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Lordstown Motors Pursuing $200 Million U.S. Retooling Loan, will Show EV Truck at Detroit Auto Show

January 28, 2020 /
FILE PHOTO: A sign welcomes visitors to the General Motors Lordstown Complex assembly plant in Warren, Ohio

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Electric pickup truck start-up Lordstown Motors is pursuing a $200 million loan from a U.S. Energy Department program to retool a former General Motors <GM> factory in northeast Ohio, Chief Executive Steve Burns told Reuters.

Burns met with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Monday for about an hour and the company was holding additional talks with officials on Tuesday from the Energy Department’s Loan Program Office.

“We think we are worthy of government help. We don’t want a handout – we want a loan,” Burns told Reuters in an interview. “It’s just going to be more jobs faster if we get it. We are viable without it.”

Burns disclosed the company plans to unveil a drivable version of its electric truck at the Detroit auto show in June. It hopes to begin production by year-end.

The Energy Department declined comment.

Burns said the company hopes to receive funding from the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program that in 2009 awarded loans to Ford Motor Co <F>, Tesla Inc <TSLA> and Nissan Motor Co <NSANY> to retool factories, but has not issued loans since 2011. Nissan and Tesla previously repaid their loans.

The fate of the sprawling plant became a political lightning rod after GM announced its planned closure in November 2018, drawing condemnation from U.S. President Donald Trump and many U.S. lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers wrote Brouillette last week offering “strong support” for the loan, saying northeast Ohio was dealt a “severe blow” by the plant closing.

Lordstown Motors Corp, which is 10% owned by Workhorse Group Inc <WKHS>, bought the plant and equipment for $20 million as part of its ambitious plan to begin building electric pickup trucks by the end of 2020.

“It’s cool to bring something back to life,” Burns said.

The company is working to raise additional funding and is in advanced talks with a large strategic investor, Burns said.

GM last year agreed to loan Lordstown Motors $40 million to acquire and retool the plant. Burns hopes to repay GM’s loan “in a few weeks.”

Burns plans to start crash-testing vehicles in July, hiring about 400 hourly workers in September and to begin production in November or December.

Electric vehicle startup Rivian, backed by Amazon.com Inc <AMZN> and Ford, plans to build an electric pickup truck and companion starting in late 2020. GM plans to build its first electric pickup truck starting in late 2021. Tesla plans to start building its electric Cybertruck in late 2021.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

GM Loans $40 Million to Firm to Acquire, Retool Shuttered Lordstown, Ohio, Factory

December 9, 2019 /
FILE PHOTO: The GM logo is seen at the General Motors Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co <GM> confirmed on Monday it agreed to loan $40 million to an electric vehicle start-up to facilitate the acquisition of its shuttered Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio.

Lordstown Motors Corp, which is 10% owned by Workhorse Group Inc <WKHS>, bought the plant and equipment for $20 million in November as part of its ambitious plan to begin building electric pickup trucks by the end of 2020.

The loan agreement, which was reported earlier Monday by the Business Journal in Youngstown, was filed in Trumbull County last week.

Lordstown Motors has been working on the engineering of the new truck, “Endurance”, and hired Rich Schmidt, a former director of manufacturing at Tesla Inc, as chief production officer.

“We structured the sales agreement to help support Lordstown Motors’ launch plans for the Endurance pickup,” GM spokesman Jim Cain said, who added it “allows them to take possession of the plant and to cover some operating expenses while they undertake their capital raise.”

GM is not investing in the venture, but Cain said GM financing could rise to $50 million.

The fate of the sprawling northeastern Ohio plant became a political lightning rod after GM announced its planned closure in November 2018, drawing condemnation from U.S. President Donald Trump and many U.S. lawmakers.

Lordstown CEO Steve Burns told Reuters last month he hopes to have pre-production prototypes coming off the assembly line by April and to start production by November 2020 with an initial workforce of 400 hourly workers.

Burns said last month the company hopes to raise more than $300 million, the Business Journal reported. Burns told Reuters it retained Ohio investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & Co in its capital fundraising effort.

GM and South Korea’s LG Chem <051910.KS> said Thursday they will invest $2.3 billion to build an electric vehicle battery cell joint venture plant in Ohio which will be one of the world’s largest battery facilities.

The plant, to be built near the Lordstown complex, will employ more than 1,100 people, the companies said.

As part of the Lordstown sale, GM has the option to lease land near the assembly plant that it could use for the battery plant.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Boeing to Give Southwest Board 737 MAX Update This Week

November 18, 2019 /
FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Co <BA> this week will present to the board of its largest 737 MAX customer, Southwest Airlines Co <LUV>, an overview of its plans to return the grounded jet to service, a spokesman for the airline said on Monday.

The meeting on Wednesday and Thursday comes after Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly said last month that the airline could look next year at diversifying its fleet beyond Boeing 737 aircraft. Budget-friendly Southwest has structured its business model around flying only 737 aircraft for the past 50 years and bet its entire growth strategy on the 737 MAX, the latest iteration of Boeing’s narrowbody workhorse.

With the MAX parked since mid-March following crashes on Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines that together killed 346 people, Southwest has had to scale back its growth plans and cancel north of 100 daily flights, wiping $435 million from its earnings between January and September.

Kelly, who is also Southwest’s chairman of the board, invited Boeing to address the timing and logistics of dozens of 737 MAX deliveries that it was supposed to receive this year. The meeting will also give Boeing a chance to defend its product and the steps it is taking to restore public confidence after the two fatal crashes, sources said.

“It’s an overview of the Return to Service Plan, timing, and plans moving forward,” Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said. “Just a good chance for our Board to hear directly from Boeing, but nothing more to it than that.”

It is not the first time that Boeing has presented to a regularly scheduled board meeting, he said.

Southwest had 34 MAX jets in its fleet when global regulators grounded the aircraft in March. The airline was supposed to receive 41 more 737 MAX planes before the end of the year, but most of those deliveries are now scheduled for 2020.

Hundreds of undelivered 737 MAX jets are parked at Boeing facilities in Washington state, where the planemaker is facing a delivery logjam once the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gives approval for them to fly commercially.

While Boeing is targeting approval in December, the FAA has pushed back on any fixed timeline.

Southwest has removed the 737 MAX from its flying schedule until early March. The airline has said it will need one to two months to train its pilots and prepare the jets for flight once regulators approve new software and pilot training.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Dubai; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

American Airlines Schedules Final MD-80 Revenue Flights

June 25, 2019 /

On Sept. 4, American Airlines will retire its last 26 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. The MD-80, also known as the Super 80, was the workhorse of the airline’s fleet throughout the 1980s and beyond, providing customers and team members with heartfelt memories on adventures ranging from family vacations to key business trips. It’s a bittersweet but well-earned retirement as American celebrates the aircraft’s history while modernizing its fleet.

Below is the schedule of the final revenue flights on the “Mad Dog” before their desert farewell ferry flights to Roswell, New Mexico (ROW). All schedules are subject to change based on operational needs.

FlightDateDepartureTimeArrivalTime
1449Sept. 3GRR1425DFW1606
2372Sept. 3SAT1955DFW2110
2257Sept. 3MSY1943DFW2122
1010Sept. 3DFW2034STL2218
267Sept. 3DFW2226TUL2329
2454Sept. 4ICT0500DFW0615
2180Sept. 4AMA0500DFW0618
2232Sept. 4LBB0500DFW0627
2586Sept. 4PNS0500DFW0656
2200Sept. 4CLE0540DFW0732
2891Sept. 4VPS0545DFW0754
2338Sept. 4MFE0615DFW0755
2540Sept. 4OMA0600DFW0758
2605Sept. 4RDU0600DFW0758
2326Sept. 4DSM0600DFW0800
2185Sept. 4SAT0700DFW0814
2500Sept. 4CVG0629DFW0802
1999Sept. 4STL0730DFW0924
1538Sept. 4VPS0719DFW0934
1038Sept. 4ICT0810DFW0937
2335Sept. 4ABQ0650DFW0938
80Sept. 4DFW0900ORD1135

Visit the official American Airlines webpage beloow for a tribute video to the MD-80!

http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2019/American-Airlines-Announces-Schedule-of-Final-MD-80-Revenue-Flights/default.aspx

FedEx Expands Fleet To Add 1,000 Chanje Electric Vans

November 20, 2018 /

(Reuters) – FedEx Corp said on Tuesday it plans to add 1,000 Chanje electric delivery vans to its fleet of vehicles in a bid to save on fuel and cut down on pollution.

The package delivery company will buy 100 Chanje V8100 vans from the Los-Angeles based startup and lease the remaining from U.S. truck rental company Ryder System Inc.

United Parcel Service Inc, FedEx and Deutsche Post AG unit DHL have faced pressure from regulators around the world to lessen the environmental impact of their fleets.

UPS, FedEx and DHL have placed orders for Tesla Inc’s all-electric Semis and already use Workhorse Group Inc’s electric vans.

The Chanje electric vans will have a range of more than 150 miles when fully charged, with maximum cargo capacity of about 6,000 pounds.

Last year, Ryder said it would order electric delivery vans from Chanje and become the exclusive U.S. sales and lease partner for the company.

The Chanje V8100 vans are manufactured by FDG Electric Vehicles Ltd, the startup’s main investor, in Hangzhou, China.

The vans would be used for FedEx’s commercial and residential pick-up and delivery services in California.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Image from www.chanje.com

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