New start-up EV Canoo will sell only cars by subscription

The EVelozcity electric vehicle start-up, created in late 2017 by three former BMW managers (and former employees of Faraday Future), has changed its name and direction. The company announced on Monday that it would change its name to Canoo and it also said it would sell only its next vehicles on a subscription model. These vehicles will be controlled by humans at first, but the goal is to equip them with enough technologies so that they can eventually become self-sufficient.

The first car of Canoo is scheduled for 2021. It will be a "lifestyle vehicle" with "minimalist design that will maximize the interior space". Even though Canoo has shown that a rough diagram of the vehicle form Monday (see above). , the company said it would offer the interior space of a large SUV to the footprint of a compact car. The sketch Canoo has shown resembles a cross between Volkswagen's resuscitated VW Bus and autonomous pods that roll slowly in small towns and on some public roads.

Canoo plans to build three more cars, all on the same "skateboard" platform consisting of a battery pack and an electric transmission. He showed the outlines of a vehicle that looks more like the shape of a traditional car, which he calls the "personal suburban vehicle". Canoo also plans to manufacture a vehicle dedicated to driving and delivery, designed for delivery by building different "cabins". which can be deposited on the universal skateboard. Previously, the company's goal was to build vehicles with a final cost of between $ 35,000 and $ 50,000.

Picture: Canoo

Canoo does not yet share specific pricing plans for its vehicles, but CEO Stefan Krause says The edge subscriptions will be really flexible. "There will be no fixed date. You can take it for a month or for 10 years, "he says. "We are basically completely open. I want customers to try it, and after two months, they decide that it is not for them, and then they simply return the car. Customers will have to waive an annual fee that covers administrative costs and the boarding process, says Krause. adds that it would not be "as much as you would lose if you left a lease after two months."

EVelozcity was born in late 2017 after Krause, who was a manager at BMW and Deutsche Bank, left the EV start-up, Faraday Future, amidst a nasty public spit. Krause had been hired as a CFO to help the Chinese automaker backed by China to reign over his unruly finances, but founder Jia Yueting rejected most of his suggestions, one of them involving the filing of a bankruptcy under Chapter 11, as reported Jalopnik and The edge at the time.

When Krause finally left, Ulrich Kranz, a former BMW executive, decided to join him in leaving Faraday Future. Jia then issued a controversial press release accusing the duo of "mischief and neglect of duty", and pledged to sue. The former Kranz designer for the i8 and i3 programs at BMW left Faraday Future a few weeks later. Shortly after, the trio forms EVelozcity. Faraday Future eventually sued EVelozcity early in 2018 for allegedly building the company on stolen employees and intellectual property, but the lawsuit was finally settled.

Canoo, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, wants to sell its cars in the United States and China. Approximately 350 employees have already been hired, most of them in the United States. Recent reports have indicated that Magna would build Canoo cars, but the company says it still talks to several manufacturers in the United States and China.

Krause said his team had envisioned about 400 names for the branding change, but had stated in a statement that they had finally chosen Canoo because "it looks distinct, it has the same effect. looks cool and it creates a feeling of relaxation and movement ", and that" for thousands of years ". , a canoe is a simple and sustainable means of transportation used around the world. "