Canoo Awarded U.S. Army Contract To Supply A Single EV

Canoo has been awarded a contract to supply its Multi-Purpose Platform to the United States Army for analysis and demonstration.

Limited details have been announced about the deal by the electric vehicle startup. A press release announcing the deal simply indicates that Canoo will provide the U.S. Army with just a single “electric vehicle for analysis and demonstration,” meaning there is no indication that the military will actually use any of Canoo’s planned EVs at home or abroad.

“As an American company based in the heartland, it is an honor to be selected by the U.S. Army,” Canoo chairman and chief executive Tony Aquila said. “This is another opportunity to prove our proprietary technology – which is customizable and adaptable for multiple use cases and special environments.”

Read Also: Walmart Doesn’t Want Amazon Buying Any Canoo EVs

News of this deal comes just a couple of days after Walmart signed an agreement to purchase 4,500 electric delivery vehicles from Canoo. This deal will see the retail giant purchase Canoo’s forthcoming Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle and use them for delivering online orders. The deal also allows Walmart to purchase an additional 5,500 EVs from Canoo in exchange for exercisable warranted shares totaling 20 per cent of the EV startup.

Interestingly, the deal between Walmart and Canoo will prevent the latter from entering into any kind of supply contract with Amazon. It remains unclear exactly why Walmart wants to keep Canoo’s Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle out of the hands of Amazon but it isn’t the only electric delivery van it will start using. In fact, Walmart signed an agreement with GM’s BrightDrop in January to purchase 5,000 units of the EV600 and EV410 delivery vans to use as part of their InHome Delivery Service.