Results are in from 2023 Lordstown Motors Endurance all-electric pickup test

Electric vehicle automaker Lordstown Motors recently provided a couple of its Endurance all-electric truck to be tested in the midwest.

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After driving two different Endurance pickups for 90 minutes, here is what Car and Driverthought of the experience:

"It clearly needs some final tweaks, but based on our limited driving, we'd say the Lordstown Endurance is approaching readiness for fleet-truck use. That presumes the assembly quality is high and the trucks hold up in the hands of early customers. Most important, it also assumes Lordstown can convince conservative, risk-averse fleet buyers they should not only buy EV pickup trucks but do so from a startup company."

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To put it bluntly, Car and Driver's overall experience is a positive one for Lordstown - the company is burning through cash with underwhelming production results to date. However, it aims to deliver 50 in 2022, but that is expected to ramp up to 450 units during the first half of 2023.

Lordstown has an interesting design with Endurance, featuring 4 in-wheel hub motor that reduces the number of moving parts. For fleet use, less parts should convert to a lower total cost of ownership. Those motors provide an estimated 440 horsepower, and the truck is interestingly limited to a maximum 75 mph.

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Although Lordstown said the Endurance has a towing capacity up to 8,000 pounds and around 200 miles of driving range - doubters will still wonder what happens to energy usage when the truck is hauling heavier weights. It seems most likely Endurance is destined for the job site or to be used as part of a work fleet - 200 miles estimated range won't do much for consumers.

It's not complete doom and gloom for Lordstown, but the ambitious startup automaker certainly has its work cut out moving forward.