Canoo buys vehicle manufacturing plant in Oklahoma City • TechCrunch

Commercial electric vehicle company Canoo has reached an agreement to acquire a vehicle manufacturing plant in Oklahoma City, the company announced Wednesday along with its third-quarter results. The news comes a week after Canoo announced it would be building a EV Battery Module Manufacturing Factory in Pryor, Oklahoma.

The new facility will be dedicated to the production of Canoo’s Lifestyle Electric Delivery Vehicle (LDV) and Lifestyle Vehicle (LV), an electric SUV. Canoo is still working on its “megamicro factory” in Pryorbut until that’s live, this new facility will help Canoo ramp up production and bring electric vehicles to market in 2023.

Canoo CEO Tony Aquila said the company plans to begin production of the LDV on Nov. 17 and complete final certification in the first quarter of 2023. The goal is to build 15 production vehicles this year, which will go to engaged customers like NASA and Walmart. .

The more than 120-acre Oklahoma City facility has “production-ready infrastructure” and is “strategically located with easy road and rail access,” according to Canoo Aquila. Canoo will adapt the facility to accommodate a complete vehicle assembly line with robotics, a paint shop and an upfitting center. Canoo said the facility will be powered by clean energy.

“Next these initial built, we will be then aggressively gap everything our equipment and to concentrate at our New ease during Q1 and Q2 of 2023,” Aquila said Wednesday. “As we beginning production, we expect the first salable vehicle the deliveries at occur in the return half of Q1 and we will be ramp production in 2H 2023 at 20,000 units Course assess by year end.”

Aquila said Pryor’s megamicro plant is “a bit delayed for economic reasons,” but when Canoo is able to shift resources there, the startup will be able to double its operating rate to 40,000 units by the end of 2024.

Long-term, the Oklahoma City plant announced Wednesday will focus on the production of defense and specialty products, Aquila said. In April, NASA selected Canoo provide crew-carrying vehicles for crewed Artemis lunar exploration launches, and in July, the The US Army chose Canoo to provide electric vehicles for analysis and demonstration purposes.

Canoo Q3 Financials

Canoo ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $6.8 million. That’s down from $33.8 million last quarter and $224.7 million from the fourth quarter of 2021. In less than a year, Canoo spent $217.9 million and still does not generate income.

Quarter-over-quarter, Aquila says Canoo’s cash burn was down 25% as the company continues to shift its spending mix, increasing the ratio of capital expenditures to operating expenditures.

The company’s operating loss totaled $109.4 million this quarter, and its GAAP net loss and comprehensive loss reached $117.7 million.

Canoo says it also has access to $200 million through a “market offering” program, but access to capital is not the same as having cash on hand.

“On the funding front, we have secured a Additional $30 million in a PIPE and a Remark at be converted at cash Where stock,” Aquila said, noting that the company is in the final stages of evaluating various financing options for the Oklahoma facility.

Canoo appears to be riding promises of future revenue to access more funding and stay afloat.

After announcing its results for the first quarter of this year, Canoo published a warning of growing concern, saying she may not have enough funds to stay in business. Things looked up for the company in the second trimester, in part due to its deal with Walmart to sell 4,500 electric delivery vehicles. This not only secured future revenue for Canoo, but also gave the company another opportunity to pursue other non-dilutive, lower-cost capital funding opportunities.

Since then, Canoo has also secured binding fleet orders from kingbee and Zeba to purchase 9,300 and 3,000 vehicles respectively, with the possibility of increasing to 18,600 and 5,450 vehicles respectively. Today, Canoo has more than $2 billion in total orders in its pipeline, according to Aquila.

“The last of them quarters have has been very tight,” Aquila said. “The macro economic has worsen, to push the Cost of Capital city upper and force we at accelerate our maturity and manage costs effectively at reach our Goals. We have has been Do our better at manage cash, continued to access at liquidity and dilution.”

Aquila said that while Canoo’s cash position looks dire, he believes having less access to cash has led to more competitiveness and efficiency.

“Being power at learn the crew here How? ‘Or’ What at Course a Company on “just in time” milestone Capital city is a very discipline approach as a investor, not just as the President and CEO,” he said. “I to know this is sore. But, you to know, would have you instead give a Young company a plot of money, or would have you instead give this silver based on milestones? »

Canoo revised its spending guidance for the rest of the year, forecasting $70 million to $90 million in operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation, and $30 million to $50 million in capital spending.

“We are now on Track for a 40% reduction in Operating expenses for the second half of the year, who is important improvement compared at a previously disclosed projection of 20% reduction,” said Ramesh Murthy, Canoo’s senior vice president of finance.

Canoo’s stock, which closed at $1.17, is up 3.42% in after-hours trading.