- US electric van start-up Canoo reaches end of road
- Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in America
- Had been ear-marked for a full UK debut
- Dreams of reshaping urban mobility dashed
American electric vehicle start-up Canoo, which started out with lofty ambitions to disrupt the van market, has reached the end of the road, having filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US.
Unable to translate its innovative ideas into a sustainable business model, Canoo has been forced to call time without seeing plans come to fruition.
Canoo was founded in 2017, and its adaptable modular electric chassis caught the attention of big names such as NASA, the US Department of Defense, and Walmart. With its advanced steer-by-wire systems designs and futuristic ideas, it even captured UK interest and recently received approval to develop a right-hand drive model suitable for British roads, with signed trial agreements reached with Royal Mail.
In December 2020, Canoo went public via a merger with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) and raised $600 million (£487m). The move bolstered the company valuation to $2.4 billion (£1.95bn), but continual setbacks began to derail things. Deals planned with Korean manufacturer Hyundai faltered, and strategy changes by CEO Tony Aquila moved the focus from customers to fleet sales, changing the company’s trajectory. Manufacturing plans were in doubt, too, with ambitions to outsource or build a dedicated facility in Oklahoma proving costly.
Even with some high-profile partnership deals on the cards and a non-binding deal with Walmart to deliver up to 10,000 electric vehicles, Canoo only managed to deliver 22 vehicles last year and could not secure further funding. The US Department of Energy declined to loan them funds, and international investors weren’t forthcoming, so in late 2024, with just $700,000 (£570,000) in the bank, the company had no choice but to furlough workers and mothball its Oklahoma facility.
Canoo’s bankruptcy filing showed that the company was weighed down by between $10 million and $50 million (£8.1-40.6 million) of liabilities, and with less than $50,000 (£40,600) in assets, there was no way back.
Chapter 7 filing means that assets must be liquidated and used to repay creditors under the watchful eye of a court-appointed trustee and heralds the end of Canoo’s operations and dreams to reshape urban mobility.
It’s a missed opportunity for customers and operators to see a shake-up of the EV market with new and innovative ideas. For Canoo, it is the end of a bold set of ideas cut down in their prime by multiple missteps and poor handling.
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