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 Venture: Fifth Wall's Dan Wenhold On Real Estate Technology Investing

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 Venture: Fifth Wall's Dan Wenhold On Real Estate Technology Investing
Courtesy of LA Venture

On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, Fifth Wall partner Dan Wenhold talks about his role at the firm and shares some of the changes he’s seeing in real estate technology investing.


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Convenience or Chaos? AI’s Role in Job Recruiting

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.

Convenience or Chaos? AI’s Role in Job Recruiting
Evan Xie

Staffing firm Robert Half (which operates numerous offices across Los Angeles, including Burbank, Irvine, Long Beach and Pasadena), parses through thousands of job applications a week.

Thomas Vick, regional director of technology for the company, said Robert Half has a database of over 30 million active job seekers, which is why lately it’s been using AI to sift through them all. Vick is one of many directors eager to explore AI’s capacity to streamline hiring as the technology becomes more mainstream.

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samsonamore@dot.la

No Chatbots in the Writer's Room. WGA Goes on Strike to Keep Hollywood Human

Lon Harris
Lon Harris is a contributor to dot.LA. His work has also appeared on ScreenJunkies, RottenTomatoes and Inside Streaming.
No Chatbots in the Writer's Room. WGA Goes on Strike to Keep Hollywood Human
Evan Xie

This is the web version of dot.LA’s daily newsletter. Sign up to get the latest news on Southern California’s tech, startup and venture capital scene.

On this week’s “Succession,” Roman Roy flew to Burbank and met with the head of Waystar Studios, pressing them to greenlight more IP-driven films from major franchises. In the show’s fictional alternate reality, Roy is reacting specifically to the looming failure of sleepy robot-themed sci-fi tentpole “Kalispitron,” and the desperate short-term need to artificially boost the company’s stock price. Still, the scene itself has strong roots in our current business landscape. With media, telecom, and tech companies having recently spent billions creating and selling consumers on shiny new streaming platforms, they now need to actually deliver the quality content they’ve spent the last few years promising and promoting.

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