EV Startup Canoo Names VDL Nedcar As Contract Manufacturing Partner

Canoo, a California-based EV startup, names Netherlands VDL Nedcar as contract manufacturing partner.

California-based EV startup Canoo says that it is set to use Netherlands’ VDL Nedcar as its contract manufacturing partner. The partnership will oversee production of the fully electric $34,750 Lifestyle Vehicle as a production facility is established in Oklahoma for the U.S. and Europe.

Nedcar, which currently builds the Mini Countryman under contract in the Netherlands, will oversee what Canoo calls Phase 1 production, targeted at 1,000 vehicles in 2022.

Meanwhile, the EV maker will build its own Phase 2 factory in Oklahoma, where Nedcar will continue as the production partner and the target is about 15,000 vehicles annually.

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Canoo gave some background about the abrupt change in its business strategy that it’s hinted at for months. Although it previously expected to be a subscription-only automaker, it’s now anticipating that less than 20% of its business will be subscription-based.

The company says that the logistical challenges are too capital-intensive. A subscription model would be slower to scale-up and reaches a narrower customer base.

And perhaps most importantly, such a model limits consumer-level incentives for EVs—especially considering the higher EV tax credit potentially in the works.

The technical layout of the vehicles hasn’t changed. Canoo claims an industry-first drive by wire system for the vehicles—including steering by wire—and layouts affording rear-, front-, and all-wheel drive.

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Each drive unit is expected to produce about 350 horsepower, and battery modules—of 2170-format cylindrical cells—are structurally integrated rather than within another case. CTO Pete Savagian, who was most recently a VP at Faraday Future, noted that the flexibility is there to sub in the 4680 format that Tesla is ramping up.

Canoo has teased a whole lineup of vehicles, including a delivery van and a pickup, which recently went public as part of a SPAC, and outlined a whole direct-to-consumer vision

That said, the company isn’t ready to produce its vehicle quite yet. The company reported that 80% of its components are sourced, 63% of its engineering is released, and 54% of its tooling is committed. Over the next year it’s planning to build 120 to 150 vehicles for validation purposes, with 70 crash tests and 30 sled tests.

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