Lordstown Motors And Hydra Design Labs Partner To Develop Endurance EV Pickup
Growing electric vehicle OEM located in the heart of Ohio’s “Voltage Valley” bolsters its commitment to U.S. automotive manufacturing by contracting American design firm to collaborate on development of its new Endurance™ fully-electric pickup truck.
LORDSTOWN, Ohio, June 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Mahoning Valley in Ohio is fast-becoming the epicenter of electric vehicle development in the United States. Leading the charge in this “Voltage Valley” is Lordstown Motors – the nation’s newest electric vehicle OEM, which assumed the 6.2 million square foot former General Motors plant in 2019 as its headquarters and production facility.
The enterprising company is fast-tracking plans to produce the Lordstown Endurance fully-electric pickup truck, which is slated for production later this year – becoming the first U.S. automotive OEM in the race to produce the industry’s first fully-electric pickup truck, purpose-built for fleet use.
When it came to the design and prototyping of its leading new EV truck – Lordstown Motors sought a U.S. design firm that would strengthen its commitment to American automotive development and manufacturing. The result was a strategic partnership formed with California-based Hydra Design Labs.
Founded in 2010 by veteran automotive designer Jon Hull, Hydra Design Labs is a full-service automotive design firm with a team of experienced designers and specialists. With an average of over 30 years of OEM experience designing, modeling and prototyping vehicles, Hydra’s principal designers and specialists knew exactly what to bring to the Endurance project.
“We are thrilled to be a part of the Lordstown Motors project, helping make history with the world’s first all-electric pickup truck,” said Jon Hull, founder and president of Hydra Design Labs. “Our goal with designing the Endurance was to create a rugged platform that could deliver on the demands of fleet-duty pickup. We were able to leverage the layout of the electric drivetrain to explore unique new design solutions.”
“A pickup truck design requires a certain level of familiarity and utility, yet the Endurance is clearly a bold step forward in terms of shape and form,” added Hull.
Hydra Design Labs collaborated with Lordstown Motors for the general design of the new Endurance EV pickup, including the interior and exterior of the vehicle – along with CAD design surfacing, scale modeling, and full-size prototyping. The firm’s design of the Endurance for Lordstown Motors was unveiled to the public with renderings of the all-wheel drive truck model when images were released in May 2020.
Hydra Design Labs is actively working on a prototype show car for the Endurance, in partnership with Lordstown Motors. This full-scale model will be unveiled to the public towards the end of June. Production for the Endurance is scheduled for late 2020, with vehicle deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2021.