Connect with us

Published

on

Workhorse Group has announced an immediate halt to all sales and deliveries of its C-1000 electric truck, citing that it found a previous report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) unreliable. In addition to frozen sales, Workhorse announced it will recall 41 electric vans that have already been delivered to customers.

Workhorse Group is an EV manufacturer that specializes in delivery vans, with roots that date all the way back to 1998 with step van chassis. In 2015, AMP Electric Vehicles took over the Workhorse Chassis name and rebranded it as Workhorse Group with a focus on electrified delivery vehicles.

After licensing its W-15 electric pickup design to Lordstown Motors in 2019, Workhorse focused on electrified last-mile delivery vehicles, garnering a slew of orders in early 2021. However, the company has since struggled to meet production targets.

One potential suitor was the USPS, for which Workhorse became one of three bidding finalists for a contract, the only one to bid for an entire fleet of BEVs. Its proposal, however, was rejected and Workhorse’s stock immediately plummeted 47%.

In June, Workhorse Group filed a lawsuit against the USPS. With new CEO Rick Dauch, who replaced ousted CEO Duane Hughes on July 29th, Workhorse withdrew its legal challenge to focus on other business opportunities.

One of those opportunities for the new Workhorse chief is to ensure the safety and quality of its electric vehicles, hence the latest announcement of a recall.

Workhorse recall
Workhorse’s C-Series electric vans / Source: Workhorse Group

Workhorse freezes all C-1000 sales, recalls electric vans over safety

In a recent press release, Workhorse Group explained its report to the NHTSA requesting additional testing and vehicle modifications to certify its C-1000 vehicles under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Here’s the official statement:

The Company has identified a number of enhancements in the production process and design of the C-1000 to address customer feedback, primarily related to vehicle dynamics to increase the vehicles’ payload capacity. As Workhorse has identified these enhancements and continued its review and redesign of the C-1000, the Company has decided to suspend deliveries of C-1000 vehicles and recall 41 vehicles it has already delivered. As part of these efforts, the new leadership team has determined that additional testing and modifications to existing vehicles are required to certify the C-1000 vehicles under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Although Workhorse has issued a recall on the electric vans, it has stated that it has not received any customer reports of safety issues in any of the C-1000 vehicles previously delivered.

CEO Rick Dauch has spearheaded this recall and demanded higher quality from Workhorse products than his predecessors were delivering. Dauch spoke on the Workhorse recall in the release as well:

Our new leadership team is taking decisive and necessary actions as we conduct our comprehensive operational review of the business. We have identified a number of opportunities to improve our C-1000 series vehicles and are committed to getting these previously delivered vehicles back on the road. Importantly, we remain on track to communicate our new, long-term strategic roadmap to enhance our trucks and operational capabilities on our third quarter earnings call. We continue to be confident in our ability to be a leading manufacturer of last-mile delivery vehicles over the long term.

Dauch continues to try and right the Workhorse ship left amiss by those who came before him, but the automaker has already missed out on first-mover perks that come with delivering the first electric vans.

Competitors like Rivian and GM subsidiary BrightDrop are already moving in on the space. This fact, on top of multiple quarters not hitting van delivery targets, has put Workhorse on the hot seat.

While the latest recall is admirable in showcasing Workhorse Group’s newfound focus on safety and quality EVs, a halt to sales and production will only make future progress more difficult.

Dauch surely has his work cut out for him.


Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kate Nash says selling photos of her bum on OnlyFans paid for an extra tour crew member

Published

on

By

Kate Nash says selling photos of her bum on OnlyFans paid for an extra tour crew member

Kate Nash says selling photos of her bottom on the X-rated site OnlyFans has allowed her to add an extra crew member to her tour staff.

The 37-year-old singer says the fact she is having to subsidise her shows in this way shows that the music industry is “completely broken”.

She announced she was launching her OnlyFans account last week as she began the UK leg of her tour, and has previously said on Instagram that, “touring makes losses not profits”.

Speaking about her new venture to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she said it was “very funny” and “fun to do,” adding, “My industry is completely broken, I don’t think it’s sustainable, and I think it’s a complete failure, I think it will collapse as well”.

Going on to talk about “people finding solutions to fund their art,” she said: “I think it’s quite empowering, and I’m also creating jobs with my bum now.

“For example, I couldn’t bring a crew member that’s on tour with me in the UK to Europe, but now I can, because of my OnlyFans website.”

Read more:
Davina McCall releases video statement after brain tumour surgery
Wicked lands largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue

She has previously described the career move as a “punk protest,” containing “lots of comedy”.

Speaking to LBC last week, she said: “The cost of touring has gone up. Just like the cost of living crisis, there’s a cost-of-touring crisis – where the cost of travel, accommodation, crew wages, bus rental, all the things that you need to pay for when you go on tour, everything’s gone up.

“But a lot of bands’ and artists’ fees for gigs have not gone up, whereas ticket prices have gone up.”

Nash also said music was an “exploitative industry,” adding, “I have had lots of experience of being exploited”.

She said it could “learn a lot from the sex industry”.

Beginning her career in 2005, Nash has had one UK top 10 single – 2007’s Foundations – and two UK top 10 albums.

She has just finished a three-week US tour and is now touring the UK before moving on to Europe. Her London gig later this week is sold out.

And Nash isn’t the only one branching out to bring in cash. Lily Allen said earlier this year that she had joined OnlyFans to sell photographs of her feet.

The 39-year-old Smile singer, who moved to the US in 2020, says she has “very strict guidelines” and is charging subscribers $10 (£8) a month to view images of her feet on the platform.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Davina McCall says she has short-term memory problems after brain tumour surgery

Published

on

By

Davina McCall says she has short-term memory problems after brain tumour surgery

Davina McCall has said her short-term memory is “a bit remiss” as she recovers from brain tumour surgery.

Speaking from her bed, the visibly emotional TV presenter posted a short video updating her Instagram followers on her condition, saying it had been a “mad” time.

She expressed an “enormous heartfelt thank you” to people who had messaged her after she revealed this month she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.

Looking bright, but with a visibly bruised left eye, McCall said: “My short-term memory is a bit remiss.

“But that is something I can work on, so I’m really happy about that. I’m writing everything down, to keep myself feeling safe.”

She added: “It’s been mad, and it’s just really nice to be back home, I’m on the other side.”

In a message posted with the video, she reiterated her thanks for all the support she has received, adding: “Had a great night’s sleep in my own bed. Have a couple of sleeps during the day which keeps my brain clear… Slowly, slowly…”

When she first shared her diagnosis, she said chances of having it were “three in a million” and that she had discovered it several months previously after a company offered her a health scan in return for giving a menopause talk.

The 57-year-old star said support from her fans had “meant the world”.

She said she was being “brilliantly looked after” by her partner, hairdresser Michael Douglas, and her stepmother, Gabby, who she calls mum.

Becoming tearful, the presenter said: “I’d quickly like to say big up the stepmums. I don’t really say thank you to Gabby enough. She’s been an amazing rock my whole life.”

McCall was estranged from her birth mother, Florence McCall, who died in 2008.

Kate coming out of the Big Brother house in 2002
Image:
McCall with 2002 Big Brother winner Kate Lawler. Pic: Rex Features

With a catch in her voice, McCall went on: “I’ve got a massive dose of vitamin G – I’m just really grateful. I’ve always been really lucky in my life, but I feel unbelievably grateful right now. So, thanks for everything, all of you.

“I’m on the mend, I’m resting and sleeping loads and I feel really good. I’m just very lucky.”

Stars including presenter Alison Hammond, singer Craig David and radio host Zoe Ball quickly shared their delight at the positive update.

McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.

Davina McCall  with her partner Michael Douglas and her daughter Holly Robertson after being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Pic: PA
Image:
McCall with her MBE, alongside her partner Michael Douglas and her daughter Holly Robertson. Pic: PA

She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, the most recent being ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.

Last year, McCall was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.

Married twice, McCall has three children, two daughters and a son, with her second husband, presenter Matthew Robertson.

She has lived with Douglas since 2022, and they present a weekly lifestyle podcast together, Making The Cut.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Barbara Taylor Bradford, the ‘grand dame of blockbusters’, dies aged 91

Published

on

By

Barbara Taylor Bradford, the 'grand dame of blockbusters', dies aged 91

Barbara Taylor Bradford, the bestselling novelist who wrote A Woman Of Substance, has died at the age of 91.

The Leeds-born author, who sold more than 90 million books, died peacefully at her home on Sunday after a short illness and was “surrounded by loved ones to the very end”, a spokeswoman said.

Taylor Bradford, who was often labelled “the grand dame of blockbusters”, hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight success.

The story sold millions of copies and traced the journey of Emma Harte from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire.

The rags to riches story was followed by many other successful books with the author’s works being published in more than 40 languages across 90 countries.

Barbara Taylor Bradford,.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
Image:
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA

Barbara Taylor Bradford on her 21st birthday.
Pic: Bradford Enterprises/PA
Image:
The author on her 21st birthday. Pic: Bradford Enterprises/PA

Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said the author was a “natural storyteller”, adding: “Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it – and still does to this day.”

Taylor Bradford, who was made an OBE in 2007 for services to literature, wrote a total of 40 novels during her career – her most recent was The Wonder Of It All, published last year.

Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
Image:
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA

File photo dated 01/06/93 of Barbara Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert at Claridges Hotel, London, during a visit to launch her new blockbuster book "Angels". Bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote A Woman of Substance, has died at the age of 91, it has been announced. Issue date: Monday November 25, 2024.
Image:
Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert in 1993. Pic: PA

Born in May 1933 as the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor, she worked as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before becoming a reporter and then the paper’s first woman’s editor.

At the age of 20, she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Woman’s Own and the London Evening News.

She met her husband, American film producer Robert Bradford, in 1961 and they married in London on Christmas Eve in 1963 before moving to New York the following year.

Read more on Sky News:
At least one dead after DHL cargo plane crashes
How long will unsettled weather last in the UK?

The couple were married for 55 years until he died from a stroke in 2019.

Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the city’s Westchester Hills Cemetery.

Continue Reading

Trending