take to develop a program from the ground-up.”
Manufacturing of the Lordstown Endurance started within the third quarter of 2022, however it was quickly halted within the first quarter of 2023 due to supplier-related points. Meeting restarted at a really low tempo in April, however on the finish of the day, the corporate reportedly delivered solely six autos this 12 months and manufactured a complete of 31 models.
Powered by in-wheel hub electrical motors that get juice from a 109-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the Endurance pickup has an EPA-rated driving vary of 174 miles (280 km), which is likely one of the lowest vary outcomes amongst BEVs, and the bottom vary for BEVs with 100+ kWh battery.
Lordstown Motors says that it enters Chapter 11 with “important money readily available and is debt-free.”
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