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There are a lot of electric vehicle startups designing a lot of cool looking EVs, each having varying levels of success. Canoo is one such startup that’s had a tumultuous few years but now, after dodging death countless times, it’s got a new delivery van out on the road that I can’t help but fall in love with.
Formed in California in 2017, Canoo set out to create a range of electric vans that put cutesy styling on the same pedestal as technological prowess. As such, its pickup truck was an adorable anti-Cybertruck and its delivery van was like a jellybean on wheels.
But cute cars don’t make money, it seems, and the startup has been skating on thin ice for years. Despite getting a contract from NASA to develop a new astronaut transporter and working with the USPS to roll out electric delivery vans, Canoo’s finances have been in the red for a long time.
In 2022, company boss Tony Aquila was forced to comment on allegations that it was near death, attempting to reassure investors by saying that reports of the company’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Still, the bad news has followed Canoo ever since, and just last year it imposed “mandatory unpaid leave” on all its employees.
Canoo can’t die, however, because I won’t let it cease trading until its made this wonderful little delivery van a reality. Canoo has already made some very cute vans for the likes of NASA, but this morning I saw pictures of a Canoo van painted up in Royal Mail colors and it made my little heart flutter.
The van is part of a trial being run by Royal Mail to find out what electric vans could be well suited to operate on its routes across the UK. Two vans from Canoo were added to the test once the EVs got regulatory approval to operate across the pond.
As such, the vans have been painted up in official Post Office Red, fitted with all kinds of racks and storage for mail in the back and, shock horror, now come in right-hand-drive! There’s just something so charming about these little postal trucks, as you can see for yourself in the video of a test vehicle that was captured by Burl Solomons on YouTube.
According to Electric Vehicles, the test program for the Canoo vans is part of a push from Royal Mail to add more than 2,000 electric models to its delivery fleet over the coming year. While the majority of these electric vans will be supplied by Stellantis, Canoo’s impending launch in the UK could mean the cutesy little vans may become commonplace in the Royal Mail fleet.
Now, all I need to do is convince Royal Mail to start testing the Canoo delivery vans near my house, and then I’ll be a happy little chappy.
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