Wal-Mart said Tuesday it signed a deal to buy 4,500 all-electric delivery vehicles from Canoo, an electric vehicle startup that warned last quarter it might not have enough money to stay in business.
Canoo would not disclose the financial terms of the deal. However, a spokeswoman revealed that these are binding advance orders, starting with the Canoo brand of “lifestyle delivery vehicles. Under the agreement, Walmart has an option to purchase 10,000 vehicles. Initially, Walmart will use some of the pre-production electric vehicles to deliver online orders in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which Canoo will use as a test bed to refine and finalize vehicle configurations in the coming weeks. The lifestyle delivery vehicle, or LDV, is expected to enter production in the fourth quarter of 2022 and be on the road in 2023, according to Canoo.
Canoo’s LDV is built on a versatile platform architecture that incorporates an electric motor, battery module, and other drive components. The customizable vehicles are ergonomic, have approximately 120 cubic feet of cargo space, and are more cost-effective than other delivery vehicles currently on the market. Canoo electric vehicles will be used by Walmart workers to deliver online orders. According to the companies, the electric vehicles may also be used in Walmart GoLocal, the retailer’s delivery service business.
Canoo is just one potential link in Walmart’s increasingly complex delivery system, which utilizes independent contractors, its own employees, third-party delivery services and more future technologies, such as electric vehicles and drones, to meet consumer demand for immediate access to goods. Walmart has a pilot program with AV startup Gatik, which uses self-driving box trucks to deliver goods from its fulfillment centers to nearby stores. The retail giant is also working with drone companies Zipline and DroneUp.
Walmart says it can now offer same-day delivery of a growing variety of goods to 80 percent of the U.S. population.
