The Californian electric car start-up Canoo has developed an electric minibus, which will come in two years on the market. The car is a challenge to the SUV. At least that's what the developers claim, who want to bring the seven-seater with an extraordinary business model on the road.
Behind the Canoo are former BMW employees such as Stefan Krause, formerly BMW's CFO, and developer Ulrich Kranz. The latter was also the developer of the visionary electric car i3, whose production is about to expire soon. Kranz worked for BMW for 30 years and co-developed the Z3, the i8 and the first SUV models like the X5. It is precisely this popular vehicle type that Kranz has declared war with the Canoo. "The era of the SUV is over," says Krause at the presentation of the vehicle. The Canoo is the right answer to the city SUVs.
The electric minibus Canoo reminds in its design of the ID Buzz, which Volkswagen once presented as the electric successor to the VW Bulli. The 4.42 meter long, 1.89 meter wide and 1.84 meter high Canoo was designed by Richard Kim, who also designed the BMW i3. According to the company, the electric motor delivers 300 hp and accelerates the vehicle to a maximum of 200 km / h. The range is Canoo with about 400 kilometers after the driving cycle of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With DC power, the 80-kilowatt-hour battery is supposed to be 80 percent charged within half an hour. At an empty weight of about two tons, the car could also tolerate 600 kilograms payload.
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Californian start-up Canoo: electric bulli with BMW genesCanoo uses a skateboard architecture for his vehicle. Thus, the complete drive train and the battery is housed in the underbody. On this "skateboard" can flexibly and depending on the needs of different structures are placed, whereby the costs and development times of new models will be reduced by a third. Instead of manufacturing the car itself, Canoo - also for cost reduction - on contract manufacturers, with which one is currently in negotiation.
What sounds like the usual cocky promises when presenting a new electric car, should be true in 2021 already. Then the just 19-month-old company with 400 employees wants to launch the vehicle on the market - first in the US, then in China.
Canoo offers a subscription to a car
However, the Canoo will not be available from the dealer. Instead, the startup relies on a subscription model that includes insurance and maintenance costs. In addition, the subscription can be terminated monthly. As a result, the company wants to offer the car at affordable prices and make e-mobility accessible to younger customers. "The real problem is that the current electric cars are far too expensive, especially for young people," Krause told the Wiwo.
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Autograph VW ID Buzz: Bus turns BuzzTo keep the subscription prices low, Krause calculates with a useful life of up to twelve years per car. This is to be made possible by the fact that Canoo reprocess the e-car, for example, work up, modernize or change the battery. So a long service life is to be realized. At the moment, the start-up does not reveal any price for the subscription, nor does it reveal a possible market launch in Europe.
