Canoo Unveils Electric Delivery Van a Week Before Going Public

Francesca Billington

Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.

Canoo Unveils Electric Delivery Van a Week Before Going Public

A week before going public, the Los Angeles electric vehicle startup Canoo, valued at $2.4 billion, unveiled the company's second vehicle, a delivery van.

The modular vehicle is the latest entrant in the commercial delivery market, driven by a combination of growing ecommerce and tighter regulations on carbon emissions. Canoo, which has yet to produce a commercial vehicle, expects the vans to be available by 2022, but scaled production is slated for the following year.


There's increasing competition. This summer, California set new rules demanding automakers sell more electric trucks and vans by 2024, jumpstarting a race among legacy car companies like General Motors, Ford and a number of startups to produce vans and trucks for commercial customers like UPS and FedEx.

Canoo's vans come in two sizes and are designed for small businesses and large last-mile delivery companies. Prices start at $33,000. Delivery fleets or major corporations and logistics companies can also custom build their own vehicles since the Canoo relies on "a skateboard platform" like a trailer bed where the engine is held. Interchangeable shells can be created for the body.

Photo Courtesy of Canoo

Earlier this year, retail giant Amazon debuted its electric van produced by rival Rivian. The Irvine-based company is slated to produce 100,000 delivery trucks over the next decade for Amazon as it seeks to have a carbon neutral footprint by 2040.

Canoo was founded in 2017 by two former BMW executives. They landed a deal with carmaker Hyundai Motor Group in February to manufacture their car. In January, the company opened a waitlist for its futuristic-looking minivan that drivers can book through a subscription service. That vehicle is set to launch by the second quarter of 2022.

Canoo said it's also looking to launch the delivery van across markets like Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Meanwhile, stockholders from Hennessy Capital Acquisition will vote next week to approve the proposed merger. If the deal goes through, Canoo Inc. is slated to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol "GOEV" between Dec. 21 and 23.

"Since announcing the transaction, Canoo has seen substantial growth in consumer demand and significant interest from potential partners in its proprietary market leading EV platform and underlying technologies," said Daniel Hennessy, CEO of the special acquisition company.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Community Hires New CEO, Bento Box Welcomes President

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Community Hires New CEO, Bento Box Welcomes President
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: CORTICA Lands $75M, Adventrx Therapeutics Grabs $38M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local biotech company raised fresh funding to advance its proprietary ADC therapeutic pipeline—a class of therapies that combine the specificity of antibodies with the potency of conventional chemotherapy drugs into the clinic.

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Greycroft Founder Dana Settle on the VCs $1 Billion Raise and Their Plan for the Future

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Dana Settle, Greycroft
Dana Settle, Greycroft

Venture capital firm Greycroft, which has an office in Los Angeles' Arts District, closed a combined $1 billion in capital commitments across several new funds. The money will be used primarily to invest in varying stage companies with a focus on AI, co-founder and managing partner Dana Settle told dot.LA.

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