Just days after signing a deal with Walmart for the sale of thousands of minivans, electric-vehicle startup Canoo announced it has inked another deal, this time with the U.S. Army.
Canoo late last week said the Army has selected Canoo for the supply of an EV to be used for evaluation purposes.
The Army is specifically looking for vehicles that offer scalable and adaptable capabilities, something that, according to Canoo Chairman and CEO Tony Aquila, applies to Canoo vehicles.
“This is another opportunity to prove our proprietary technology, which is customizable and adaptable for multiple use cases and special environments,” he said in a statement.
Canoo by-wire systems – June 2021 iinvestor presentation
Canoo has developed a modular platform capable of spawning a variety of vehicle sizes and body styles. The company has so far revealed three vehicles, a minivan, pickup truck, and large van.
The Army isn’t the only government agency interested in Canoo’s technology. NASA also plans to look at using Canoo’s platform for crew transportation vehicles to deliver astronauts for future missions linked to the Artemis program.
For the deal with Walmart, Canoo will supply 4,500 units of the minivan, known as the Lifestyle Delivery Van. Walmart plans to use the minivans for deliveries of online orders.
Production of Canoo vehicles will be handled at a plant under construction in Pryor, Oklahoma. The company was previously headquartered in Los Angeles but moved operations last year to Bentonville, Arkansas.