California electric car start-up Canoo has announced a large order from Walmart. The US retail giant has signed a partnership with Canoo to purchase 4,500 electric vehicles, starting with the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) model and the cargo variant of the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle.
According to a statement Canoo contract the agreement to buy up to 10,000 units. However, these vehicles are just getting into production: Canoo plans production of LDV vehicles to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Starting in 2023, the US retail giant will then use electric carriers to deliver online orders “on an ongoing basis”, Canoo said. The vehicle goal for Walmart is emission-free targeted by 2040.
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Tony Akuila, Canoo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said “We are proud to have been chosen by Walmart, one of the world’s most sophisticated buyers, to provide a high-tech, all-electric, American-made Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle to add to their impressive logistics capabilities.” he said.
Tony continued “Our LDV has a small passenger vehicle turning radius in a friendly parking lot, a compact footprint, but the payload and cargo space of a commercial delivery vehicle.” The connection.
David Guggina, Walmart’s senior vice president of innovation and automation said “Today, the closest Walmart to customers is in their pocket – it’s the Walmart app. By continuing to expand our last mile delivery fleet on a sustainable basis, we can give Walmart customers and members more access to same day delivery while keeping costs low.”
With this plan, Walmart is working on converting to electric vehicles in various areas of its transportation chain. its delivery operations use the first battery-electric heavy-duty trucks of Freightliner’s eCascadia and Nikola’s Tre BEV for trips around its distribution center in Fontana, California, in trials starting this summer.
In terms of electric delivery trucks for long-haul delivery, Walmart has placed a large order under GM’s BrightDrop brand, as well as ordering 1,100 Ford E-Transit.
The power delivery fleet will use the Canoo LDV in the future. It is generally stated that the LDV, like all of the company’s vehicles, is based on a proprietary multi-purpose platform (MPP) architecture that integrates the motor, battery module and other critical drive components. Last year, the Lifestyle Vehicle was said to have a battery capacity of 80 kWh, allowing a range of up to 400 kilometers.
There’s a little more information on the specifications of the Canoo LDV delivery van. It has a cab optimized for long-haul shipping and a customized cargo area. The latter is said to have a load volume of up to 120 cubic feet, which equates to 3.4 cubic meters. This would make the Canoo van significantly smaller than the BrightDrop van ordered: the EV410 has a load space of 11.3 cubic meters, the EV600 to 17 cubic meters.
Canoo states that the vehicle is designed for “high frequency stop-and-go delivery and fast vehicle-to-door delivery” – “including grocery and grocery deliveries”.
LDV is said to show its advantages especially for small packages. Canoo also emphasizes the modularity of cargo space, which can later be adapted to changing needs. If the goal changes, there’s no need to buy a new vehicle – which reduces the investment per vehicle.
For Canoo, launch customers for LDV could be something of a savior considering the unit numbers mentioned: The company is deeply in debt and, as reported, has been questioning its own future this May. Recently, there have been rumors that Canoo could be a takeover candidate. almart delivers online orders not only from its dedicated logistics center, but also from its 3,800 stores.
The company was founded as Evelocity to offer subscription electric cars and market its skateboard platform under license to other automakers. Following the arrival of Tony Aquila as investor and chairman, the company has refocused its strategy and is now aiming to sell its vehicles – without a platform license.
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