Formerly | Evelozcity (2017–2019) |
---|---|
Company type | Public |
| |
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 2017 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | , U.S. [1] |
Key people | Tony Aquila (chairman & CEO) |
Products | Electric vehicles |
Number of employees | 805 (December 31, 2021) |
Website | canoo |
Canoo Inc. is an American automotive company based in Torrance, California, that develops and manufactures electric vehicles. [2] [3] Canoo's research & development team is based in Michigan, in the Detroit region (Auburn Hills, Livonia), and production operations are in Justin, Texas. The company also plans to produce commercial electric vehicles such as vans for fleet, vehicle rental and ride sharing services. [4]
Canoo was founded in 2017 under the name Evelozcity by Stefan Krause and Ulrich Kranz. Krause worked for Deutsche Bank as its chief financial officer while Kranz worked for BMW as a senior executive. Both men had met at rival EV company Faraday Future before leaving together to form their own company in 2017, due to disagreement with Faraday Future's leadership. Krause took on the role of chief executive officer at Evelozcity, and Kranz became chief technology officer. [5] The company received its primary funding from Chinese investor Li "David" Pak-Tam/Botan and German entrepreneur David Stern. [6] [7]
In April 2018, Evelozcity Canoo hired Karl-Thomas Neumann, the former head of Opel, as a senior executive. [8]
In March 2019 Evelozcity was renamed Canoo. [9] In July 2019, Neumann left Canoo, but he remained an investor in the company. [10]
In September 2019, the company presented its first vehicle prototype, the electric van Canoo, which was later renamed to the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle. [11]
In February 2020, Hyundai Motor Group, the parent company of Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors, announced that the company would partner with Canoo on the joint development of a new electric vehicle platform. The platform would be used for compact vehicles and for fleet vehicles such as shuttles. The deal is part of Hyundai's Strategy 2025 program which will see Hyundai investing US$87 billion for five years starting in 2020. [12] [13] [14]
In July 2020, co-founder Stefan Krause left the company. He had previously taken an extended leave of absence in August 2019 for family reasons. Co-founder Ulrich Kranz assumed the role of permanent CEO upon Krause's departure. [15] [16] Also in July 2020, Canoo was featured on the TV program Jay Leno's Garage . [17]
In September 2020, Canoo announced a merger with the special-purpose acquisition company Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. IV., intending to list Canoo on the NASDAQ valued at $2.4 billion. [18] The expectation was to raise $300 million to help finance the production of the Canoo minivan, planned for launch in 2022. [19] [20] On December 22, 2020, Canoo completed its merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV. [21]
A few days before its stock exchange debut, the company announced its MPDV (Multi-Purpose Delivery Vehicle) product line. The entry level van was expected to sell for $33,000 on arrival in limited quantities in 2022, ramping up to volume production in 2023. [22]
In mid-January 2021, The Verge reported that in the first half of 2020 Canoo had been in talks with Apple for a potential role in its secretive Titan car project. [23] [24]
On March 11, 2021, Canoo announced the Canoo Pickup Truck, an electric pickup set to release in 2023. [25] [26] Canoo announced plans to offer both single-motor and dual-motor all-wheel drive options for their pickup truck, with the latter being capable of producing 600 hp (450 kW) and 550 foot-pounds (750 J) of torque. [25] The company said that the truck would have over 200 miles (320 km) of range and a 1,800 lb (820 kg) payload capacity. [25] After the announcement, shares of the company rose by 14%. [26]
It was announced in March 2021 that Canoo had terminated its partnership with Hyundai Motor Group due to a change in corporate strategy. The company also announced that it would shift away from vehicle subscriptions to selling commercial vehicles. [27]
On April 22, 2021, the company announced that co-founder and CEO Ulrich Kranz was stepping down and would be replaced by chairman Tony Aquila as CEO. [28] Also in April 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into Canoo after its merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. IV due to a string of executive departures, sudden changes to its business model, and class-action lawsuits brought by shareholders. [29]
On June 17, 2021, the company announced they would build a new factory in Pryor, Oklahoma (just outside Tulsa) to manufacture all of their future vehicles. [30] [31] The plant will be used to build "pod-shaped vans it calls 'lifestyle vehicles' beginning in 2023." [31] The same day, Dutch media reported that the Dutch company VDL Nedcar would start producing Canoo Minivans for the European market. [32] Later in the year, Canoo and VDL ended the manufacturing agreement. [33] Following receipt of orders in October 2022, Canoo announced plans for construction of a vehicle battery production facility at the MidAmerica Industrial Park (MAIP) in Pryor, Oklahoma. [34] This was in addition to its earlier announcement of plans for a vehicle production plant at MAIP capable of producing 300,000 vehicles per year. [35]
On November 15, 2021, the company announced it would move its headquarters to Bentonville, Arkansas and establish a manufacturing plant there. [36] In January 2022, Canoo entered into a 10-year US$17.7 million lease for a building in Bentonville, which was planned to be an "advanced industrialization facility" for low-volume manufacturing. [37] In August 2022, Canoo disclosed they had contracted with a third party for their initial vehicle production. That December, the company still listed Torrance, California as its headquarters, [1] [38] although later coverage showed the headquarters had moved to Justin, Texas by 2024. [39] As of May 2024, the Bentonville facility appeared to be closed with a “Warehouse for Sublease” sign posted outside. [40]
In May 2022, it was reported that Canoo was struggling to find funding, the company saying that it had only enough funding to operate for one more quarter. [41] It was also revealed around the same time that Canoo was suing investor Pak Tim Li, claiming they were selling shares improperly. [42]
In late November 2022, Canoo announced an agreement to purchase of an existing 630,000 sq ft (59,000 m2) plant in Oklahoma City to start vehicle production by 2023, prior to completion of its micro megafactory in Pryor. [43]
In December 2022, the company sued several former executives for stealing Canoo's trade secrets and poaching talent for their new business, [44] [45] competing EV startup Harbinger Motors. [46]
In April 2023, the company announced that battery production would commence at Pryor to fulfill a United States Department of Defense contract; and, while vehicle manufacturing was to start in Oklahoma City before the end of 2023, long range plans still included vehicle assembly at Pryor because the OKC facility would not meet full production needs. [47] The Oklahoma City plant transaction was completed on April 7, 2023; the plant was formerly owned and operated by Terex. [48] For 2023, Canoo reported US$886,000 in net revenue after delivering 22 vehicles; expenses paid to CEO Aquila's company for private aircraft and shared services were nearly four times that amount, as noted in the annual earnings report. [39]
In March 2024, Canoo acquired assets from rival EV startup Arrival after it went bankrupt. [49] A disappointing earnings forecast of US$50–100 million for 2024 sent the stock price down. [50]
On April 13, 2022, NASA selected Canoo to supply crew transportation vehicles for its Artemis program, with a total contract value of $147,855. [51] [52]
In July 2022, Walmart entered into a definitive agreement to purchase 4,500 all-electric Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles (LDV) from Canoo, with an option to buy up to 10,000 in the future. [53] Under the terms, Walmart can terminate the agreement for convenience upon 30 days notice. [54]
Canoo announced two major orders in mid-October 2022. Zeeba, a relatively unknown fleet leasing operation, also based in Greater Los Angeles, ordered a combination of 5,450 LDVs and Lifestyle Vehicles (LV), with a binding commitment of 3,000 by 2024. [55] [56] [57] Some days later, Canoo announced its biggest sale to date, an order from Kingbee, a Utah-based work-ready van fleet rental company. In addition to the binding order of 9,300 LDVs, Kingbee has the option to double the order. [58] [59] Kingbee outfits its vans for fleet customers in construction trades (electrical, plumbing, energy), delivery, and mobile health. [60]
In January 2024, Canoo announced the Postal Service (USPS) order for six right-hand-drive LDV vans. [61] [62] [63]
Rivian Automotive, Inc., is an American electric vehicle manufacturer and automotive technology and outdoor recreation company founded in 2009. Rivian produces an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) and pickup truck on a "skateboard" platform that can support future vehicles or be adopted by other companies. An electric delivery van, the Rivian EDV, is also being produced. Rivian started deliveries of its R1T pickup truck in late 2021. The company planned to build an exclusive charging network in the United States and Canada by the end of 2023.
Faraday Future Inc. is an American startup technology company focused on the development of electric vehicles, founded in 2014. Based in Los Angeles, California, it began producing vehicles in 2023 and markets them in the United States and China.
Lucid Group, Inc. is an American automotive and technology company that manufactures electric vehicles and supplies advanced electric vehicle powertrain systems. The company is headquartered in Newark, California. In September 2021, the company began producing the Lucid Air sedan at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company expects to begin production of its second model, the Lucid Gravity SUV, in late 2024. Lucid also supplies and develops powertrain technology to other automakers, including Aston Martin.
Fisker Inc. is an American automotive company founded by Danish automotive designer Henrik Fisker and his wife Geeta Gupta-Fisker.
Arrival was a British electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Howald, Luxembourg that produced primarily lightweight commercial vehicles. Research and development took place at a facility in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Workhorse Group Incorporated, originally AMP Electric Vehicles, is an original equipment manufacturer and technology company headquartered in Sharonville, Ohio, U.S. Workhorse makes commercial electric vehicles and telematics software designed for last-mile delivery. Their products include commercial electric vehicles and the Metron telematics software system.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a battery electric minivan produced by German manufacturer Volkswagen. Based on the dedicated battery electric MEB platform, it is the first production electric minivan from Volkswagen and part of the Volkswagen ID. series. A retro styled minivan, the design of the ID. Buzz is inspired by the Volkswagen Type 2 (T1) Microbus.
ISO 15118Road vehicles -- Vehicle to grid communication interface is a proposed international standard defining a vehicle to grid (V2G) communication interface for bi-directional charging/discharging of electric vehicles. The standard provides multiple use cases like secure communication, smart charging and the Plug & Charge feature used by some electric vehicle networks.
Byton was a Chinese-German all-electric vehicle automotive brand established in 2017 and incorporated in Hong Kong, co-founded by former BMW and Nissan executives. Byton unveiled its first concept car to the public in January 2018. It planned to introduce its M-Byte SUV model first, with the start of production and sales scheduled for late 2019, however developmental delays and financial troubles repeatedly pushed back the launch.
The Volkswagen Group MEB platform is a modular car platform for electric cars developed by the Volkswagen Group and its subsidiaries. It is used in models of Audi, Cupra, Škoda, and Volkswagen, along with Ford through partnership. The architecture is aimed to "consolidate electronic controls and reduce the number of microprocessors, advance the application of new driver-assistance technology and somewhat alter the way cars are built" by the VW Group.
Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., Ltd., doing business as XPeng Motors, commonly known as XPeng, is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong, with offices in Mountain View, California, United States and Munich, Germany. XPeng stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Li Pak-tam, also known as Li Botan, is a Chinese businessman and socialite. He is one of the three primary backers of the American electric car startup Canoo which was spun off from Faraday Future.
Nu Ride Inc. is an American electric vehicle automaker located in Lordstown, Ohio. The company was based at the Lordstown Assembly plant, previously a General Motors factory. Lordstown Motors was known for its Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck. In March 2024, the company emerged from its September 2023 bankruptcy restructuring as Nu Ride Inc., headquartered in New York City.
Bollinger Motors is an American automobile manufacturer of electric vehicles based in Oak Park, Michigan.
BrightDrop is a subsidiary business created by the American manufacturer General Motors in 2021. The business offers a system of connected products targeting first- and last-mile delivery customers, including light commercial electric vehicles, ePallets, and cloud-based software.
Travis Katz is an American technology entrepreneur and investor. He was the President and CEO of GM-backed electric vehicle maker BrightDrop. Katz co-founded Fox Interactive Media, led the global expansion of social networking site MySpace, and was co-founded and CEO of online travel site Trip.com, which was acquired by CTrip in 2017.
The Arrival Van is a battery electric cargo van designed by Arrival. It was scheduled to enter the market in 2022, but was delayed, and Arrival declared bankruptcy in 2024 without having sold any vans.
The Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle (LV) is a battery electric vehicle with multiple body styles sharing a common platform, including minivan, cargo van, and pickup truck, manufactured and marketed by Canoo. The cargo van variant, named the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV), is in production; an all-wheel-drive pickup truck, named the Light Tactical Vehicle (LTV), has been delivered for evaluation by the United States Army; and three other models of passenger vans have been announced. They have range estimates of 400 km (250 mi) and an estimated 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) time of 6.3 seconds.
The Canoo Multi-Purpose Delivery Vehicle is a line of battery electric delivery vans produced by Canoo, the first of which was unveiled in December 2020. There are three planned models, the MPDV1 and the taller MPDV2, both sharing the same wheelbase and platform as the earlier Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle, and the MPDV3, which will use an enlarged version of the same platform.
The multi-purpose platform with steer-by-wire technology and a unique low-profile suspension system allows for a readily configurable right-hand drive system
USPS placed an order for six right-hand-drive versions of the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle 190 – an extended variant of its electric van with an enclosed rear cargo hold. Yes, just six vehicles… Converting the Canoos to right-hand drive was a relatively simple process, notes Canoo CEO Tony Aquila… The six Canoo vans will be delivered to the USPS early this year, and by the end of 2024, we could see those USPS EVs and Oshkosh mail trucks on the road simultaneously.