Canoo has announced the sale of 50 million shares of common stock to investment group Alliance Global Partners. The shares are expected to bring in a total of $52.5 million and will be used for general working capital purposes. Despite facing financial difficulties, including the threat of bankruptcy in mid-2022, Canoo is pushing forward with its plans to produce the Lifestyle Vehicle.
The company is setting up two manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma, with the first one in Oklahoma City starting production this year with a target of 20,000 vehicles annually. The second plant in Pryor will produce Panasonic battery cells, though no specific timeline has been announced yet.
So far, Canoo has only been able to produce a limited number of test vehicles through a partnership with Roush, an auto manufacturing partner and performance parts maker. However, volume production is set to begin in the latter half of Q1 2023, with an annual production rate of 20,000 units expected by the second half of 2023.
Canoo facing increasing production costs and a growing list of customer orders. Its largest order to date is from Walmart, which placed an order for 4,500 vans, which kept the company afloat in the mid of last year. Canoo also received orders from fleet rental agency Zeeba for 3,000 vans and construction vehicle rental service KingBee for 9,300 vans. The automaker has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to produce and test battery modules, and it still has thousands of consumer reservations for its Lifestyle Vehicle van and pickup truck.
Despite the challenges, many remain optimistic about Canoo’s ability to deliver vehicles in the coming year, largely due to its recent acquisition of large production facilities. However, with the notorious “production hell” still ahead, the future of Canoo remains uncertain.
