Walmart Places Order For 4,500 Electric Vans With Canoo
Walmart has placed a large order for electric vehicles with Canoo, an autonomous and electric mobility firm, which helped Hyundai build the EGMP platform at the core of the Kia EV6 and Ioniq 5 EVs.
Canoo relocated its headquarters from California to Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart, and is currently awaiting delivery of 4,500 electric vans.
Tony Aquila, chairman and CEO of Canoo, stated, "We are proud to have been selected by Walmart." Aquila, a former investor in the company, was promoted as chairman and CEO in 2020, shortly before the company's IPO via the SPAC merger.
Walmart, like Amazon, endeavours to ensure the sustainability of its logistical operations. Amazon has an agreement with electric truck manufacturer Rivian for 100,000 electric delivery vans and has invested in the automaker. Walmart likewise intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, but its vehicle procurement strategy is more diverse. It ordered 5,000 vehicles from BrightDrop, a company sponsored by GM that manufactures electric vans.
Walmart SVP of innovation and automation, David Guggina, said:
"We’re encouraged that by being located close to the Canoo headquarters, we have the advantage of collaborating and innovating in real-time as well as the opportunity to aid in the creation of manufacturing and technology jobs here in our home state of Arkansas."
Canoo began operations as Evelozcity in 2017 and was rebranded as Canoo in 2019. It revealed a Volkswagen-style microbus EV which was to be made available via a subscription model, but then it broke away from its deal with Hyundai and had to pivot. For a time, even Apple was interested in acquiring it, but then Apple instead hired its co-founder and former CEO.
It has had two battery fire accidents in the past year, so this contract with Walmart is a respite.
Source: Car&Bike
