Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
MKBHD, or Marques Brownlee, is one of the most viewed tech YouTubers and created in mid 2022 a new channel focused on the automotive industry.
Ten days after comparing and ranking the assisted driving software from Tesla, BMW and other carmakers, MKBHD posted on Thursday a new video on his automotive channel ‘AutoFocus’ titled ‘Can New EV Companies Succeed?’, where he ranked which startups will be able to achieve mass production, including Aptera, Faraday Future, and Canoo.
He also included new brands like Afeela, the Honda-Sony joint venture which officially launched the first model at the CES in Las Vegas.
The YouTuber named the vehicle design as Canoo‘s differentiator, praising the aesthetics of the company’s models released in recent years.
“So they had these EVs that actually one of them was like a pickup truck. One of them was a van, they had a couple models that they showed people. And honestly, I think the design was pretty sweet. It’s what got a lot of people’s attention,” he stated.
“I think the idea of having this cool van that could roll around and be totally silent and efficient was appealing at the time they would have a 200 mile range and maybe two to 350 horsepower and 80 kilowatt hour battery pack, and they would start at around $43,000 for both models,
Brownlee added that the company “never really got the financials in place.”
When disclosing its third quarter financial results, Canoo reported that cash and cash equivalents stood at $1.5 million as of September 30. Over the first five weeks of this quarter, the Texas-headquartered firm disclosed in a new SEC filing its cash reserves dropped from $1.5 million to $700,000 as of November 6.
“And I think they’ve shifted to fleet and started doing stuff like postal vans [USPS agreement] and a couple of other more fleet-oriented vehicles. [such as NASA, UK Royal Mail, and more] So there is no like mass market Canoo,” he stated.
Commenting on the once-announced modular platform which would be able to serve different vehicles, MKBHD said he thinks “it would have been cool if we had that initial van concept or that initial small truck concept with that sweet design actually come out” he siad before adding, “And at that price, it would have been neat.”
The YouTuber ranked Canoo in the C tier next to Faraday Future, which has also been struggling to deliver its sedan FF91 2.0. Faraday is preparing to launch a new mass-market sub-brand, but the ability to scale production remains highly unclear.
“There wasn’t anything technologically super cool about it, that would have set it apart, it would have just been a design play,” the tech YouTuber stated in the video. “And so just for that, I’m going to put it in C tier.”
In his latest interview, the company’s CEO Tony Aquila reaffirmed Canoo‘s goal of “move up production” this year despite admitting that the next four to six months will be “very tough.”
“If they executed on that at the price they promised with that cool design, I think people would have really loved it,” MKBHD said in the video.
Two unsold lifestyle delivery vans and two other prototypes appeared listing on Thursday for auction scheduled for early next month. Previously, engineering and manufacturing equipment from Canoo’s EV plant was listed to be auctioned next week, on January 24.
The company has decided in December to furlough employees for twelve weeks and shut down its Oklahoma factories. Canoo said by then that the latest furloughs impacted both salaried and hourly workers while it tries to secure capital to continue operations.
After missed production targets, no news on several of the partnerships it signed over the last few years, the departure of several executives, and lawsuits from several suppliers, the company faces the toughest moment since its inception.
A former Canoo employee has recently told EV that the company’s manufacturing partner, Zion, locked the robots on the main production line out of operation last October due to non-payment.
Canoo’s official website has recently been taken offline and now redirects visitors to a third-party-managed investor relations page. The stock of the EV startup jumped 19.70% on Wednesday to $1.58 after having reached a new record low at $1.04 earlier in the week.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
