Walmart Orders 4,500 Units Of Canoo's Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle

Canoo's distinctive, all-electric Lifestyle Vehicle is expected to launch later this year, with a pickup truck and cargo van following closely behind. Today, the Arkansas-based EV startup announced that it has signed an agreement with Walmart, with the company purchasing 4,500 Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles. They will be intended for last-mile deliveries from online orders, and will assist the company in achieving its zero-emissions goal by 2040. Walmart will be able to order an additional 10,000 units later on, after the first LDVs are delivered early next year.

The Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle, or LDV for short, is a modified version of the standard Lifestyle Vehicle, made specifically for last-mile deliveries with driving range of up to 250 miles, and powered by an 80-kWh battery. Deleting the passenger version's rear lounge seating, a two-seat layout opens up 120 cubic feet of cargo space with a 1,464-pound payload. Production is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year at the startup's new plant in Pryor, Oklahoma.

For those who don't know, last-mile delivery is the last step in the online delivery process, where the LDVs will take your order from the nearest Walmart transportation facility and take the package straight to your door, just like Amazon orders. The LDVs will help Walmart grow as a more sustainable company, and will be used in place of gas-guzzling vans.

This partnership is hardly surprising, after Canoo moved its headquarters from Los Angeles, California to Bentonville, Arkansas, which also happens to be Walmart's hometown. "We're encouraged that by being located in close proximity to the Canoo headquarters, we have the advantage to collaborate and innovate in real-time," said Walmart's senior vice president of innovation and automation, David Guggina.

The LDV will begin making deliveries nationwide by early 2023, though residents in the Dallas/Fort Worth area might spot the Canoo at work during the next few weeks, as Walmart will be refining the EV's configuration.

This certainly isn't the first time Canoo has partnered up with a major organization, as a fleet of Lifestyle Vehicles was recently used by NASA to transport crew members ahead of the Artemis moon-landing mission. Despite recent financial issues, it seems that the EV maker is not going anywhere.

Will you be on the lookout for these LDVs next time you make an online order from Walmart?

Images: Canoo