Roadstown Motors' future plans include electric SUVs and mid-size pickup trucks
Lordstown Motors plans to begin production of the Endurance battery-electric full-size pickup truck later this year at the former General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
In an April update, company CEO Steve Burns said the pickup, which will feature an in-wheel electric motor and 250-mile range, will be unveiled this summer before deliveries begin in January 2021.
The Endurance, however, is just one of several models Road Town has on the drawing board.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press published Friday, Barnes said he plans to make Road Town a volume player with additional vehicles in its lineup, including SUVs and midsize pickup trucks.
"There was no plan to buy a high-volume plant like this and fill it up," he said, referring to the idled plant the company purchased from GM last November.
"This is a gem of a building built for high-volume production."Road Town has set an order target of 20,000 units for the first year of production of the Endurance, which will require a staff of about 600. The company is then looking to hire more staff beginning in 2022 to support production of future models. Road Town currently employs about 70 staff, most of whom are engineers.
Road Town also plans to manufacture batteries and motors in-house, at least initially; GM is building a new plant in Road Town to produce advanced Ultium batteries developed with LG Chem, and Burns told the Detroit Free GM plans to license the batteries to other automakers, starting with Honda.
Road Town has priced the Endurance starting at $52,500 and is accepting $1,000 refundable deposits for early production slots. The company says it has already received "thousands" of pre-orders for the truck.
