California-based EV startup Canoo has entered into an agreement to acquire a Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Oklahoma City. Strategically located with easy access to road and rail, the facility will produce Canoo’s LDV and LV vehicles for delivery to customers in 2023.
With a dedicated training center, Canoo’s Vehicle Manufacturing Facility will employ more than 500 people and be equipped to ramp to 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.”
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 facility will be adapted for Canoo and outfitted to accommodate a full vehicle assembly line with state-of-the-art robotics, a paint shop and upfitting center. As with Canoo’s other facilities in Pryor Oklahoma, the Vehicle Manufacturing Facility will be powered with clean energy. When fully renovated, the Facility will align with Canoo’s vision for sustainable, nature-centric campuses.
Canoo has focused on Oklahoma and Arkansas as Electric Vehicle (EV) 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 strategically located near some of the nation’s most highly traveled thoroughfares. The MegaMicro Factory will include a full commercialization facility with a paint, body shop and general assembly plant. It will be a significant investment in the state and will employ more than 2,000 when fully operational.
