Canoo, an electric vehicle (EV) startup from California, plans on building a distinctive Van and Pickup truck on the same platform starting at the end of 2022. A variety of cargo and passenger versions are described by the company, with van seating for 5 or 7, an 80 kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery pack with a 250-mile range, up to 350-horsepower ( up to 500 horsepower for the pickup truck), and a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. The Van prices start at $34,750 while the price for the Pickup, which will come a bit later, is as yet undisclosed.

Initially, production was going to be undertaken by VDL Nedcar, based in the Netherlands while Canoo built its US-based factory in Pryor, Oklahoma. The Nedcar facility was slated to build up to 1000 units for both the US and European markets in 2022 with a target of 15,000 units in 2023. Now, however, all that has changed.

Shift and Accelerate

Canoo has announced that it plans to accelerate its planning and shift its manufacturing focus away from Europe and to the United States. The Company will begin manufacturing at its advanced industrialization facility that it plans to build in Northwest Arkansas and will bring its factory in Pryor, Oklahoma online in late 2023.

"Canoo is now in a position to issue guidance at a time when many others in the industry are reducing targets and projections. The Company has now refined its manufacturing strategy and assembled a team to execute the production roadmap for 2022 – 2025" said Tony Aquila, Investor, Chairman & CEO at Canoo Inc. in a company news release.

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"In addition, we will be 100% built in the heartland of America, and we have proudly achieved another major milestone of having sourced 96% percent of our parts from U.S. and Allied Nations," said Aquila.

The US has Advantages

By bringing the manufacturing in-house in North America,  Canoo claims it will:

"The initiatives announced today are another step in executing our strategy of reducing risk and increasing certainty. We look forward to additional announcements," said Aquila. "We appreciate the months of effort VDL Nedcar invested to provide us with a contract manufacturing option, but we have concluded that building in America is better aligned with our mission and current focus to invest in the communities and states that are investing in hi-tech manufacturing alongside us, creating American jobs and innovation. The support from Oklahoma and Arkansas will allow us to achieve SOP earlier and with less risk on many fronts."

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According to the news release, Nedcar will return Canoo's prepayment of $30.4 million USD / €25 million EURO.  To underline the new relationship VDL Groep will also purchase $8.4 million USD / €7.5 million EURO of Canoo stock. 

Kevin Clemens is a Senior Editor with Battery Technology.