Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
In January, the electric vehicle startup Canoo announced it delivered the first units of its 9,300-unit binding order from Kingbee, a company specialized in customizing, wrapping, and renting EVs as work-ready fleet solutions.
However, the company has yet to make Canoo vehicles available for rent. Kingbee initially expected Canoo vehicles to be available by September 2023, later revising the estimate to the third quarter of 2024.
Earlier this year, the company further updated its website to state, “Our Canoo vehicles are set to start shipping in Q3 2024. Get on the waitlist below.” As of today, Kingbee’s website projects that the vehicles “should be available in early 2025,” as the Texas-headquartered EV maker seeks further capital to allow high-volume production.
Kingbee’s founder and CEO Scott Haslam said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that the fleet rental company is still committed to Canoo’s electric vans despite the delays in the deliveries.
“Prior to ordering from Canoo, we explored various EV cargo van manufacturers, including several non-domestic products, to expand our fleet rental offering. Ultimately, we decided that none of them met our standards,” Haslam wrote.
“During this process, a member of our leadership team, who had been following the Canoo project closely, brought them to my attention. I was impressed by their unique and innovative concept, as well as the fact that they are produced here in the States,” Haslam said.
Kingbee’s chief executive praised the vehicle platform and the features developed by the EV maker.
“The vehicles themselves are a technological feat. I believe their skateboard platform has the potential to transform vehicle longevity and reduce waste. Our employees have spent many hours driving and examining the two vehicles that we have received. They have discovered many innovative and intuitive features that are not seen in any other production vehicle. In general, it is clear that a lot of thought and effort went into the design of this project,” he noted.
Haslam added that the company “still believes” in Canoo, adding that Kingbee is “fully committed” to making the vehicles available to their customers.
“We still believe in Canoo. We even connected them with our primary equipment vendor to design shelving and other commercial equipment specifically for Canoo vehicles. Although there have been delays in the delivery of our order, we are fully committed to making Canoo LDVs available for our customers when they arrive,” he concluded.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
