Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Sparks

Canoo Has Made Another Sick Truck That You Can’t Buy

The American Bulldog is inspired by a vehicle made for the U.S. Army.

Canoo Bulldog.
Heatmap Illustration/Canoo

The electric vehicle startup Canoo Technologies has announced another extremely cool-looking pickup that you probably won’t be able to buy. On Friday, Canoo unveiled the “American Bulldog,” a gray, weatherized, all-electric pickup truck that the company says is inspired by a vehicle initially made for the U.S. Army. Here’s the hype video:

The American Bulldogwww.youtube.com

“Like the American Bulldog, this vehicle is loyal and courageous. It’s woven into the American spirit and reflects this country’s innovation,” Tony Aquila, Canoo’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “When we say ‘Made in America,’ we mean it.”

Ah, but do they? Canoo, which went public in late 2020, has hemorrhaged cash over the past three years and persistently struggled to produce and deliver vehicles. Briefly valued at more than $5 billion in 2021, it is now a $176 million company that sold shares at a steep discount earlier this year just to stay solvent. And while you can pre-order its Pickup Truck or Lifestyle Vehicle (basically a camper van) online, none have seemingly been delivered yet.

In fact, most of the people who have driven Canoos so far are U.S. government employees. Canoo is in charge of making the three astronaut-transportation vans for NASA’s moon-bound Artemis program, and it has delivered at least three of them. They seem to work! They look really cool! In September, NASA used them in a motorcade:

Two Canoo-made \u201cCrew Transportation Vehicles\u201d drive down a Florida highway while bystanders wave at them.Two of the “Crew Transportation Vehicles” that Canoo has delivered to NASA.NASA / Chris Chamberland

But we’re talking three (3) vehicles here.

Canoo is also collaborating with the Pentagon on a new style of battery pack, and it has sent at least one of its pickup-style Light Tactical Vehicles to the Army for “analysis and demonstration.” (The American Bulldog is supposedly inspired by that Light Tactical Vehicle.)

Canoo is supposed to deliver the first of more than 4,500 delivery vans to Walmart this year, but so far nothing has been announced. The automaker says that it is ramping up a major manufacturing facility in Oklahoma, which will eventually be capable of making 20,000 vehicles a day.

I don’t know. Canoo’s vehicles look so cool. The Bulldog, for instance, is like a 1990s Toyota Previa crossed with a Volkswagen Thing. But Canoo’s path is narrowing and it seems likely to become even more reliant on government contracts over time. Canoo’s target audience should be fleet managers at large companies that need to buy thousands of electric vans. (Like Walmart!) But just a few days ago, its competitor, Rivian, announced that it would start selling its vans — which were previously only available to Amazon — to other companies. Unlike Canoo, Rivian has already delivered tens of thousands of electric vehicles and it does not seem in immediate financial peril. It also hasn’t been investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

I’m rooting for Canoo. I want a small electric pickup as much as anyone. But I also know not to get fooled by vaporware — or, in this case, a vaporvehicle.

Green

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Sparks

Trump’s Pro-Gas, Transition-Skeptical Pick to Run the Nation’s Energy Data

Tristan Abbey would come to Washington from a Texas think tank that argues peak oil is way off base.

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s pick to run the Energy Information Administration works for a think tank that denies the existence of an energy transition.

The Energy Information Administration is the nation’s primary energy fuel and power forecasting agency. Since its inception in 1977, EIA has become a go-to source of data for many U.S. businesses, analysts, and policymakers alike. The agency’s previous administrators have been relatively apolitical academics and industry experts, including under the first Trump administration, whose EIA administrator came to the role from a faculty position at Rice University. The office’s current acting administrator is Stephen Nalley, who was appointed deputy administrator by Trump in 2018 after serving in various other roles at the agency.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Sparks

Why Are AI Stocks Falling Again?

Microsoft is canceling data center leases, according to a Wall Street analyst.

Microsoft headquarters.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The artificial intelligence industry is experiencing another TD Cowen shock.

The whole spectrum of companies connected to artificial intelligence — the companies that design the chips, that supply the power, that make the generation equipment — shuddered Wednesday when the brokerage released another note from analysts pointing to evidence that Microsoft was giving up on its data center leases.

Keep reading...Show less
Sparks

The IRS Is Taking Mercy on Electric Car Buyers

The tax agency reopened its online portal to allow dealerships to register sales retroactively.

The IRS building.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

As recently as last month, some electric vehicle buyers were running into roadblocks when they tried to claim the EV tax credit on their 2024 returns. Their claims were rejected, it turned out, because the dealership where they bought their EV never registered the sale with the Internal Revenue Service.

On Wednesday, the IRS instituted a fix: It reopened the online portal for dealerships to report these sales retroactively.

Keep reading...Show less
Green