Electric vehicle developer Canoo purchased a vehicle manufacturing facility in Oklahoma City. Strategically located for easy access to road and rail, the facility will produce Canoo’s Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles and consumer-focused Lifestyle Vehicles for delivery to customers in 2023, according to a company press release. Canoo’s Vehicle Manufacturing Facility is planned to have a dedicated training center, employ more than 500 people, and be equipped for a 20,000 unit annual run rate by the end of 2023, with additional capacity to scale on the 120-acre site.
“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,” said Tony Aquila, chairman and CEO at Canoo. “We are working with our third-party manufacturing partners to achieve SOP on our 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.”
See also: Walmart to buy 4,500 Canoo EVs for last-mile delivery
Canoo considered multiple potential sites before selecting the location in Oklahoma City. An existing commercial site with more than 630,000 square feet of move-in ready space and significant room for further expansion, the Canoo plans to adapt the facility and outfit it to accommodate a full vehicle assembly line with robotics, a paint shop, and an upfitting center.
Canoo’s other facilities in Pryor, Oklahoma, are powered with clean energy, and Canoo plans to also align the Oklahoma City facility with its vision for sustainable, nature-centric campuses.
Canoo has focused on Oklahoma and Arkansas as electric vehicle anchor economy states. In addition to Canoo’s Oklahoma City Vehicle Manufacturing Facility, the company recently announced a Battery Module Manufacturing Facility and its MegaMicro Factory, a 400-acre campus at MidAmerica Industrial Park, a 9,000-acre industrial complex. The MegaMicro Factory is planned to include a full commercialization facility with a paint, body shop, and general assembly plant. Canoo expects it will employ more than 2,000 when fully operational.
