Workhorse Group

Workhorse Group Incorporated

Company type	Public
Industry	Automotive, Technology
Predecessor	AMP Electric Vehicles
Founded	2007 (2007)
Founder	Steve Burns
Headquarters	Sharonville, Ohio , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Richard "Rick" Dauch (CEO)
Products	Commercial electric vehicles, telematics software (Metron platform)
Website	workhorse.com

Workhorse Group Incorporated, initially established as AMP Electric Vehicles, is a technology and original equipment manufacturer based in Sharonville, Ohio. The company specializes in producing commercial electric vehicles alongside telematics software tailored for last-mile delivery operations, including both electric vehicles and the Metron telematics platform.

History

Steve Burns, the former CEO of Lordstown Motors, founded the company in 2007 under the name AMP Electric Vehicles. The original business model centered on converting conventional internal combustion passenger cars into electric vehicles by engineering electric powertrains compatible with popular models and sourcing "gliders" from OEMs. Progress was hindered due to limited cooperation from automakers and a slower-than-anticipated expansion of the passenger EV market.

In 2013, AMP expanded its footprint in commercial electric vehicles by acquiring the assets of Workhorse Custom Chassis, LLC from Navistar, a producer of step van chassis. The company rebranded as Workhorse Group Incorporated in April 2015 and subsequently went public on Nasdaq in January 2016 under the ticker symbol “WKHS.”

In February 2019, Steve Burns stepped down as CEO, with Chief Operating Officer Duane Hughes stepping into the role. Richard Dauch was named CEO in August 2021 to steer Workhorse through operational hurdles and support its evolution from a startup into a mature manufacturer.

Towards the end of 2021, Workhorse became subject to investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning securities trading activities prior to awarding the USPS contract to Oshkosh. Additionally, shareholder lawsuits were filed alleging insider trading connected to the USPS bid process.

By late 2022, under Dauch’s leadership, Workhorse successfully resolved outstanding legal matters including class action settlements and SEC inquiries while achieving a position free of debt. To optimize factory capacity during development of its W56 model, Workhorse entered into a three-year contract manufacturing agreement with Tropos Technologies and established a supply contract with GreenPower Motor Company to finish and market vehicles as W4 CC's and W750's.

Lordstown Plant & Licensing Agreement

On May 8, 2019, General Motors revealed negotiations to sell its dormant Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio—spanning 6.2 million square feet—to Workhorse Group. Subsequently, on November 7, 2019, Lordstown Motors—a newly created entity with Workhorse holding a 10% ownership stake—acquired the closed facility. Steve Burns, then CEO of Workhorse, took on the role of co-founder and CEO at Lordstown Motors. Concurrently, Workhorse licensed intellectual property related to its W-15 electric pickup truck to Lordstown Motors.

Burns resigned from his position as Lordstown CEO on June 14, 2021, following scrutiny over preorder practices.

Aero Division

On June 12, 2024, Workhorse announced it would divest its Aero division, which specialized in autonomous last-mile delivery drone technology and maintained a portfolio of patents in this domain.

W4 CC

This is a class 4 battery electric cab chassis vehicle engineered for commercial applications.

W750

A class 4 battery electric step van providing 750 cubic feet of cargo space, designed specifically for last-mile delivery services.

W56

The W56 is a class 5 and 6 battery-electric commercial vehicle offering 1000 cubic feet of cargo space, also available as a strip chassis and cab configuration. It incorporates Linamar's eAxle technology to boost performance and efficiency. This model was introduced at the 2023 NTEA Work Truck Show, with production commencing in September 2023.

W-15 (pickup truck)

Introduced in 2016, the W-15 was an electric pickup delivering 460 horsepower and an 80-mile electric range, complemented by a gasoline-powered range extender. Prospective buyers included Duke Energy and the city of Orlando. In March 2020, Workhorse transferred the W-15 project license to Lordstown Motors, which intends to manufacture the truck without the gasoline extender. The W-15 served as the foundation for Lordstown’s Endurance pickup model.

C-Series (electric delivery van)

Workhorse was among the finalists competing for the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) decade-long contract to replace 165,000 aging Grumman LLVs. Despite this, in February 2021, Oshkosh Defense secured the contract, leading to a significant drop in Workhorse’s stock value. Although Workhorse initially pursued legal action contesting the award, it withdrew its formal complaint by September 2021.

The NGDV prototype chassis was adapted into both the W-15 pickup and the N-GEN delivery van designed for commercial fleet applications. In June 2019, Workhorse raised $25 million to further develop the delivery van project, which was renamed C-Series by November of that year. The company collaborated with battery supplier EnerDel for up to 5,200 battery packs and aimed to produce the vans at a former GM facility located in Lordstown, Ohio.

Workhorse introduced its flagship electric van, the C-1000, in mid-2021 but soon halted deliveries and recalled 41 units for redesign efforts focused on enhancing payload capacity and compliance with U.S. safety regulations. During a November 2021 conference call, CEO Rick Dauch acknowledged ongoing reliability challenges with the C-1000.

Octocopter

In December 2018, Workhorse revealed the SureFly, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) octocopter featured at the 2019 North American International Auto Show. Intended markets included air medical services, military operations, agriculture sectors, and urban transportation. By December 2019, aerospace company Moog Inc. acquired the SureFly program for $5 million to develop it as a demonstrator platform for autonomous delivery vehicles.

HorseFly drone

Workhorse began development of the truck-mounted HorseFly drone in 2016 through cooperation with defense contractor Moog (NYSE:MOG.A). The drone’s unmanned medical delivery functionality was developed jointly with San Diego-based Unmanned Systems Operations Group Inc.

Falcon drone

The HorseFly drone design was modified into the Falcon drone, a lighter and more durable variant engineered specifically for delivery operations in hazardous or hard-to-reach areas such as conflict zones and disaster-stricken regions.

Current management

The executive leadership team comprises:

• Richard "Rick" Dauch – Chief Executive Officer
• Robert “Bob” Ginnan – Chief Financial Officer
• Josh Anderson – Chief Technology Officer
• Jeff Mowry – Chief Information Officer
• Ryan Gaul – President of Commercial Vehicles
• Jim Harrington – Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, Secretary
• Jim Peters – Vice President of Supply Chain and Procurement
• Dave Bjerke – Vice President of Product Development
• Kelly Kiger – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
• Stan March – Vice President of Corporate Development and Communications
• Kerry Roraff – Chief Human Resources Officer
• Brad Hartzell – Vice President of Manufacturing
• George Petropoulos – Vice President of Commercial Vehicle Government Sales

Present board of directors

The current board of directors consists of influential leaders steering Workhorse's strategic direction and fostering business expansion:

• Raymond Chess (Chairman)
• Richard Dauch
• Jacqueline Dedo
• Pamela Mader
• Bill Quigley
• Austin Scott Miller
• Jean Botti (Chief Executive Officer of VoltAero)