Walmart, NASA, and the US Army have placed orders for thousands of Canoo electric vans to be used for last mile deliveries and transport.
After months of rumors and speculation about the future of electric van startup Canoo and whether or not it would live to see 2023, the last few weeks have seen a dramatic turnaround for the tiny company that has sent its share price soaring.
NASA Transport Van
First, NASA announced plans to use Canoo EVs as last-mile transporters to get astronauts out to the launch pad. Not a huge order, of course, but one that is highly visible, and highlights the small vans’ big cargo-hauling capabilities. To wit, each Canoo vanlet must be able to carry:
- eight humans (4 astronauts, 3 crew, 1 driver)
- four equipment bags (helmets, etc.), each approximately 8000 cu. in.
- four ice-based cooling units (CUs); 28″ x 16″ x 22″
- one equipment bag (31″ x 12″ x 16″) for the suit technician
- one “pad transfer bag” (essentially a large duffel bag)
- two cubic feet, per passenger, of misc. storage
For those of you keeping score, that is a ton of storage (literally), and the Canoo vans’ ability to haul all that stuff — coupled with its “made in the USA” political advantage, zero-emissions operation, and vaguely sci-fi looks — cinched the deal for NASA … but that was just one big deal for the tiny (for now) company.
Back “on the ground,” Canoo’s second big lifeline came in the form of a massive vehicle order from Walmart, said to be an initial, solid order for 4,500 all-electric delivery vehicles (beginning with the LDV model, shown), followed by an option to purchase up to 5,500 more, for a total of 10,000 units over the next few years.
Walmart Orders 4,500 Canoo Electric Vans
The relationship between Walmart and Canoo seems to go even deeper than that, however. According to the terms of the EV purchase agreement, it seems a Warrant Issuance Agreement was also included, which gives Walmart the option to exercise the purchase of of 61,160,011 shares of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Canoo common stock at a share price of $2.15. The SEC filing reads:
The Warrant has a term of ten years and is vested immediately with respect to 15,290,003 shares of Common Stock. Thereafter, subject to the stockholder approval described below, if applicable, the Warrant will vest quarterly in amounts proportionate with the net revenue realized by the Company and its affiliates from transactions with Walmart or its affiliates under the EV Fleet Purchase Agreement or enabled by any other agreement between the Company and Walmart, and any net revenue attributable to any products or services offered by Walmart or its affiliates related to the Company or its affiliates, until such net revenue equals $300 million, at which time the Warrant will have vested fully.
Under the Warrant Agreement, the Company shall, as promptly as reasonably practicable following the date of the Warrant Agreement and, in any event, no later than the Company’s 2023 annual meeting of stockholders, convene and hold a meeting of stockholders to consider and vote on the issuance of the Warrant in respect of any shares of Common Stock in excess of 53,852,492 shares (which represents more than 20% of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock as of the date of the Warrant Agreement), pursuant to the applicable rules of the NASDAQ Global Select Market. In the event that stockholder approval is not obtained, in lieu of any shares which would have been issued to Walmart, the Company is required to pay to Walmart an amount in cash equal to the product of: (i) the excess of (x) the 30-day volume weighted average price per share as of the day immediately preceding the applicable exercise date and (y) the exercise price, times (ii) the number of shares that would have been issued at such applicable exercise date if stockholder approval had been obtained.
Canoo stock (NASDAQ: GOEV) is trading at well over $4.50 per share at the time of this publication, with even more upward pressure on the stock coming from the third big piece of Canoo news that came out this week: the little van is in the Army now!
Canoo Joins the US Army
Canoo has been awarded a contract from the US Army to supply an electric vehicle for, “analysis and demonstration,” which is the first step towards a massive military adoption of the Canoo platform across a variety of service arenas, from on-base transport and cargo-hauling to, potentially, armored transport if the platform proves up to the challenge. The contract officially supports the US military’s forward-looking focus on incorporating scalable and adaptable capabilities in operational and garrison environments.
“As an American company based in the heartland, it is an honor to be selected by the US Army,” said Tony Aquila, Investor, Chairman & CEO at Canoo. “This is another opportunity to prove our proprietary technology – which is customizable and adaptable for multiple use cases and special environments.”
