EV startup Canoo takes skateboard platform to market with $A3.3bn value

EV startup Canoo, which has plans to bring to market a highly flexible and modular flat electric vehicle skateboard platform, has announced its intention to go public later this year, joining a growing list of newcomers in the space.

Like fellow EV startups such as Fisker and Nikola, Canoo will go public via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV (HCAC).

After the merger, which currently has Canoo valued at $US2.4 billion ($A3.3 billion), the company will be known as Canoo Inc and be listed under the ticker symbol “CNOO”, the company said in a press release.

Canoo’s approach to electric mobility space is not entirely unique, but has some obvious merits.

Its skateboard platform – an approach taken like both legacy car makers and startups alike in the bid to transition to electric drivetrains – directly houses all of the most critical components of an EV.

According to Canoo, which already has a deal with Hyundai to co-develop electric skateboard platforms, it is the “market’s first true steer-by-wire platform, which, along with a composite leaf spring suspension, enables the skateboard’s flat structure and maximizes vehicle interior space.”

Like UK startup Arrival, it has plans to use its modular platform to allow creation of a diverse range of vehicles by fitting different cabins onto the platform to “capitalise on changing consumer preferences”.

Canoo says that, “This highly modular approach will facilitate efficient production at scale and enable Canoo to rapidly develop vehicles serving different market and consumer segments at reduced cost, as the majority of research and development and crash testing is built into the skateboard.”

It will also create a cabin with a spacious interior that is more easily customised to meet market needs and preferences, such as this “mobile living room on wheels” that the company teased in 2019.

“Today marks an important milestone of Canoo’s effort to reinvent the development, production and go-to-market model of the electric vehicle industry,” Canoo co-Founder and CEO Ulrich Kranz said in a statement.

Like Fisker, and Volvo brand Polestar, it will also offer its vehicles via subscription models – in this case, a “month-to-month, commitment-free, subscription-based business model”.

“Our technology allows for rapid and cost-effective vehicle development through the world’s flattest skateboard architecture, and we believe our subscription model will transform the consumer ownership experience,” says Kranz.

We are excited to partner with Hennessy Capital and we are energized to begin our journey through a shared passion to deliver an environmentally friendly and versatile vehicle development platform to the market.”

Canoo Inc’s first vehicle is slated for release in 2022. The company says it will be a lifestyle vehicle aimed at major urban market, and eponymously named “canoo”.

In 2023, the company intends to follow that up with a B2B vehicle that addresses a gap in the electric delivery van market.

“Canoo’s delivery vehicle competes in a size segment that other competitors are currently not addressing and capitalizes on the need for a small, city- built, last-mile delivery solution,” says the company.

The merger will free up approximately $US600 million ($A828 million) that the company will put towards the development and production of these vehicles.

“We are thrilled to partner with Canoo on their mission to reinvent urban mobility with a greener, simpler and more affordable portfolio of EV solutions,” said Daniel Hennessy, chair and CEO of HCAC, in a statement.

“Unlike any other EV company, Canoo has created a go-to-market strategy that captures both B2C and B2B demand with the same skateboard architecture and technology that has already been validated by key partnerships such as with Hyundai.

“HCAC has an abiding commitment to sustainable technologies and infrastructure, and we are excited to serve as a catalyst to advance the launch of the Canoo vehicle offerings.”