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Lordstown Motors shares soar after new chairwoman says manufacturing plans stay on monitor

Lordstown Motors shares soar after new chairwoman says production plans remain on track

The Lordstown Motors Corp. Endurance electric pickup truck sits on stage during an unveiling event in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S., on Thursday, June 25, 2020.

Matthew Hatcher | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Embattled electric truck company Lordstown Motors has enough funding to operate through May 2022 and remains on track to begin limited production of its Endurance pickup in late September following an executive shake-up that ousted the start-up’s CEO and chairman, executives said Tuesday.

The company’s new chairwoman, Angela Strand, called it a “new day” for the aspiring automaker, which raised bankruptcy concerns after warning investors last week that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern in the next year.

Shares of Lordstown Motors soared Tuesday afternoon by as much as 15% before leveling off at about $10 a share, up 8%. The company’s stock price has roughly been cut in half this year, including an 18.8% decline on Monday.

“It’s a new day at Lordstown and there are no disruptions, and there will be no disruptions, to our day-to-day operations,” Strand said during a webcast for the Automotive Press Association. “We remain committed to inspiring, building and maintaining confidence and transparency in our relationships with each other at Lordstown and, very importantly, with our customers, our partners, our suppliers and our shareholders.”

The comments come a day after Lordstown’s chairman and CEO, Steve Burns, and CFO Julio Rodriguez resigned from the company after the board released a summary of an internal investigation into claims made by short seller Hindenburg Research that Lordstown misled investors.

The company said the internal investigation found Hindenburg’s report “is, in significant respects, false and misleading.” The probe, however, did identify “issues regarding the accuracy of certain statements regarding” Lordstown’s preorders, specifically the seriousness of the orders and who was making them.

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President Rich Schmidt said the company needs more experienced leadership. And while Lordstown didn’t say the investigation led to Burns’ and Rodriguez’s resignations, he indicated the findings contributed, at least in part, to their abrupt departures. “It was a little bit of both,” he said.

Hindenburg accused Lordstown in March of using “fake” orders to raise capital for its Endurance electric pickup. The short seller said the pickup was years away from production, but Lordstown has maintained it’s on track to start making the vehicle in September. The company on Monday said customer deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2022.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an inquiry looking at Hindenburg’s claims as well as the company’s merger with SPAC DiamondPeak Holdings. Schmidt declined to comment on inquiry.

Lordstown Motors Corp Chief Executive Steve Burns poses with a prototype of the electric vehicle start-up’s Endurance pickup truck, which it will begin building in the second half of 2021, at the company’s plant in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S. June 25, 2020.

Lordstown Motors | Reuters

Strand, who was Lordstown’s lead independent director, is overseeing its transition until a permanent CEO is identified, according to the company.

Schmidt reconfirmed Lordstown is actively raising additional capital, which the company announced plans to do in May. He also said Lordstown is no longer working with Camping World on EV products and solutions for the RV marketplace, citing a need to focus on the Endurance.

“We’re just focused currently on the Endurance truck,” he said. “That’s our next goal for the next three months is to make sure we hit our production targets and stay within our budgets and drive forward to getting the vehicles ready for the market.”

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China’s Xpeng Motors’ EV deliveries speed up and Nio declines in Could

China's Xpeng Motors' EV deliveries accelerate and Nio declines in May

A Xpeng P7 electric car is on display during the 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at China Import and Export Fair Complex on November 20, 2020 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Chinese electric car company Nio saw deliveries slide in May as the global chip shortage hit its business.

Meanwhile, rival Xpeng Motors saw vehicle deliveries accelerate in May as it managed to weather the same semiconductor shortage.

Xpeng was up around 5.5% in pre-market trade in the U.S. while Nio was 2.8% higher at 5:03 a.m. ET.

Global automotive players have also been dealing with a semiconductor shortage which has impacted their business.

Nio delivered 6,711 vehicles in May, a 95.3% year-on-year. However, that was a 5% decrease from April.

“In May, the Company’s vehicle delivery was adversely impacted for several days due to the volatility of semiconductor supply and certain logistical adjustments,” Nio said in a statement.

“Based on the current production and delivery plan, the Company will be able to accelerate the delivery in June to make up for the delays from May,” the statement said, adding that it reiterates its delivery guidance of 21,000 to 22,000 vehicles in the second quarter of the year.

As of May 31, cumulative deliveries of Nio’s three models — the ES8, ES6 and EC6 — reached 109,514 units.

Xpeng deliveries accelerate

The Chinese electric car maker delivered 1,889 of its G3 SUV in May.

Meanwhile, China had a five-day Labor holiday in May.

“May actually is a very challenging month for the industry, because obviously we mentioned there’s been a supply chain constraint on this chip shortage. There’s also the holidays, the May holidays imacted the delivery for the first half … of the month,” Brian Gu, president of Xpeng Motors, told CNBC in an interview that will air Tuesday.

Still, despite the challenges, May registered a very robust increase for the company, he said.

“And also, I think most exciting to see is that renewed growth of our P7 product,” Gu said. “We see actually a much stronger growth of that in our sales mix, so that gives us the confidence of really hitting our quarterly guidance and the numbers for this delivery … for the second half.”

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Lockheed Martin and Common Motors accomplice for NASA lunar rover

Lockheed Martin and General Motors partner for NASA lunar rover

Lockheed Martin and General Motors are working together to develop a new type of lunar vehicle for NASA to be used on their upcoming Artemis missions to the moon, the companies said on Wednesday.

“Surface mobility is critical to long-term exploration of the lunar surface. These next-generation rovers will dramatically extend the range of astronauts,” Lockheed Martin executive vice president Rick Ambrose said in a statement.

Earlier this year, NASA announced to companies that it needed “a human-class rover that would extend the exploration range of” astronauts during missions for the agency’s Artemis program. NASA’s program, announced by the administration of former President Donald Trump and continued under President Joe Biden, consists of several missions to the orbit and surface of the moon over the coming years.

NASA’s request for a next-generation lunar vehicle indicated that a variety of cutting-edge technologies should be deployed, including electric vehicle systems, autonomous driving, and dangerous terrain capabilities.

GM has previously built such a vehicle as the company was the largest subcontractor helping Boeing develop the lunar vehicle, which was used on the moon during three Apollo missions.

Apollo 16 astronaut John Young drives NASA’s Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) at Descartes’ landing site on the moon on April 21, 1972.

Charles Duke | NASA

While NASA’s previous rover was able to go nearly around the moon at nearly six miles an hour, it traveled less than five miles from the Apollo landing site.

Lockheed Martin said his next-generation lunar all-terrain vehicle was “designed to travel significantly greater distances to aid in the early excursions of the moon’s south pole, where it’s cold and dark with rougher terrain.”

– CNBC’s Mike Wayland contributed to this story.

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Xpeng Motors launches P5 Lidar electrical automotive to rival Tesla in China

Xpeng Motors launches P5 Lidar electric car to rival Tesla in China

GUANGZHOU, China – Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors on Wednesday unveiled the P5, a sedan with new self-driving features that is set to lead the way in the highly competitive Chinese auto market.

The P5, Xpeng’s third production model and second sedan after the P7, adds another competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 in China’s increasingly crowded field of electric car manufacturers.

The Chinese company, a rival of local players Nio and Li Auto, announced that it will release its prices at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 19th.

In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Xinzhou Wu, vice president of autonomous driving at Xpeng, said the price of the P5 will be lower than the P7.

“In this price range with the functions that we have built into the car, it will be very convincing for our customers,” he said.

Xpeng Motors will unveil the P5 sedan on April 14, 2021 at an event in Guangzhou, China. The P5 is the third series model from Xpeng and has what is known as Lidar technology.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

The P7 starts at 229,900 yuan ($ 35,192) after subsidies. By comparison, Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 249,900 yuan in China.

Wu said the P5 will be rolled out to customers in China in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Xpeng has also expanded into Norway, its first international market. Wu said the company would expand its presence in Northern Europe and eventually the P5 would be rolled out there. He didn’t give any schedules when this might happen.

Driverless technology

Xpeng has tried to drive the advancement of its self-driving features to differentiate itself from its competitors.

The P5 is equipped with what is known as lidar or light detection and ranging technology. Lidar systems send out lasers that can bounce back and measure distances. These returning rays are processed by an algorithm to create a three-dimensional representation of the surrounding objects – a key technology for autonomous vehicles to understand their surroundings.

Xpeng claims that lidar can help the P5 differentiate between pedestrians, cyclists and scooters, as well as road works – even at night and in low light.

On Wednesday, the Chinese automaker also released a new version of XPILOT, its so-called advanced driver assistance System (ADAS). This refers to a system with some autonomous functions, but for which a driver is still required.

XPILOT 3.5 has an updated version of a feature called Navigation Guided Pilot or NGP that allows users to autonomously perform tasks such as changing lanes or overtaking cars. Some of these functions are working for the first time on city streets. Previously, NGP was designed for highways only.

Xpeng’s XPILOT is an attempt to compete with Tesla’s own ADAS system called Autopilot, as well as other competitors like Nio with its Nio Pilot.

“In P7 we introduced NGP … only on freeways. However, freeway driving is only about 10% of people’s driving time. Getting the technology and ability to cities to do the function is very important Chinese people to make more user-friendly and more convincing customers, “said Wu.

In the city, Wu said the situation is getting “exponentially” and cited challenges to ensure the car can accurately and reliably detect objects in its path. “We believe with Lidar … it will help us achieve our goal much faster and give us an edge over our competitors.”

The competition is heating up

China’s electric car market is expected to pick up this year. According to research firm Canalys, 1.9 million units are expected to be sold, an increase of 51% over the previous year.

Various government incentives such as subsidies have made China the largest electric car market in the world. With that, some startups like Xpeng, Nio and Li Auto have grown quickly.

However, these players are competing against traditional automakers who are honing their electric vehicle capabilities, as well as other tech companies entering the fray.

We’re definitely one step ahead, you know, compared to most of our competitors. So we’re pretty confident that we can win this race with more newbies in this area.

Xinzhou Wu

Vice President for Autonomous Driving, Xpeng

Chinese search giant Baidu has teamed up with Geely to create a standalone electric car company, while smartphone giant Xiaomi announced plans to start an electric car business.

Last year, Xpeng delivered 27,041 vehicles, more than double that in 2019. In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 alone sold more than 137,000 units in China in 2020.

Wu said Xpeng developed a lot of technology that he believes will give the company an edge.

“We’re definitely one step ahead, a few steps ahead, you know compared to most of our competitors. So we’re pretty confident that we can win this race with more newbies in the field,” Wu told CNBC.

“We believe that with this kind of focus on the Chinese market, the Chinese customers, the Chinese road conditions and also the various technologies that we are bringing together to better adapt the technology to the Chinese market, we have an advantage over Tesla the Chinese market. “

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Business

Micron, QuantumScape, Hyzon Motors CEOs on Biden’s infrastructure plans

Micron, QuantumScape, Hyzon Motors CEOs on Biden's infrastructure plans

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan during an event at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 31, 2021.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

micron

“This is clearly important as semiconductors are the backbone of everything in business today,” said Mehrotra of Micron. “We are truly a leader in memory and storage, the only US company. We definitely look forward to the prospect of leadership in research, technology and products in the US and around the world.”

Micron is a major player in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash memory market.

With demand for consumer electronics soaring, a semiconductor shortage has been a boon for the chipmaking industry, but a negative for its end markets, particularly in automobiles. The White House infrastructure plan would provide money for semiconductor manufacturing and research in the United States

QuantumScape

QuantumScape’s Singh welcomed Biden’s commitment to invest in electric vehicles, noting the need for greater focus on addressing the key hurdles preventing electric vehicles from competing with traditional internal combustion engines. Those hurdles include long distance travel, battery charging times and lower costs, he said.

“It is very exciting. … It is great that the government is so supportive of this electrified transition, which is vital to the regression of emissions, but we feel that government policy is ultimately not enough,” said Singh said Jim Cramer.

“You have to have a product that people want to buy and we believe that when they are more competitive with internal combustion engines, people want to buy more electric vehicles. That really is the promise of what we do.”

Hyzon Motors

Hyzon Motors is a privately held hydrogen fuel cell company based in Honeoye Falls, New York. The company, which is being acquired by a $ 3.9 billion blank check company called Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp, operates in the commercial vehicle market, including heavy trucks and buses.

Knight, who runs and co-founded the company, said hydrogen-powered trucks don’t get enough recognition, adding that the power source is better suited for long-haul travel.

“Hydrogen trucks are electric trucks. They are fuel cell electric trucks,” he said. “We see great potential for these types of high-utilization back-to-base operations to switch to hydrogen.”

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Electrical car agency Lucid Motors to go public in $11.eight billion blank-check merger

Electric vehicle firm Lucid Motors to go public in $11.8 billion blank-check merger

The Lucid Air sedan, which is slated to go into production at a facility in Arizona next year.

Clear

Electric vehicle company Lucid Motors plans to enter through a reverse merger with a blank check company founded by veteran investment banker Michael Klein with a combined equity value of $ 11.75 billion and a pro forma equity value of $ 24 billion to go the stock market.

The deal between Lucid of Newark, California, and Churchill Capital Corp IV is the largest in a series of such collaborations between EV companies and blank check companies, also known as Special Purpose Acquisition Companies or SPACs.

Previous SPAC deals with EV startups like Nikola, Fisker, and Lordstown Motors achieved pro forma valuations of less than $ 4 billion, but Lucid is further ahead than these companies. Lucid will deliver its first vehicle this spring – a luxury sedan named Air.

The deal will generate approximately $ 4.4 billion in cash for expansion plans for Lucid, including the current Arizona factory.

CCIV stocks fell roughly 30% to $ 40 in expanded trading.

Lucid is led by ex-Tesla engineering manager and automotive veteran Peter Rawlinson, who joined the company as Chief Technology Officer in 2013 before adding CEO to his duties in April 2019. He will continue these functions after the expected closing of the EU deal in the second quarter, according to the company.

Lucid was founded in 2007 as Atieva, a name it now uses for its technical and engineering division that supplies batteries for the Formula E electric circuit. The company initially focused on electric battery technology before changing its name to an electric vehicle manufacturer in 2016, three years after Rawlinson joined the company to lead technology development.

Lucid struggled with some difficulty raising capital to fund his plans until he received $ 1 billion from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund in September 2018.

Rawlinson described SPAC deals last year as easy money but not enough capital to get a vehicle into production, which has led companies like Fisker to look for contract manufacturers.

Prior to the announcement at Klein’s company, Rawlinson said the company had the funds to begin producing the air at a facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix.

The new funding is intended to support Lucid in its expansion plans. Rawlinson expects the Air to be the catalyst for a number of future all-electric vehicles, including an SUV starting production in early 2023, and cheaper vehicles across the board.

Lucid currently employs almost 2,000 people. The US is expected to employ 3,000 people domestically by the end of 2022.

The deal includes a total investment of around $ 4.6 billion. It is funded with $ 2.1 billion in cash from CCIV and a fully committed PIPE of $ 2.5 billion at $ 15 per share from the Saudi Arabian state fund, as well as funds and accounts held by BlackRock, Fidelity and managed by others.