An open letter published on Monday by Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns provided an update to the preparation of the assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, to make the Endurance electric pickup model. Burns also revealed that the company plans to unveil the Lordstown Endurance at the factory later this month. 

“In April, I said that, in the wake of the cancellation of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we were shifting our plans to unveil the first production-intent Endurance to a virtual event in Lordstown,” Burns said in the letter. “I’m pleased to report that we will be introducing the Endurance at a Lordstown Motors company meeting the week of June 22, which we will be filming and releasing to the public before the month is up. 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.”

Factory preparations include:

• Battery Lines: Finalizing the prototype vehicle battery; including having chosen the integrator and started the engineering of the equipment line. The goal is to have a semi-automated line for pre-production at the plant later this year.

• Body Shop: The body shop integrator is chosen, as well as commencing to mobilize on the engineering and structural work. The in-plant retooling process will start this week.

• Facility: Lines not required for the electric vehicle are being demoed and crews are starting the infrastructure work required for the new lines. On the IT side, the company is developing the plant and engineering needs, and finalizing the architecture.

• General Assembly: The company has chosen the integrator for this area as well and have started the engineering on site.

• Motor Lines: As previously shared, Lordstown Motors has finalized its agreement with Elaphe. It has started the engineering of the manufacturing line at the plant and demoed the areas for the new battery and motor lines, a total of 200,000 square feet to start.

• Paint: The integrator has been chosen and will start work in mid-June. The pretreatment/electro-deposition contract started this week.

• Stamping: The company has finalized the surfacing, and later this summer, will start stamping a few of the tools on site in preparation for pre-production later this year.

The company also introduced the first three members of the Lordstown Motors board of directors:

• Jane Reiss is the managing partner of MerchantCantos in New York, N.Y. Most recently, she served as chief marketing officer and chief brand experience officer of Grey, one of the world’s largest global advertising networks. Prior to joining Grey, Jane served in the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg as chief marketing officer of the City of New York.

• Steve Schrader is the chief financial officer of Workhorse Group Inc. Schrader has more than sixteen years of CFO experience in public and private companies in industries as diverse as manufacturing, health care, and utilities. Prior to joining Workhorse, Steve was CFO of Fuyao Glass America, a Dayton, Ohio-located subsidiary of a public company specializing in the manufacture of automobile glass.

• Dale Spencer is the former vice president of Automotive Maintenance and Engineering at UPS. As VP, Spencer had responsibilities for fleet duty cycles, maintenance, and innovation. Spencer currently serves as a technical advisor on the board of directors of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.

Series production of Endurance is slated to begin in January 2021.