Canoo receives conditional funding & introduces new electric van

Canoo has secured subsidy commitments for its vehicle and battery assembly plant in the US state of Oklahoma. The electric vehicle manufacturer can expect a total of up to 113 million dollars in state subsidies over a period of ten years. However, only under certain conditions.

The conditions are varied: for example, the eMobility startup must achieve targets for its own investments and for the creation of jobs. The state of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation will then provide subsidies. Canoo plans to invest a total of more than $320 million in the Oklahoma City vehicle plant and the Pryor battery assembly plant and create more than 1,360 jobs.

“It’s been a multi-year effort to get to this point, and we are delighted to have finalized these agreements which enable Canoo to hire more than 1,300 Oklahomans and fulfill the vision of its state and tribal leaders to bring new industry to the state,” said Tony Aquila, Canoo chairman and CEO. “We’re grateful for the warm reception we’ve received, and we look forward to further building upon our relationships with state and local government and tribal leaders to realize their vision for Oklahoma.”

The Lifestyle Vehicle (LV) and its cargo variant, the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV), are to roll off the production line in Oklahoma City. Canoo envisages an annual output of 20,000 vehicles by the end of 2023. In mid-August, the company also presented an offshoot of its LDV e-delivery vehicle. The LDV 190 offers more cargo space and payload than the previous LDV 130 model, but both models share the same platform and technology. The wheelbase is also identical.

“This newest vehicle offers even greater space and flexibility for fleet owners with the same unique technologically advanced performance of our original LDV 130,” Aquila said. “As we build out our family of vehicles over time, we expect to continue to bring forward models and options that improve safety, reliability, performance and are zero emission.”

Canoo has not consistently made positive headlines recently. In spring 2022, the start-up questioned its own future and admitted to financial difficulties that threatened its existence. In the summer of 2022, the company was able to land a major contract from the US retail giant Walmart. Later, however, it became known from a stock exchange announcement that Canoo had to make Walmart some expensive promises for the order – such as discounted stock options and also the obligation not to sell any vehicles to Amazon for the duration of the delivery deal and also not to let itself be taken over by the online giant.

Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also fined the Californian electric car startup $1.5 million (€1.37 million) for allegedly misleading investors around the IPO. In the course of this, there were also personal consequences for the then-CEO Ulrich Kranz. According to its own investigation, the SEC considers it proven that Canoo deceived investors with unrealistic sales forecasts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars before it went public in 2020 as part of an SPAC merger.

press.canoo.com (subsidies), press.canoo.com (LDV 190)