Lordstown Endurance electric pickup to be unveiled this month

The electric pickup truck startup that took over General Motors Co.'s Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio will show publicly its first product, the Endurance, for the first time this month, the company said Monday.

Lordstown Motors Co. had intended to highlight the first production-intent Endurance during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. With the show canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company will introduce the commercial truck at a company meeting the week of June 22, which it will film and release to the public by the end of the month.

"It’s not how we’d envisioned unveiling the Endurance, but in the absence of being able to gather a large crowd to see it in-person, this is the next best thing," Lordstown CEO Steve Burns wrote in an update on the company's website.

Meanwhile, the automaker is moving ahead with pre-production preparations ahead of the $52,500 vehicle's launch in January. After announcing last month a licensing agreement with Slovenia-based Elaphe Propulsion Technologies Ltd. for motor production, the company is beginning the retooling of the body and paint shops this month. It also is finalizing the vehicle's battery prototype.

Lordstown also announced the first three members of the company's board of directors: Jane Reiss, managing partner of communications firm MerchantCantos in New York; Steve Schrader, chief financial officer of electric-vehicle affiliate Workhorse Group Inc.; and Dale Spencer, former vice president of automotive maintenance and engineering at UPS.

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble