By Michael Elkins
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) has signed an agreement with mobility company, Canoo Inc. (NASDAQ:GOEV) to purchase 4,500 all-electric vehicles, with the option to purchase up to 10,000, sending shares of Canoo up over 70%. The vehicles will be used to deliver online orders, which will contribute to Walmart's goal to achieve zero emissions by 2040.
Canoo’s Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle is expected to hit roads in 2023, however, the companies plan to kick-off advanced deliveries to refine and finalize vehicle configuration in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex in the coming weeks.
Canoo's electric vehicles will be driven by Walmart associates and used to deliver online orders, from groceries to general merchandise, as well as the potential to be used for Walmart GoLocal, the retailer's delivery-as-a-service business.
"We are proud to have been selected by Walmart, one of the most sophisticated buyers in the world, to provide our high-tech, all-electric, American made Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle to add to their impressive logistics capabilities. Our LDV has the turning radius of a small passenger vehicle on a parking friendly, compact footprint, yet the payload and cargo space of a commercial delivery vehicle. This is the winning algorithm to seriously compete in the last mile delivery race, globally," said Tony Aquila, Investor, Chairman, and CEO of Canoo. "Walmart's massive store footprint provides a strategic advantage in today's growing 'Need it now' mindset and an unmatched opportunity for growing EV demand, especially at today's gas prices."