LandX is a new electric pickup truck company looking to make its mark on a segment with big growth potential. But if you’ve been following the EV pickup segment, the LandX truck will look familiar. That’s because we’ve seen the truck before, along with the founder of the new company that’s meant to build it.
The truck displayed on the LandX website looks like the Lordstown Endurance. Because that’s what it is, with most images not even removing the badge.
Same Founder, New Company
LandX was founded by entrepreneur Steve Burns, a name well-known to EV truck enthusiasts. Burns bought most of Lordstown Motors’ assets after the company declared bankruptcy last year. Steve Burns happens to be the founder of Lordstown as well, though he wasn’t in charge when it went under.
Trace the LandX truck back far enough, and you’ll find yet another company founded by Burns. Workhorse Group launched the design as the W-15 back in 2016 before licensing that to Lordstown, which eventually transformed it into the Endurance.
In short, Burns founded a company that developed an electric truck. He left the company in 2019 to join a new company he founded to build that truck and moved the project over. He left that second company in 2021 after allegations of fiscal impropriety, and the company failed in 2023. Now Burns has bought the IP and design assets and is at it again.
That’s a bargain — and also kinda sketchy — way to bring a truck to market. The development is all but done — the Lordstown Endurance was briefly available for retail sales — and this gets rid of all of the debt.
It doesn’t solve all of the company’s problems, however. The Endurance was an expensive truck to build, and the company no longer owns the former GM plant it had acquired in Ohio.
The Lordstown Endurance
LandX has the design for the Endurance; it also has several engineers who designed the truck in the first place, at least per their LinkedIn bios.
The Endurance delivered 440 horsepower thanks to motors in each wheel, along with 7,500 pounds of towing capacity. The battery was expected to give the truck a 200-mile range. There were no fancy features like GM’s “crab walk,” and it wasn’t bullet-resistant, but it appeared to be a solid-looking truck.
We drove an Endurance early last year, calling it “a solid and well-executed effort.” It had a large frunk and a spacious cabin, as well as an impressively tight turning circle. We also covered the bizarrely political launch of the truck back in 2020.
Will LandX Make the Endurance Work?
LandX says its platform, which was designed and tested for the Endurance, is “5-star crash rated.” The company also leans into traction, claiming that the four hub motors give it traction other vehicles can’t match. Hub motors have some advantages, but also some big disadvantages; like the added unsprung weight and rotational mass.
We don’t know when LandX will start building vehicles. It must first find a production partner (or build a factory). It will then probably need to overcome the same production cost issues.
Can LandX solve those problems? The company’s website isn’t convincing. Spelling errors and other mistakes jump out, but the company said that it is “building a full fleet of jeeps, trucks, vans and recreational vehicles.” Infringing on trademarks (or not understanding the difference between a Jeep and an SUV) is a big deal.
On the company’s site, Burns says, “We’re a new company, but we’re not a startup. We have a very high jumping-off point. In many ways — we’re starting on third base.” This is his third kick at the can, but it’s been many years since he started.
The new company has trucks from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Rivian, and Tesla (with more on the market soon) to compete with. Which might make it tough for the third time to be the charm.