Update: ‘Sales and Production’ section updated.
The Canoo pickup truck or Canoo truck is now available to pre-order in the United States. Canoo is accepting reservations for the futuristic all-electric pickup truck with a small deposit of USD 100. There’s no word on the pricing yet, but here’s everything we know about the vehicle:
Design
Canoo, a Los Angeles-based startup, has recognized the opportunity of at least nine types of EVs based on its modular skateboard platform. The uber-cool Canoo truck could be one of its many upcoming purpose-built electric vehicles.
The Canoo truck features a truly unique design in its segment, one that gives it a very emotive and futuristic character. The company says that it has been designed to be the most cab-forward and space-efficient on the market. The urban pickup truck looks like a spin-off from the Canoo van.
It was our dream to have a vehicle that brought a truck to the market that just really shocked people from the visual and then to the functional. This is designed for many different use cases, this is designed from the inside-out and then the outside in. This is for America, this is built-America anyways.
We wanted to do something that was fully drive-by-wire, brake-by-wire, harmonized systems and shed 35 per cent of the parts. And in order to do that you need to get rid of the steering column, shock tower, struts, you got to change everything right? So this is a pure design and of course that’s how you get so much cubic feet in the size of a small pickup and the payload of a full-size (pickup).We wanted to have a masculine look as well as a sleek and sexy design, and it would be totally different on the utilization space. As you know I come out of the aftermarket, on the software side and worked for every OEM, so I wanted to be part of a design structure that was designed not only for the first owner, but also the second and third owner.
Tony Aquila, Executive Chairman of Canoo, on the design of the pickup truck.
People want a return on capital and in order to do that you have to have a lot of modularity, and so I can do things like have a work bench. And it’s an aircraft cargo style, so it’s interlocking and accessorizing and I can make this for my use case. This is very functional structure. At the same time maybe I want to put a camper shell on this and have access through the cabin to the cargo area, and of course it has a full roll-down window.
The Canoo truck has the same futuristic front end with clean surfaces and curves, minimalist lighting, and a wide stance. Behind the friendly-looking face is a chic-design, low-profile bed. The low ride height, sporty wheels, and short overhangs lend a very sporty look to the profile.
You got to build something for the second owner..why..because you actually then care about the first owner because he is going to be able to sell it for what it’s worth. We spend a lot of time on things that most people would think silly, like the quality of the hinges, worst thing I hate on second vehicles is sagging hinges. You open that door and it doesn’t feel solid and that’s going to hit the residual value.
Tony Aquila, Executive Chairman of Canoo, on the build of the pickup truck.
Canoo Truck Specifications
At 184 inches long, 78 inches (87 inches with mirrors) wide, and 76 inches (82 inches with roof rack) tall, the electric pickup truck has a small footprint. However, it offers “massive cargo capacity” for a model this small. Take a look at the specifications of its bed below:
| Dimension | Measurement |
| Length | 184 in. (213 in. with bed extension) |
| Width | 78 in. (87 in. width mirrors) |
| Height | 76 in. (82 in. with roof rack) |
| Wheelbase | 112.2 in. |
| Bed Length | 72 in. (102 in. with bed extension) |
| Bed Width | 64 in. (same with bed extension) |
| Bed Depth | 21 in. |
| Roof Rack Length | 54 in. |
| Roof Rack Width | 48 in. |
| Tires/Wheels | 265/60R18 |
The Canoo truck will be available in rear-motor and dual-motor configurations with up to 500+ hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. The company claims a payload capacity of 1,800 pounds for the recreational pickup.
The startup hasn’t revealed the battery pack’s energy storage capacity of the Canoo truck, but it claims a range of more than 200 miles. The batteries will come from Panasonic, the company which has received the contract for manufacturing the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle’s batteries.
In the case of the Lifestyle Vehicle, instead of placing the battery modules into an enclosure and then sealing and bolting them into the chassis, Canoo is taking a new approach. The company integrates the battery modules directly into the platform structure, and this new type of battery module packaging offers several advantages like space savings, weight reduction, and cost optimization. Canoo may use this design in the Pickup Truck, too.
The battery pack is designed to be upgraded, replaced, repaired, they are all separate cells so you have massive amounts of redundancy. You can run this thing all day long and still go home at 35-40 per cent power, and plug it in and do a rapid charge.
Could you imagine, you just went through this Texas weather storm, and you need power, you need electricity, boom! and you’ve got it. You can run it with one motor and one guy can pick it up. So take a V8 engine, it’s 600+ pounds, this thing is sub-200. It’s got 300 horsepower, nearly 300 pounds of torque, and I can put two of them in there.
Tony Aquila, Executive Chairman of Canoo on the functionality of the electric truck.
So we’re thinking about things that most designers and engineers just don’t think about. Why? Because they don’t work a truck. They don’t make their living, they don’t put their kids through college with their truck. We do. This thing is just us.
Features
Its funky design and small dimensions may not indicate it outright, but the Canoo truck is versatile and rugged. The bumpers have integrated tow hooks and metal skid plates, and the wheel arches are wide enough to support larger wheels (18-inch wheels pictured). The rear compartment can either accommodate two more passengers or be another required purpose-built solution, and the list goes on.
The pickup truck’s bed is six feet long and, when required, can be extended to eight feet, which is enough space to store big items such as a 4×8 ft. plywood sheet. The extension houses a secondary lamp with all the tail lamp functions, and it even serves as a license plate holder. So, the driver can drive the pickup truck even when with the bed extended.
The Canoo truck bed’s space can be divided to keep items separate and secure. Modular wheel chocks on the bed wall allow mounting bikes on the truck bed, and configurable tie-downs allow things like ladders and large equipment on the truck bed. The third brake light has a secondary function of serving as an overhead light, and the perimeter lighting on the sides of the bed wall complements it.
Canoo has designed the front-end of the pickup truck to not only be easily recognizable with the iconic signature lights but also offer a nice utility feature. The front trunk or frunk includes a fold-down worktable, and that too with electrical outlets. This table can be extended, and it can have multiple purposes. It can be laid down to put tools at work or adventure gear on an adventure trip.
The Canoo truck has a flip-down table built into its side panels. These tables can be used when the dimensions of the fold-down table at the front aren’t suitable or when there’s not enough space at the front use the same. Canoo has given a hidden step on the sides of the pickup truck that allows conveniently accessing the truck bed. Moreover, it has created a storage area underneath that step, usable for keeping a first-aid kit, cooler, secured laptop storage, etc.
Down below we have a set of other toolboxes or safety boxes. I have a built-in step, but if I wanted to do something else, I have my first aid kit, flashlight, again multiple functions, adds in structural integrity, helps me get access here (roof).
Tony Aquila, Executive Chairman of Canoo, on the bed of the pickup truck.
We wanted something where you can gear up quick, you know whatever you want do, or if you want to put your equipment up here. Because it’s interlocking, you have the ability to put A ladder rack in here that could go across and be fastened. Again this is just thinking about how people use their trucks. At the same time I want my wheel chocks, because I like to dirt bikes, and I want to be able to tie down easy.
The gate design is very different on this vehicle versus other vehicles. Because there is functionality purposes, my slat wall comes to life, I can keep my tools, keep my water, drinks, otherwise you are going to drop these on the ground. We put as much thought into this truck bed that most people put into an entire car. When the working person sees this they go “I can have a better quality of life with this vehicle, and I can get a return on capital. And every one of these areas is a space to create a return on capital. Which is why we spent so much money to develop the most intelligent bed.
The Canoo truck has optional roof racks in multiple sizes for additional cargo storage, and it can accommodate various types of camper shells.
Notice how you are not like sneaking in and around a steering column. When you don’t have a steering column you can push things forward and you can give them a bigger space. And that bigger space becomes super functional, and I can personalize this. I can run bucket seats, I can run a bench seat system, I can run a three-seat system, again the driver is very far forward yet he is in the safest bubble zone.
Tony Aquila, Executive Chairman of Canoo, on the interior of the pickup truck.
These (pointing to the space in front of the steering wheel) are like a similar approach to our delivery vehicle, these are designed for you to put your accessories on, if you want to use a big cup or small cup, you can buy the accessory for what you need.
In addition this is an additional secure toolbox area to buy accessories to put on there, flashlights, my gloves, yet when I want to take my significant other out, none of that stuff is seen. At the same time I can get it with a full infotainment system, but if I’m a guy with a fleet of 500 trucks, and my guys are working on it, I want to use something as low cost as a simple Android or iOS device to be the interface to the vehicle. It’s maximizing technology to allow for the utilization of space and make it for me.
The Canoo truck could feature ADAS software co-developed with AVL and first available in the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle. There could be as many as 13 ADAS features comprising SAE Level 2 autonomous driving functions, such as Lane Centering and Adaptive Cruise Control. Over-the-air updates would allow adding new ADAS technology with the existing hardware later during the lifecycle.
Canoo Truck release date
Canoo truck deliveries would begin as early as 2023, and it certainly seems to be targeted at the urban customer. However, it might not be a rugged, off-road-capable model like the Ford F150 electric and the Tesla Cybertruck. Production of the Canoo truck should be at the company’s upcoming U.S. manufacturing facility in Oklahoma. Canoo plans to start vehicle production in Q4 2022, and it remains to be seen if the company will hit the target.
The production version of the pickup truck will open for preorders in Q2 2021, with deliveries beginning as early as 2023.
Canoo announcing its electric truck on March 10, 2021
Sales & Production
According to The Frontier, a Canoo spokesperson stated that the company is training over 100 people for production jobs, and the hiring spree would continue. The report added that vehicles for final pre-market testing are being built, and production will be scaled up by this year at a factory in Bentonville, Arkansas. According to the report, its main factory will come up in Pryor, Oklahoma, by 2024.
On July 1, 2022, citing David Stewart, Tulsa World said in a report that Canoo’s plan for the factory in Pryor could be delayed. Stewart is the Chief Administrative Officer of the MidAmerica Industrial Park, where Canoo plans to build its 3-million-plus square-foot factory. Supply chain issues, challenging localization (100%) target for the production facility, and high construction costs are the reasons behind the delay, Stewart said. He has discussed these roadblocks with Canoo and is confident that the company will survive through them. However, Canoo’s reported a net loss of USD 125.4 million in Q1 2022, meaning any new hurdles in rolling out products in the market could have a major impact on its future.
Bentonville plant
In January 2022, Canoo leased a new 270,000 sq. ft. industrial building in Bentonville, Arkansas for a period of ten years. The lease agreement is worth USD 17.1 million, and Canoo’s 2021 annual report states the Bentonville manufacturing facility will be a low-volume facility intended for use in the near term for the initial production of its vehicles. The site would be used to test and validate its manufacturing equipment process before starting series production in its microfactory. In the long term, it expects to use this space to develop concept models.
During Canoo’s Q4 2021 earnings conference call on February 28, 2022, Aquila said it continues aiming to sell 3,000-6,000 vehicles in FY2022 and scaling up sales to 14,000-17,000 units in 2023. Cumulatively, it’s looking at a sale of 17,000-23,000 units across 2022 and 2023. It is expecting to sell out its entire production volumes for 2022 and 2023 and now shifting its focus to customer allocation and accelerating deliveries. The company’s phase one rollout will be in the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and possibly Tennessee.
Canoo has received an order for 1,000 EVs from the State of Oklahoma. The company has signed a definitive purchase agreement with the state government, and thus, it’s would be a three-stage order by its definition.
NASA contract
On March 31, 2022, NASA awarded a contract worth USD 147,855 for its crew transport requirement to Canoo, as spotted by a Reddit user on the government’s website. We accessed the government document, and it states that the NASA Artemis Crew Transport Vehicle (CTA) should be able to transport Nasa Artemis Astronauts from the suiting facility in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Launch Pad on launch day at NASA Kennedy Space Center. The modified LV models are expected to be delivered by June 2023, according to Canoo.
The vehicle will be used for test operations before launch as well. Another NASA criterion was that the Canoo Technologies vehicle must comply with National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) standards. It should also be able to sit nine people with additional space for equipment bags—astronauts don’t travel light. The Canoo vehicle will accommodate one driver, four fully suited NASA crew members, one suit technician, a flight operations director, and protective services agent.
While the NASA order is a confidence booster for the start-up, the past few months have been somewhat challenging as the company faces a severe brain drain. Reports say that many top executives have resigned at Canoo. According to a Bloomberg source, Canoo has lost over 50 employees since the start of 2022. The company has been under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Canoo platform
Canoo says that its skateboard platform is the flattest and lowest-profile skateboard in the auto industry. This platform allows it to develop a wide range of vehicle configurations, from hatchback to sedan, sports coupe, minivan, sports SUV, GT crossover, rugged SUV, hypercar, and pickup truck without heavy additional investment.
Reveal video
Video Source: youtube/Canoo
Canoo truck FAQs
What is the release date of the Canoo truck?
Deliveries of the electric truck are announced to begin next year. Pre-orders are now open.
What is the expected price of the Canoo truck?
The base price of USD 33k for the Canoo MPV leads us to estimate a starting price of around USD 40k for the Canoo truck.
What are the competitors of the Canoo truck?
The competing models are the Tesla Cybertruck, Chevrolet Silverado Electric, Ford F-150 Lightning & the Rivian R1T.
Featured image: Canoo
With a Master’s Degree in Business Management & Administration, I’ve been working as an International Automotive News Editor since 2014, and have gained a wealth of knowledge and insight into hybrid and electric vehicles.