Lordstown Motors
EV SPACs with pre-revenue companies and inflated order books created a wave of failures. Verify orders before investing.
2018 → 2023
$1.2B
EV/Automotive
USA
IdeaProof AI Failure Score
Full Analysis
Lordstown Motors went public via SPAC with claims of 100,000 pre-orders for its Endurance electric pickup truck. An investigation by Hindenburg Research revealed many "pre-orders" were non-binding expressions of interest, some from entities that didn't exist. The SEC and DOJ investigated, the CEO and CFO resigned, and the company struggled to produce vehicles at scale. After delivering only a handful of trucks, Lordstown filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and sued Foxconn (which had bought its factory) in a messy legal battle. The lesson: the SPAC EV bubble was built on projections rather than products, and the hangover has been severe.
Could This Failure Have Been Prevented?
IdeaProof's AI validates market demand, competitive positioning, and business model viability in minutes — catching the exact issues that sank Lordstown Motors.