Canoo Finishes First Production Of Electric Vehicles In Oklahoma City

A first-hand look at the Canoo factory in Oklahoma City, where workers just finished production on three new electric vehicles. These are the first of a 1,000 vehicle fleet the company is hoping to sell to the state.

“These three are going to be going to work in the state of Oklahoma, they will be assigned into the administration into their pool,” said Canoo CEO, Tony Aquila.

The startup electric vehicle manufacturing company bought a 630,000 square foot facility off Interstate 40 in Southwest Oklahoma City. Their agreement with the state was to make up to 1,000 vehicles, to go to OMES, but the state has not decided yet whether or not they plan to purchase those vehicles.

“We still have never taken a dollar from Oklahoma just to be clear, but we've invested a lot in the state,” said Aquila. “We have to perform to get a payment but it's money we already spent.”

“We are excited to add Canoo vehicles to the state’s pooled fleet as part of a broader initiative to improve efficiency, cut waste and improve stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” said OMES Executive Director John Suter. “We look forward to evaluating these new assets and the role they can play in modernizing Oklahoma’s vehicle use.” 

During a time when the electric vehicle market is tanking, Aquila says he’s confident their unique vehicles will weather the storm. Their plan is to create vehicles that will last generations, building the base of the car to last through at least three owners.

“It's quite a different model and we focused on industrial, military because they're buying components of this technology,” said Aquila.

The company is also training their workers in a unique way, by ensuring they can perfect their craft via virtual reality before they ever touch the real product. Canoo is expected to create more than 1,300 hundred jobs between the facility in Oklahoma City and their Pryor location.

“By the end of this year we'll bring 120 jobs to this site, as the site continues to ramp to its run rate as we discussed earlier, it will grow to about 700,” said Aquila. “Our whole thing is to be much more self-reliant and be able to have an interchangeable workforce that is working here in Oklahoma,” said Aquila.

Governor Stitt said he is excited to bring the industry back to the state, saying in a statement, "We are proud to be part of this historic moment as Canoo builds momentum on its road to full-scale production [...] This marks Oklahoma’s return to vehicle manufacturing and proves ‘The Sooner State’ is the right place to grow cutting-edge businesses and create new jobs,” Stitt said.