A new contender is making some noise in the electric ute market, and it might just have enough spark to tempt potential buyers aware from the larger manufacturers.
“If you’re stuck in the mud next to a traditional pickup, we’ll come out first,” Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns said of the all-electric Endurance pickup that his company will start selling next year.
He plans to dominate the all-electric ute market segment for years even though he is taking on big guns Ford Motor Co., Tesla and General Motors, who both plan to offer all-electric utes in the near future.
“It’s a very difficult business to break into and it’s been dominated by names that have been here for a long time,” Burns said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press earlier this month.
“But you don’t see anybody dedicated exclusively to light-duty all-electric trucks and we will be dedicated to it.”
Lordstown Motors had planned to reveal the Endurance at the Detroit Auto Show next month but the show was canceled due to COVID-19. It is expected a virtual event will be held in its place later this month.
After that, Burns expects to take pre-orders for all 20,000 utes that the automaker will build next year.
“You don’t create need, there is a demand for this,” Burns said.
“We will be the first electric work truck and nobody will have that for years.”
