Canoo has entered into an agreement to acquire a Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Oklahoma City, located with easy access to road and rail.
The EV startup plans to produce its Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle and Lifestyle Vehicle vans at the factory, with the first units to be shipped to customers in 2023.
The plant will employ more than 500 people and be equipped to ramp to an annual run rate of 20,000 units by the end of 2023. The factory has additional capacity to scale on the 120-acre (48.5-hectare) site, and will also feature a dedicated training center.
"Today we are excited to announce our manufacturing facility, which begins our path to scaled production in 2023 and delivers on our plan to bring high-paying light-blue collar jobs to Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City facility has significant room for expansion and is a proven location for large scale production, with an established transportation ecosystem, including rail."
Tony Aquila, Chairman and CEO at Canoo
The executive added that Canoo is working with its third-party manufacturing partners to achieve start-of-production on its own equipment this month. "Following these initial builds, we will aggressively shift all our equipment into our new facility during 1H'23 with production ramp in 2H'23," Aquila added.
Canoo selected the location in Oklahoma City after considering multiple potential sites. The facility has an existing commercial site with more than 630,000 square feet (58,530 square meters) of move-in ready space and significant room for further expansion.
Canoo will adapt and outfit the space to accommodate a full vehicle assembly line with state-of-the-art robotics, a paint shop and upfitting center. As with its other facilities in Pryor, Oklahoma, the Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Oklahoma City will be powered with clean energy and will align with Canoo's vision for sustainable, nature-centric campuses when fully renovated.
In addition to the new site, Canoo recently announced a Battery Module Manufacturing Facility and its MegaMicro Factory at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, Oklahoma. The two facilities are part of a 400-acre (161-hectare) campus located near some of the nation's most highly traveled thoroughfares. The MegaMicro Factory will include a paint, body shop and general assembly plant, employing more than 2,000 when fully operational.
In addition to the Oklahoma facilities, Canoo has its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, with the company also planning to establish an R&D center and an advanced industrialization and low-volume production facility for small package delivery vehicles in the state.
Gallery: Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle Electric Minivan
