Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Things are not well in the world of EVs.
Why it matters: Multiple companies face serious financial woes. Further missteps across the industry could set it back years.
Driving the news: Lordstown Motors said Thursday it stopped production and customer delivery to address quality and performance issues.
- It also initiated a voluntary recall for its Endurance electric truck to address a specific electrical connection issue that could result in a loss of propulsion while driving.
- The recall affects 19 total vehicles, the company says.
- A Lordstown spokeswoman declined to comment further on the news, and pointed to the March 6 earnings call for additional details.
Between the lines: Lordstown has delivered just 19 or fewer Endurance vehicles to customers since it began production in September. The company targeted 50 units for delivery by year end.
State of play: Lordstown joins other EV makers like Canoo that have struggled to ramp up production and get vehicles in the hands of customers. The pain is being felt widely.
- EVmo, a company that loans EVs to rideshare drivers, received notice that it defaulted on a $7.5 million loan last week as its board chairman resigned last week.
- Rivian, another public EV maker, recently announced its intent to get into e-bike production as its own EV troubles mounted.
- Tesla recently unleashed a torrent of discounts in an effort to spur customer demand.
Yes, but: Legacy OEMs have been largely spared, though Ford recently halted production on its Lightning F-150 electric truck due to a potential battery issue.
Meanwhile, EV demand in China has also slowed, though the country remains the top EV market globally largely due to its years-long effort to build out lithium production with generous government support.
- Tesla’s price cuts were partly due to slowing demand in China, the company said.
The bottom line: We wrote about rocky road ahead for EV makers 8 months ago, and the situation has only gone from bad to worse since then.
Megan Hernbroth co-authors the Axios Pro Climate deals newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter.
