Cash Incoming: Lordstown Motors to Merge, Go Public

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The question of how fledgling EV maker Lordstown Motors plans to fund production of the Endurance pickup has been answered. On Monday, the owner of GM’s former Lordstown Assembly plant announced a merger with a blank-check company, with a cash-raising NASDAQ listing as its goal.

Lordstown Motors plans to finalize the merger with DiamondPeak Holdings Corp., which is already listed on the NASDAQ, by the fourth quarter of this year — after which the combined entity will carry the symbol “RIDE.”

With the merged companies valued at $1.6 billion, Lordstown expects to gain $675 million in gross proceeds from the deal. That’s money that’ll be put to use in a hurry, readying the Endurance for production in the second half of 2021, as well as funding concurrent production of the truck’s hub motors.

Lordstown says it has 27,000 pre-orders for the truck — a figure worth about $1.4 billion when translated into actual sales.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to build Lordstown Motors into a top-tier electric truck company that is highly differentiated from the competition,” said Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns in a statement. “We are uniquely positioned to be a leader in the industry, with our first vehicle, the revolutionary Lordstown Endurance. Our all-electric full-size pickup truck delivers the equivalent of 75 miles per gallon and has been systematically engineered and competitively priced specifically for the large commercial fleet market, which includes companies in manufacturing, contracting, utilities, transportation and delivery, and agriculture, among others.”

The company’s aim, as Burns suggests, is to leave the high-zoot retail EV pickup game to the big players, focusing instead on an affordable alternative for fleet buyers. Simplicity will be key to keeping the vehicle’s price low and buyers interested. Burns said the model’s “streamlined and simplified design positions the Endurance to be one of the simplest and most cost effective vehicles on U.S. roads.”

We got our first glimpse of the Endurance in late June; since then, it seems the model’s ambitious production timeline has caught up to the company’s financial situation.

Mergers with special purpose acquisition companies are all the rage these days among wannabe EV makers, and with good reason. Lofty electric promises seem to send Wall Street into a explosion of euphoria that defies all logic. Look at the sky-high valuations of Tesla and would-be rival Nikola for proof. Noticing this, Fisker hopped on the SPAC bandwagon early last month to fund the production of its own electric crossover.

Now it’s Lordstown’s turn.

[Images: Lordstown Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Geozinger Geozinger on Aug 03, 2020

    Well, dang. It was fun while it lasted. I'm ready to call for the Deathwatch party to start, as a former resident of the Valley I've seen these kinds of things happen before. Someone gets a sweet deal on some land or buildings, promotes some "gotta have it" product that they swear they will produce there... And then something happens; a merger, a change in the market, some other bullsh!t excuse... Within a year, we'll see if Lordstown Motors exists; we'll see if they pull a "Rivian" and move the money and/or brains of the operation out west or even further away. Way away from prying eyes... That will be the first sign. These shysters don't want to live in the cold, cloudy midwest... There will be various and sundry delays and design changes that end up delaying the product further. Until it blows away in the wind, just like an Elio. I've gone from being cautiously optimistic to full on Deatwatch 2010 mode. I hate to be so pessimistic, but having grown up in that part of Northeast Ohio, you learn to deal with this kind of thing. Another fly by night willing to take taxpayer money and run far, far away with it.

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    • Geozinger Geozinger on Aug 03, 2020

      @NormSV650 I'll be honest, I haven't been home in the last year. Usually, I'm with you Norm, but I don't know about this one. There was a very good story with Vox? BBC? about how many times the Mahoning Valley got hosed by folks with a good line and easy access to taxpayer money. OTOH, I would be thrilled to be proven wrong.

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Aug 03, 2020

    "an explosion of euphoria that defies all logic" Tesla: Produces actual product, 1 million+ so far, but no trucks yet. Nikola: Produces nothing, and is still hitched to the hydrogen Titanic. Fisker: Produces nothing; failed once before. Lordstown: Produces nothing. Rivian: Produces nothing; its newest hires may have stolen Tesla IP in their possession. Ford/GM: Very tentative steps to build electric trucks. Since they don't even need them, commitment will be lukewarm. Everybody is riding Tesla's coattails now, but few will succeed.

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    • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Aug 03, 2020

      @NormSV650 They're going into that together because they both know neither has the volume or the interest to compete with Tesla in any segment of the EV market.

  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
  • Wjtinfwb I've owned multiple Mustang's, none perfect, all an absolute riot. My '85 GT with a big Holley 4 barrel and factory tube header manifolds was a screaming deal in its day and loved to rev. I replaced it with an '88 5.0 Convertible and added a Supercharger. Speed for days, handling... present. Brakes, ummm. But I couldn't kill it and it embarrassed a lot of much more expensive machinery. A '13 Boss 302 in Gotta Have It Green was a subtle as a sledgehammer, open up the exhaust cut outs and every day was Days of Thunder. I miss them all. They've gotten too expensive and too plush, I think, wish they'd go back to a LX version, ditch all the digital crap, cloth interior and just the Handling package as an add on. Keep it under 40k and give todays kids an alternative to a Civic or WRX.
  • Jpolicke In a communist dictatorship, there isn't much export activity that the government isn't aware of. That being the case, if the PRC wanted to, they could cut the flow of fentanyl down to a trickle. Since that isn't happening, I therefore assume Xi Jinping doesn't want it cut. China needs to feel the consequences for knowingly poisoning other countries' citizens.
  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
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