California EV startup Canoo has announced a new multi-purpose electric vehicle aimed at delivering the last mile and other small businesses, which start at $ 33,000 but scale up in size and cost. Because of 2022, the vehicle is at the heart of what new executive chairman Tony Aquila said The edge coming to “re-establish the company” ahead of their debut on the NASDAQ stock exchange at the end of next week, thanks to a backward merger with a blank check company.
This is Canoo’s second vehicle, following the only subscription van paid for last year. Canoo still plans to make that EV – in fact, the new multi – purpose vehicle is built on the same technological platform that Canoo developed for the van, and they share similar design features – but Aquila told The edge the company’s immediate focus has changed. “When I invested [Canoo], I didn’t put money into it for the lifestyle vehicle. For me, I saw that as a result, but the real asset is this multi-faceted delivery platform, ”he said.
“The way I would look at this is to re-establish the company, just as Elon did with Tesla,” said Aquila, referring to Elon Musk’s involvement with the well-known electric vehicle company. now shortly after finding and changing his path. Aquila, who is from a financial and software background, invested $ 35 million in Canoo this summer through his company before the merger and before he was raised to chairman. “He invested [Tesla], just like I did, I became a chair, I had a different perspective, coming out of the tech world. So I can identify and evaluate the things he did for the industry. ”
The new vehicle will initially be sold in two versions, although Canoo says more will be offered eventually. The smallest (the one that starts at $ 33,000) is 14.4 feet long, 6.4 feet wide, and 6.2 feet high, and has 230 cubic feet of cargo space. Canoo offers three different battery pack options, too: 40kWh (with an estimated 130 miles of range), 60kWh (190 miles), and 80kWh (230 miles).
The company will also make a larger version that is 17.1 feet long, 7.2 feet wide, and 8.4 feet high, with 500 cubic feet of cargo space, which Aquila said is “not very familiar with the this industry. ” The same battery pack options will be available, though the range of estimates drops to 90 miles, 140 miles, and 190 miles, respectively, thanks to the added weight.
The vehicle can be customized out of there, according to Canoo, which suggests options such as storage cabinets, a rolling door, or ramps in its press release. Aquila said this type of equipment provides a “real golden opportunity … to go after and bring EVs to Central America” by targeting small business owners who want to switch to electric vehicles. He also says it will help bring “capital back” to the owners of these vehicles (thanks to things like the low rate of non-maintenance of EVs), to the tune of as much as $ 50,000 to $ 80,000 over seven years.
Canoo did not share pricing details above the $ 33,000 base model. Limited delivery will begin in 2022 with broader output in 2023.
Negotiating a second vehicle, spinning a new business model, and growing into a public commercial company are big milestones for Canoo, who is only three years old. That said, the public listing is no surprise, as several EV startups (as well as other companies, including suppliers in the wider electric vehicle space) have been preparing public listings or has already been publicized during what has become a bona fide gold rush – one inspired by Tesla ‘s high valuation as well as the speed with which startups join these “special purpose construction companies” , or SPACn.
Tesla has had little start-up to enter the electric vehicle space over the past decade. Most came from China and still have limited records to begin with. But this new wave of attention and funding could solve the kind of money needed for companies like Canoo to try their hand at a money relationship with vehicle design and manufacturing.
Canoo was founded in late 2017 by a few former BMW executives who had tried Faraday Future, EV EV, which was hard but difficult to pull out of a financial situation. Tempted by the founder of Faraday Future, the brutal Chinese tycoon Jia Yueting, these activists separated and created Evelozcity, which they eventually rebranded to Canoo. Inspired by money from a touchscreen manufacturer in Taiwan, a treasurer with CCP connections in China, and a UK businessman close to Prince Andrew, such as The edge First reported, Canoo gathered a team of about 300 people in Los Angeles to develop the electric van and basic technology.
In August, Canoo announced the merger with the white check company, Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV. The deal is expected to close next week, with Canoo becoming a public trading company on the NASDAQ under the ticker “CNOO. ”
The founders of Canoo always intended to use the van’s modular platform to power other vehicles, but Aquila is overcoming that vision by accelerating those plans.
With that in mind, changes are being made to Canoo’s corporate structure. Ulrich Kranz, one of the BMW officers who co-founded Canoo and the current CEO, is no longer on the company’s board of directors. Instead he will be Aquila’s “special adviser”, and although he remained Chief Executive, his contract has been renegotiated and now includes language that describes his ‘The possibility of being replaced, according to filings by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“I want to build a world-class company here, and what I told everyone is, look, you go as far in this company and as big as this company is. all together. But it’s like a baseball team. Everyone has to play their position and they have to play well for all seasons, and those roles can change over time, ”said Aquila The edge when asked about Kranz’s new contract. “There is definitely a role [for Kranz]. There is definitely some advice that can happen. But to scale an organization at this stage, I mean, that’s a different experience than what it has. ”
(For what it’s worth, if Kranz is removed as CEO but remains Aquila’s advisor, his salary will more than triple from $ 648,000 to $ 2.5 million, according to the agreement reached registered with the SEC.)
Aquila also told The edge one of Canoo’s founding investors, Pak Tam Li, will not be on the board despite owning between 32 and 36 percent of the company after the merger is completed, according to SEC films.
Li, who also joins Li Botan, heads a major Chinese investment company and Jia Qinglin’s son-in-law was the fourth-highest director in China before retiring in 2013. Aquila said The edge that this choice was made to avoid any trouble with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which has jurisdiction over contracts that could pose a national security problem. (It was reported that Li was first involved in Canoo The edge last year.) “It’s better to be ahead of things than to try to deal with them [after], ”Said Aquila.