Official: Canoo Leasing Oklahoma Factory To Build Lifestyle EVs

EV startup automaker Canoo has announced a deal has been made for it to enter a long-term lease agreement with AFV Partners that will see it occupy a nearly 500,000 square-foot facility in Oklahoma City where it will build its long-delayed Lifestyle Vehicles. The facility itself already exists and, very conveniently, AFV Partners is also run by Canoo CEO Tony Aquila.

"One of the reasons we picked Oklahoma is because it has one of the most amazing workforces in America. They have proven themselves across many industries, including aviation and aero defense, which is why we are excited to announce our second manufacturing facility in Oklahoma City, following our Vehicle Module Manufacturing Facility event on April 5, in Pryor, OK," said Aquila. "I want to thank Mayor Holt and the people of Oklahoma City for welcoming us."

Canoo will initially occupy 500,000 square feet of the 630,000 square-foot space that's already located within easy proximity to road, rail, and waterways. That facility also has the capability to incorporate renewable energy. During phase 1, Canoo says it will employ 500 people and this is expected to increase in "the coming months."

Canoo was founded back in 2011 and only a few years later entered into an agreement with Hyundai Motor Group to jointly develop its skateboard platform. Hyundai, initially keen on using that platform for its own future EVs, later left the agreement for unspecified reasons.

Canoo was left struggling financially for the next few years and yet it somehow hung on for dear life. It went public in 2020 as part of a SPAC merger, which was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over possible improprieties. This past February, Canoo saw its shares drop after deciding to sell discounted shares to raise $52.5 million, money badly need to get production started.