Another EV company goes public. What separates him from Tesla and everything in between.

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Another EV company is in the process of going public through an acquisition by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC. This time, Hennessy Capital Acquisition bought Canoo.

Canoo is a self-described business-to-consumer electric vehicle company. It is EV as a service. The drivers, in essence, rent a futuristic VW-type van that the company, well, calls Canoo.

It’s not really a rental. But it is a subscription. Subscribers can put their things in the vehicle and keep them for “a month or 10 years,” explains Ulrich Kranz, CEO of Canoo. Barron’s. The subscription sensation included maintenance, insurance and access to charging stations.

The transaction with Hennessy is valued at $ 1.84 billion and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020. It will bring approximately $ 600 million to Canoo to help fund its development plans.

At this point, Canoo has developed an EV powertrain which it believes will make it a low cost player in the industry. The company’s flagship vehicle will arrive in 2022. Canoo targets young professionals interested in a subscription model. Eventually, he plans to develop other vehicles such as commercial vans, similar to Workhorse (symbol: WKHS). Canoo’s utility vehicle is scheduled for 2023.

Canoo will subcontract assembly rather than manufacturing its own vehicles.

Investors interested in Canoo can buy Hennessy (HCAC) shares now. The stock is up about 5% year-to-date, still close to its initial unit price of $ 10. Hennessy shares were down 1.1% on Tuesday afternoon.

This isn’t the first PSPC to buy from an EV maker. Niloka (NKLA) thus became a listed company. Hyliion, manufacturer of alternative fuel powertrains for heavy trucks, is acquired by Tortoise Acquisition (SHLL). Lordstown Motor – maker of the Endurance pickup truck – is acquired by DiamondPeak (DPHC). And Fisker, maker of the Ocean SUV, is acquired by Spartan Energy Acquisition (SPAQ).

There has been a lot of activity in the capital markets related to EV production in 2020. NIO (NIO) has raised the necessary liquidity from a local government. Another Chinese EV maker, Li Auto (LI), also recently became a publicly traded entity. Li raised liquidity through a traditional initial public offering.

Lucid is another EV maker without a SPAC partner at the moment. The Lucid Air is a luxury vehicle offering up to 500 miles of range on a single charge.

There is no mystery why EV activity is picking up. Electric vehicle stocks are on fire. EV actions Barron’s tracks are up about 260% year-to-date on average, crushing comparable returns from the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and its auto rivals.

The success of Tesla (TSLA), now the world’s most valuable automaker, has helped the entire industry. Its shares are up more than 350% since the start of the year.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]