Talk about a pickup truck with literally a “four-wheel drive”.
Ohio-based startup electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing company Lordstown Motors Corp (LMC) unveiled in late 2020 a prototype of its revolutionary full-electric pickup called the Endurance. LMC announced that it would begin commercial production this year. The final date for that, however has not yet been announced.
The technology behind it, however, has been made public. Endurance is powered by what it claims the world’s first “all-electric in-wheel drive system”.
The Endurance will be assembled in LMC headquarters in Lordstown, Ohio. LMC’s stated mission has been to reduce burdensome costs, provide functional style for today’s job sites, and act as an extension of the worker—smarter, safer, and more productive. For LMC, work has evolved, and it’s time for vehicles to evolve with it—electric works better.
Aside from an experienced executive team made up of automotive leaders from Tesla, Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and more, the company also leverages a skilled local labor force at its manufacturing plant to build its electric trucks.
According to LMC, the Endurance’s revolutionary design was built from the ground up to be a new type of pickup truck. The overall exterior look is not far from what we mostly see from conventional pickup trucks today. But considered to be the crème de la crème is the Endurance’s world-first all-electric in-wheel drive system, which uses four hub motors with integrated software—giving a motor and a mind in each wheel.
This design reduces the number of moving parts and significantly improves vehicle control. Having the fewest moving parts means an advancement leading to fewer maintenance costs and significantly lower total ownership cost than traditional commercial vehicles. Further, by switching to a cheaper energy source and removing all the unnecessary elements of gasoline engines, LMC has created a framework for the best value for a vehicle configuration.
An all-electric motor creates less wasted motion in an engine, and as a result, vastly improved efficiency. LMC’s hub motors are 95% more efficient (compared to 25% efficiency for combustion engines) and deliver a 75MPGe gasoline-equivalent—significantly reducing fuel costs. And since EVs do not generate any air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, electric work better for the planet. Hence, a healthier work environment.
LMC’s first and only EV configuration that utilizes an in-wheel hub motor system at each wheel is like having a brain and brawn in each wheel, guiding the driver every millisecond on the road. Integrated software monitors and adjusts each wheel every millisecond to optimize performance, range, and efficiency, while simultaneously monitoring battery pack performance. The company’s advanced telematics system provides owners a wide range of data for fleet management.
So, why four motors? The Endurance pickup truck comes with four hub motors for maximum power and control. The motors to the wheel hubs create perimeter weighting and the lowest center of gravity for unprecedented stability. Every hub motor on an LMC vehicle goes through rigorous testing.
A hub motor in each wheel delivers unprecedented traction and superior control to handle any terrain. The Lordstown Drive System can produce 2,700 (continuous), 5,965 peak) Nm of torque capable of 7,500-lb towing capacity, with four hub motors delivering direct power to each wheel. More so, it is fun to drive since it only needs 5.55 seconds to sprint to 60 mph. With all that power on a fast charger, the battery only needs 30 to 90 minutes of charging to deliver a driving range of 250+ miles. The power system also supports off-board power for tools and accessories (stationary) 120v, 30 amp. Now that is impressive. (Story and photos courtesy of Lordstown Motors Corp)
Watch the Endurance concept pickup EV, and the business history of LMC here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jaMjTpkR34