Canoo, the electric vehicle startup headquartered in Southern California, is still striving to emerge from the depths of bankruptcy. For its all-electric Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) and Lifestyle Vehicle (LV), it announced another significant commitment of orders for its fellow SoCal-based Zeeba.
According to Electrek, Zeeba has decided to buy almost 5,500 electric vehicles from Canoo, of which 3,000 are covered by an initial binding contract.
In retrospect, Canoo ($GOEV) was established in 2017 and has gone through the financial ups and downs that the EVstartup industry frequently experiences. Moreover, Canoo’s primary emphasis has narrowed in on the production of its Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle, despite the fact that it initially showcased a number of various EVs to come.
In hindsight, a $125M net loss and “substantial doubt” about the startup’s ability to continue were revealed in Canoo’s Q1 2022 report.
Nevertheless, the startup reevaluated its manufacturing plan and attempted to streamline its operations. As it works toward scaled-up manufacturing, it has also kept testing its LDV for road certification.
From then, NASA has recently granted a contract for the Artemis Missions, which will transport future humans to the launch pad using a modified version of the LDV.
In addition, Walmart inked a contract in July, ordering up to 10,000 LDVs. Prioritized deliveries are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023.
Despite these small wins, Canoo reported another significant net loss in its Q2 report. Nonetheless, Canoo is still pushing with the resources it has left and has over $1 billion in the sales pipeline.
Today, Canoo released information about its most recent purchase agreement. It declared that Zeeba would purchase 5,450 electric vehicles. The contract’s legally binding conditions state that Canoo will construct 3,000 units in the US by 2024.
Tony Aquila, chairman and CEO of Canoo stated, “We have a large committed, growing order book, are finalizing our multi-year allocations for 2023 customer deliveries and will share our manufacturing plan with the broader market shortly. This order is another milestone validating our product and strategy. Small & medium sized business (SMB) are the backbone of our communities, employing about half of all working Americans1 and they are Zeeba’s target customers. We put technology first and combined class leading ergonomics, a small vehicle footprint-to-cargo ratio and platform versatility while achieving a lower carbon footprint and higher return on investment for the operator, all of which will help SMBs compete.”
It is worth noting that by Q1 2024, Zeeba aims to electrify at least half its fleet. The LDV and LV EVs from Canoo will be made available by the fleet solutions provider to small and medium-sized companies. This is expected to reduce the stress of acquiring and maintaining mobility vehicles.
Furthermore, Zeeba’s plan to modify the EV configurations to suit the needs of its customers is made possible due to the versatility of Canoo’s designs. When the vehicles are retrieved, Zeeba can use them again in various configurations.
Mike Paletz, chief strategy officer at Zeeba, clarified, “The LDV & LV are going to be a game changer for businesses we serve. Canoo technology will allow our SMB customers to effectively and efficiently operate their businesses while reducing their carbon footprint. Zeeba has very ambitious electrification goals and we want to achieve leadership in fleet technology.”
All things considered, it truly is impressive that the company persisted despite numerous setbacks. It pushed in its efforts, which gained a positive result thanks to Zeeba’s recent orders.
