Lordstown Motors sets out to prove ‘toughness’ of Endurance pickup
LORDSTOWN, Ohio - Lordstown Motors Corporation plans to prove to people just how tough their all-electric Endurance pickup truck is.
The Lordstown, Ohio-based company has announced that an Endurance Beta “skateboard” has been entered in the 2021 SCORE International San Felipe 250, part of the SCORE World Desert Championship race series.
The Endurance skateboard is a stripped-down version of the truck consisting of a chassis and the unique four hub motors that power the vehicle.
The 290-mile single loop race will start and finish in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico on April 17, 2021.
According to a news release from LMC, taking the Endurance to the Mexican desert racecourse, which is considered one of the most grueling and punishing in the world, Lordstown Motors is setting out to prove that the Endurance is not only one of the safest, most efficient trucks on the planet, but also that it is the toughest, most robust as it tackles the San Felipe Desert.
“We feel that it is quite a significant milestone for the electric vehicle community that an electric pickup truck can compete in an environment as demanding as Baja California,” said Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors. “Our goal is to be the first electric vehicle to ever complete the San Felipe 250, and with the superior traction, weight balance and advanced software control of our hub motor-based Endurance, we are confident that we will do just that.”
The announcement comes a month after an Endurance prototype mule caught fire on a test run near LMC’s testing facility in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
After being postponed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 San Felipe 250, held in April on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, will be the SCORE World Desert Championship season-opener for the ninth straight season.
The Lordstown Endurance says its full-size, all-electric pickup that has a range of 250 miles, the equivalent of 600 hp and can tow up to 7,500lbs.
Lordstown is currently building the first Beta Endurance vehicles and is on track for start of production in September of this year.
The initial Endurance is a crew cab configuration with medium bed length, priced at $45,000 after federal rebate.
The below videos are of a previous Endurance skateboard. The one that will compete in Mexico is still under construction according to Lordstown Motors.
