Jay Leno recently had the opportunity to discover what Canoo is all about, an EV startup from California that uses a subscription business model.
The company, formerly known as EVelozity, first unveiled its all-electric van in September last year. It looks unlike anything else on the road and regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of the design, it is nice to see designers thinking outside of the box and looking to radically redefine the shape of vehicles as the autonomous and all-electric age edges ever closer.
Styling work was done by Richard Kim, an experienced automotive designer who led the design team for both the BMW i3 and i8 while also previously acting as chief designer at Faraday Future before leaving in 2017.
Read More: Canoo’s First EV Is A Very Spacious, Subscription-Only Van Coming In 2021
Inside, Canoo has opted for an untraditional seating layout more akin to a comfortable sofa than a car. This is most notable at the rear where there is a U-shaped bench seat. Also interesting is how the two front seats can spin around 180-degrees to face the rear, perfect for when fully-autonomous vehicles become street legal. The van’s cabin is also almost entirely clad in glass, providing it with a very airy and spacious feeling.
Sitting beneath the vehicle is a modular platform that Canoo intends to use in two other vehicles. Power is provided by a single electric motor at the rear that it rated at 300 hp while coupled to an 80 kWh battery pack. Canoo is targeting a range of 250 miles (402 km).