Lordstown says cash crunch crimps commercial production plans

Lordstown Motors Corp., the embattled electric vehicle startup, renewed a warning about its ability to continue as a going concern.

The company said in a regulatory filing Friday it doesn’t have enough money to fund large-scale production or commercially launch the battery-electric pickup it plans to manufacture. That came two days after telling investors it was on-track to start limited production in September.

“The current level of cash and cash equivalents are not sufficient to fund commercial scale production and the launch of sale of such vehicles,” it said. “These conditions raise substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least one year.”

The aspiring truckmaker’s shares fell 6.1 percent to $5.39 in afternoon trading in New York. The stock is down more than 70 percent so far this year.

Lordstown is one of a number of SPAC-acquired EV startups struggling to raise cash and move into production. The startup first alerted investors in June that it’s business may not be viable without additional financing. Last month, Lordstown confirmed it was being probed by the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading investors.