Shares of electric vehicle start-up Canoo jumped by as much as 14% during intraday trading Thursday after the automaker detailed plans for a new bubbly looking pickup truck.
The unnamed vehicle features a rounded, snub-nosed front end with similar lighting and design elements to an electric van the company announced last year. Canoo said it designed the pickup “to be the most cab-forward and space efficient on the market, with massive cargo capacity on the smallest footprint possible.” Auto website Jalopnik compared the design to a retro Volkswagen van or pickup from the 1950s.
Canoo, which went public through a reverse merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. in December, is the latest company to announce plans for an all-electric pickup truck.
General Motors, Tesla, Rivian and Lordstown Motors are expected to begin production of electric pickup trucks later this year, followed by Ford Motor in 2022. Canoo wants to bring its pickup to market as early as 2023.
Several of the products have been delayed due to impacts form the coronavirus pandemic and other circumstances. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, on the company’s most recent earnings call, “So, we finished almost all of the Cybertruck engineering.” He added, “If we get lucky, we’ll be able to do a few deliveries towards the end of this year. But I expect volume production to be in 2022.”
Despite the amount of expected entries, EV pickups are a completely unproven vehicle segment. But legacy automakers such as GM and Ford, which rely heavily on pickups for profits, are attempting to defend their leading market shares against newer, all-electric companies.
While Canoo’s pickup stands out from others regarding its bubble-like design, its announced 200-mile range is lower than other competitors. GM’s Hummer EV pickup will achieve more than 350 miles, while Tesla has said its Cybertruck will range from 250 miles to more than 500 miles.
Canoo’s first vehicles are expected to be all-electric consumer and delivery vans beginning in 2022. The company has not announced specific plans for production, but it has a strategic relationship with auto supplier and contract manufacturer Magna International.
– CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
