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Workhorse Group

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Workhorse Group
Company typePublic
Industrytransportation
Founded1998 (1998), Union City, Indiana
FounderStephen Burns
HeadquartersCincinnati, Ohio,
United States
Number of locations
2
Area served
North America
Key people
Duane Hughes (CEO)
Number of employees
118
Websiteworkhorse.com

Workhorse Group Incorporated is an American manufacturing company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, currently focused on manufacturing electrically powered delivery and utility vehicles.

The company was founded in 1998 by investors who took over the production of General Motors' P30/P32 series stepvan and motorhome chassis.[1] By 2005, they were taken over by Navistar International, which had been selling them diesel engines.[2] Navistar then shuttered the plant in 2012 to cut costs after having suffered heavy losses.[1]

In March 2015, AMP Electric Vehicles took over Workhorse Custom Chassis, changing the company name to Workhorse Group Incorporated, and began offering a range of electrically powered delivery vans.

Lineup

A 2002 Workhorse P32 with ElDorado Escort bus bodywork
A Workhorse LF72 bus chassis with Startrans President LF (low-floor) bodywork

As of 2016, the company offers the familiar W62 chassis and a newer, narrow-tracked version called the W88. Their first product was the P-series, based on the Chevrolet/GMC P30-series stepvan/mobile home chassis. An earlier version was the W42 chassis, and they were also managerially involved with the construction of Navistar's eStar electric van, until it too was cancelled in early 2013.[2] Workhorse also briefly offered an integrated chassis/body model called the MetroStar, hearkening back to the long-lived International Harvester Metro Van line.

There were also the low-floor bus chassis (LF72), as well as a rear-engined recreational vehicle chassis called the UFO.

Pickup truck

In November 2016, Workhorse announced that they were working on an electrically powered pickup truck, called the W-15. North Carolina's Duke Energy has stated that it will buy 500 of the vehicles, and the city of Orlando is also interested.[3] It is scheduled to have 460 horsepower and a battery range of 80 miles. A gasoline range extender supplies further range.[4][5]

Octocopter

In December 2018, Workhorse announced that they were debuting its SureFly, an electric vertical take off and landing octocopter at the 2019 North American International Auto Show. The SureFly would be built for Air medical services, military organizations, agricultural customers, and for urban commuting.[6]

Lordstown Plant

On May 8, 2019, General Motors confirmed that it is in talks to potentially sell Lordstown Assembly, its idle 6.2 million square foot manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio to the Workhorse Group.[7][8] On November 7, 2019, the newly constituted Lordstown Motors Corporation, of which Workhorse Group has a 10% stake, purchased the shuttered Lordstown Assembly Plant from General Motors. Later that day, Workhorse Group issues a press release detailing the licensing agreement with Lordstown Motors for their W-15 pickup truck.[9][10][11]

Workhorse P42 purposed as a food truck

Lordstown Motor plans to build pre-production prototypes at the plant by April 2020 and start production by November 2020.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Navistar Closing Down Workhorse to Cut Costs". RV Business. 2012-08-12. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05.
  2. ^ a b Billings, Randy (2013-05-16). "Navistar sells RV Business, drops eStar Van as Part of its Turnaround Plan". News. Trucking Info. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  3. ^ Hsu, Tiffany (2016-11-07). "Workhorse Group to Make Electric Pickup Trucks". Trucks.com. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  4. ^ "Workhorse unveils pictures, specs of W-15 electric work pickup". Roadshow. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  5. ^ ZumMallen, Ryan (3 May 2017). "First Drive: Workhorse W-15 Electric Pickup Truck Offers Speed and Utility". Trucks.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26.
  6. ^ PRNewswire (December 18, 2018). "Workhorse Group to Exhibit SureFly Electric Octocopter at 2019 Detroit Auto Show". AviationPros. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  7. ^ Assis, Claudia. "GM plans to sell Ohio plant to electric truck company Workhorse Group". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  8. ^ O'Kane, Sean (2019-05-08). "GM is trying to sell a closed factory to troubled EV startup Workhorse". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  9. ^ "GM sells Ohio-based Lordstown Assembly plant to electric truck start-up". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  10. ^ Inc, Workhorse Group. "Workhorse Group Signs Intellectual Property Licensing Agreement with Lordstown Motors Corp". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-11-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ "We Drove the Predecessor to LMC Motors' Endurance Electric Pickup". Trucks.com. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019.
  12. ^ "GM sells shuttered Ohio plant to EV truck start-up". Reuters. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
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