Canoo Shares Spike After Walmart Orders 4,500 EV Vans For “Last Mile” Deliveries

Shares of Canoo are spiking this morning after the company announced that Walmart had agreed to order 4,500 electric vans from the company. The move from Walmart comes as part of its broader goal to reach net zero emissions by 2040. 

The goal is to use the vans for “last mile” deliveries, getting items from store to door. Canoo’s Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) is a commercial unit built for frequent stop-and-go travel, reporting from Axios on Tuesday morning said. 

Walmart also recently “revealed last year it was relocating its headquarters to Bentonville,” the report noted. David Guggina, senior vice president of innovation and automation at Walmart U.S., commented: 

“By continuing to expand our last mile delivery fleet in a sustainable way, we’re able to provide customers and Walmart+ members with even more access to same-day deliveries while keeping costs low.”

Canoo, meanwhile (like many other EV startups) has been struggling of late. In May it disclosed that “substantial doubt exist about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern” in a regulatory filing. 

No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed yet, but Walmart retains the right to purchase up to 10,000 units as part of the deal. 

The company says is it slated to begin producing electric vans in Q4 and that it would send Walmart “advanced deliveries to refine and finalize vehicle configuration” in the upcoming weeks, according to a Tuesday morning wrap-up by Bloomberg.