Lordstown Motors founder launches new electric vehicle startup, launching trucks like we’ve seen them before

The founder of bankrupt electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors has been ousted to form a new company called LandX Motors, highlighting the same company he once promised would beat Tesla, Ford and General Motors to the market. electric pickup truck.

Self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” Steve Burns purchased most of the remaining assets of his previous startup late last year under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Lordstown, including most of the electric Pickup trucks. On a new website for LandX Motors, he said the company will outline “the future of mobility,” claiming it will build a full range of vehicles on the platform that underpins what was once called the Endurance. While LandX Motors doesn’t explicitly call these trucks Endurance, a video on the website shows the electric truck with the Lordstown badge.

A person familiar with the company’s plans told TechCrunch that the focus isn’t on the Endurance truck, but on the underlying platform, software and engineering behind it. Still, it’s unclear where the plan is going as the former Lordstown truck stars on the company’s website and film.

It’s not clear on the website how Burns plans to solve some of Lordstown Motors’ biggest problems that have never been addressed. Crucially, Lordstown Motors executives said months before the bankruptcy filing that the Endurance cost far more to make than the $60,000 retail price. The company also hasn’t revealed where or how it plans to build the trucks. A LandX Motors spokesperson responded to an email without providing any further information and declined to answer questions.

This isn’t the first time Burns has launched a new electric vehicle company with ties to an old company. He founded Lordstown Motors in 2019 after leaving Workhorse, another struggling electric vehicle startup. He struck a deal with the company to license the design for the pickup truck project, which later became the Endurance.

He subsequently acquired a shuttered General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and in 2020 merged with a special purpose acquisition company to take Lordstown Motors public.

By early 2021, Lordstown Motors was under federal investigation for misleading investors about the number of Endurance orders it had received during the merger process. Burns and then-CFO Julio Rodriguez resigned after an internal company investigation determined they had in fact made misleading statements.

The startup struggled and eventually sold the factory to iPhone maker Foxconn. The Taiwanese electronics giant began producing the Endurance truck in late 2022, but it was quickly recalled and the two companies feuded. Lordstown filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2023. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently said in court documents that it was seeking $45 million in damages from the company for “violations of federal securities laws.”

During this period, Burns made tens of millions of dollars selling Lordstown stock. Late last year, he purchased the Lordstown assets for about $10 million through a holding company called LAS Capital, which has also invested in three other startups.

The new startup is a reunion that goes beyond trucks. Of the 16 employees who list LandX Motors as their employer on LinkedIn, 13 of them previously worked at Lordstown Motors. Duane Hughes, the executive who succeeded Burns at Workhorse in 2019 and was replaced in 2021 as the startup struggled itself, has appeared in filings with the state of Michigan. (Julio Rodriguez is also now LAS Capital’s chief financial officer.)

“I believed then and I believe even more today in what we were building in Lordstown. That’s why I bought back the assets and rehired most of the engineering team,” Burns told Autoweek in December.

Source link



from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.com/lordstown-motors-founder-launches-new-electric-vehicle-startup-launching-trucks-like-weve-seen-them-before/
via https://techempiresolutions.com/

from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.blogspot.com/2024/01/lordstown-motors-founder-launches-new.html
via https://techempiresolutions.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Perfecta grill uses AI to help cook steaks in 90 seconds

Image
CES is increasingly becoming a barbecue show, and companies are constantly looking for ways to bring more technology to your deck or patio. One company adding artificial intelligence technology to its spice racks is Seergerills, a British startup made up of engineers and product developers. Its flagship model, the Perfecta, can cook a one-inch-thick rib-eye steak in 90 seconds. Overall, the company says the grill looks more like a see-through countertop oven and cooks food about 10 times faster than traditional cooking methods. Inside, dual vertical infrared burners cook both sides simultaneously, which not only speeds up the process but also eliminates the need for flipping. Seergerills says the burner has a maximum temperature of 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit, and the unit even ensures crisp edges thanks to 360-degree heating. The built-in artificial intelligence chef calculates the appropriate cooking time and temperature based on the food, taking into account the desired degree of done
Read more

John Wick heads to Vegas to visit interactive attractions

Image
image: Lionsgate If you’ve ever wanted to fully immerse yourself in John Wick , Lionsgate has got you covered. Later this year, action series is becoming “immersive and interactive” tourist attractions In Las Vegas. Grace Byers on horror and comedy in ‘The Dark’ According to the press release, John Wick Experience Produced in collaboration with series director Chad Stahelski and his production company 87Eleven. The 12,000-square-foot exhibit at the city’s AREA15 campus lets visitors “experience high-stakes adventures and visit themed bars and retail stores open to the public.” Guests will be given specific tasks involving characters and images from the film. They’ll also rub shoulders with Continental employees, crime bosses, and other assassins who (presumably) don’t come into contact with Wick’s bad side at any point in the movie, all in an effort to gain access to private Continental areas and learn about the interesting secret. Jenefer Brown, exec
Read more

Ford prepares for next war, Waymo recalls its self-driving car software, another self-driving startup lays off employees

Image
TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here – just click TechCrunch Mobility – and get the newsletter in your inbox every weekend. Subscription is free. welcome back TechCrunch Mobile — A central hub for news and insights about the future of transportation.This week’s news includes BMW Security breach exposes sensitive information, federal agencies fight back against Tesla super bowl ad and a new federal investigation Fisker . But first, I want to talk about my recent visit to the law, where I met some people Ford Executives understand their priorities for 2024 and beyond. It can be said with certainty Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer and Tesla is the most important; in the view of Ford executives, low-cost electric vehicles and cutting-edge software are the best ways to stop these threats. The company’s recently revealed Skunk Works project for electric vehicles is tasked with this task. Ford Chief Financial Officer J
Read more