Canoo’s Electric Minibus Will Start at $34,750 Before Tax Incentives
It will offer an estimated 250 miles of range and up to 300 horsepower.
The United States isn't exactly blessed with choice when it comes to cheap, utilitarian electric vehicles. After all, a commercial workhorse the Chevrolet Bolt with a factory-deleted rear seat isn't. But in 2022, Canoo will offer Americans an attractive new choice in the form of a minibus it aims to sell for less than $35,000, breaking a price barrier the far larger Tesla has failed to.
Launching next year, Canoo's "Lifestyle Vehicle" minibus will have an entry-level Delivery trim with "targeted pricing" starting at $34,750 "before incentives, or optional equipment." In other words, it appears Canoo won't achieve that sub-35 price by sneakily subtracting $7,500 worth of EV tax credits from the retail cost the way Tesla did. If, of course, the formerly subscription model-favoring Canoo manages to undercut $35,000 at all.
Above the non-passenger Delivery trim will be Base and Premium models, each seating five to seven occupants, and starting somewhere between the above price and $49,950. Canoo estimates a range of up to 250 miles and a power output as high as 300 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque.
Come 2023, Canoo expects to follow up its minibus with a novel pickup truck; a model with slightly less range at 200-plus miles, but greater suitability as a work vehicle. In addition to an extending bed with fold-down sides and built-in electrical outlets, Canoo's truck will offer an 1,800-pound payload capacity and twin-motor all-wheel drive with over 500 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque.
Around the time Canoo delivers its first trucks, it'll also be scaling up production of its highly modular "MPDV" commercial van, which will offer 170 to 300 miles of range depending on configuration.
Canoo states it is now accepting refundable $100 deposits on each of these three models, which will in short order face stern competition from legacy players like Ford, with its F-150 Lightning and E-Transit. Against international carmakers like these, upstarts like Canoo will have to prove themselves truly special or face the financial gallows like so many before them.
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