Pickup truck drivers with good credit and a concern for the environment will one day soon be able to drive the new all-electric Endurance by Lordstown Motors.
Our ability to evolve…
I like that framing. Manufacturing in Ohio and throughout the Rust Belt has required a massive injection of money and new thinking for decades. And here it is, at least a piece of it, at long last.
If the word “Lordstown” sounds familiar, the Ohio city was recently in the news. The President’s thumbs made this message appear on the socials:
General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!
He was referring to the Lordstown Assembly plant that GM idled last year after more than four decades in business. GM once employed more than 4,000 people at the 6.2 million-square-foot plant, which churned out over 16 million vehicles (mostly Chevrolets). However, citing a changing consumer climate, the company closed the plant down in March of last year, devastating the remaining 1,000-plus workers.
The complex was sold to electric pickup truck startup Lordstown Motors in November.
Steve Burns, the CEO of Lordstown Motors, says the company has ambitious plans to eventually hire thousands of people back to the plant. But one of the selling points of electric vehicles — their simplicity — also means they require fewer human hands to assemble them.
The starting price for the Cybertruck is $39,900. In the most high-powered version, it would cost $69,900. The Endurance is likely to retail for $52,000 when it becomes available.
All Plugged In and Ready to Roll
Companies are being born, brands and new products are launching, and the future of rugged but sensitive trucks is here.
Austin, Texas Recently Chosen by Tesla As Site for Its Pickup Manufacturing
In one of the largest economic development projects in Austin’s history, electric automaker Tesla says it will build a $1.1 billion assembly plant in Travis County that will employ 5,000 people.
“We are going to make it a factory that is going to be stunning,” Elon Musk said. “It is right on the Colorado River. So we are actually going to have a boardwalk where there will be a hike and biking trail. It is basically going to be an ecological paradise — birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream. And it will be open to the public as well, so not closed and only open to Tesla.”
Wow, that is impressive. Not a factory that belches smoke and leaks hard metals into the water supply…no, not that in ecotopian Austin. Instead, an ecological paradise.
In the rush to stoke the EV fires, I can’t help but think that people aren’t connecting the dots. The dots connect to the power grid. EVs need to plug-in like your iPhone or they power down.
I’m ready for the solar-powered pickup. How about you?
