Electric vehicle startup Canoo Holdings Ltd. is quickly approaching the close of its merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and its listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In the lead up to that significant event, it announced Tony Aquila as Executive Chairman. The Founder and former Chairman and CEO of Solera Holdings, Inc. adds significant public company leadership and positions the company to accelerate its B2B product offerings.
“I see a rapidly developing opportunity for the company’s core skateboard technology based on the many applications it can serve,” said Aquila. “In the business-to-business market, it is becoming more apparent that our delivery vehicle can address a broad segment of the market. There is clear productivity, financial, and ESG (environment, social, governance) benefits for commercial vehicle users to turn their internal combustion engine fleets into EV.”
Canoo is a Los Angeles-based company developing EVs with a focus on design and a unique “membership” business model. It is distinguished by its experienced team of around 300 employees from leading technology and automotive companies like Ulrich Kranz, Chief Executive Officer, who spent a short time as CTO with Faraday Future but is best known for his 17 years at BMW Group and on its project i electrification efforts.
Among other high-level product execs with industry experience are Richard Kim (Design), formerly Principal Exterior Designer of BMW i and VW Audi Group manager; Bill Strickland (Vehicle Programs & Purchasing), former Chief Program Executive at Ford; Phil Weicker (Propulsion & Electronics), previously at Coda; Sohel Merchant (Vehicle Architecture), from at Tesla and Ford; Alexi Charbonneau (Skateboard & Cabin), formerly at SpaceX, Tesla, and Honda; and Christoph Kuttner (Interior & Exterior Systems), from BMW, Tesla, and Mahindra.
Skatekart previews skateboard
In September, the startup showed off the performance and versatility of its skateboard platform as a “skatekart” for the first time in video. Professional racing driver, Sara Price, tested the performance of the cabinless platform, which will serve as the backbone of all Canoo vehicles.
The company developed the skateboard’s set of proprietary modular high-performance powertrain systems entirely in-house to offer class-competitive performance across its full range of vehicles. The skateboard supports dual-, front-, or rear-motor configurations, and is capable of achieving up to 500 hp (373 kW) and over 300 mi (483 km) of range with dual motors. The primary rear unit is designed to deliver a maximum 300 hp (224 kW) and 450 N·m (332 lb·ft), and the front unit is designed to deliver a maximum of 200 hp (149 kW) and 320 N·m (236 lb·ft). The motors, designed for peak 97% efficiency, are optimized for urban driving environments.
Canoo says its platform includes the industry’s first true steer-by-wire system. Eliminating the mechanical steering connections between the cabin and skateboard, company engineers are able to demonstrate for the first time how the steering wheel can be moved to suit any cabin design or driver positioning. This versatility is well suited to accommodate eventual full autonomy as well as right-hand drive and Canoo’s future delivery vehicles. The variable-ratio, speed-sensitive, by-wire steering also introduces an opportunity to leverage software to customize the driving experience depending on user preferences and use cases; for example, the lock-to-lock ratio can be changed for more-precise driving control.
Unlike other platforms, Canoo says its skateboard is uniquely modular, offering a self-contained, fully functional rolling chassis that can be driven entirely independently. In addition to steer-by-wire, the architecture houses the most critical components including a transverse composite leaf spring suspension, the fully electric drivetrain, proprietary battery compartment and thermal management systems, power electronics, vehicle controls, crash absorption structures, and autonomous driving components. Each of these component systems has been engineered for optimal performance, efficient packaging, and a strong emphasis given to functional integration.
“We wanted to showcase our skateboard’s performance and prove that our rolling chassis is a truly self-contained unit with everything needed to drive built inside,” said Kranz. “We have revolutionized the platform design concept with a chassis that can be easily married with different cabins, with little adjustment, enabling us to get new vehicles on the road faster and cheaper. By keeping the most critical and expensive part of the vehicle uniform in all our models, it allows us to rapidly and cost-effectively bring to market a full line-up of EVs.”
By using this common platform for all of its vehicles, Canoo will be able to rapidly scale subsequent vehicle programs at a significantly lower capital cost because it reduces expenses in research and development, testing, and manufacturing. The company anticipates new vehicle models can be developed in as little as 18-24 months.
The skateboard’s dimensions were deliberately selected to suit the needs of more than 75% of the most common passenger and light-duty commercial vehicles on the road currently. The company also claims that it is the world’s flattest skateboard platform, which enables class-leading passenger and cargo volume on a small vehicle footprint.
To help achieve the flatness, the suspension uses double wishbone suspension, with two fiberglass leaf springs mounted transversely in the front and rear of the platform. The dampers are mounted to the frame, eliminating the need for large shock towers that take up vital cabin space. The entire suspension system sits below the height of the tires.
The first Canoo
In late January Canoo opened The First Wave waitlist for its first vehicle, the canoo, what it calls the world’s first membership-only vehicle. The waitlist is free to join and open to everyone. Canoo’s membership will be flexible, with a single all-inclusive monthly payment that offers the vehicle, maintenance, registration, access to insurance, and charging on a month-to-month basis.
Individuals who join will have the opportunity to improve their position on the waitlist. Points are accumulated based on successful waitlist referrals and the completion of surveys. The person with the most points will be at the front of the line at launch.
Taking advantage of the skateboard’s footprint, the canoo offers the interior space of a large SUV with an exterior footprint of a compact car. The vehicle is 4421 mm (174.1 in) long, 1898 mm (74.7 in) wide, and 1846 mm (72.3 in) tall, on a 2850-mm (112.2-in) wheelbase.
The minimalist design is meant as “an urban loft on wheels.” Its seven-passenger seating is designed to feel more like furniture than traditional car seats; the rear seats are more like a sofa to lounge on, and the fronts take inspiration from mid-century modern chairs.
“We chose to completely rethink car design and focus on what future users will actually need,” said Kim, in charge of Design at Canoo. “Thus, we came up with this loft-inspired vehicle. We implemented the Bauhaus philosophy, which is centered around minimalism and functionality, and started with the reduction to the absolute minimal need.”
Designers also chose a minimalist approach for a user experience comparable to a connected home. The user brings their own device. Non-driving features such as navigation, music, or heating can be controlled via a phone or tablet.
The canoo design team’s focus on evolving traditional automotive design was recognized with one of the most prestigious awards in the design community. The 2020 Red Dot Best of the Best Award recognized Kim and design team members Cameron Bresn, Mike de Jung, Christopher Dickhoff, Jack Luttig, Arthur Martins, Brian Oh, Mark Smith, Brian Spencer, and Cici Wang.
Partnering for safety
The vehicle’s Level 2+ advanced driver-assistance system will feature driver monitoring and seven cameras, five radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors. The cameras provide surround-view images to the perception system. The radars provide 360 degrees of sensor data for speed and distance measurement of objects. The ultrasonic sensors provide short-range distance measurements for parking maneuvers.
Canoo has announced a few of the suppliers contributing to the safety system.
BlackBerry will license its QNX technology, including its QNX OS for Safety 2.0, to serve as the foundation for the ADAS features.
“Canoo is pushing the boundaries of AV development, challenging the traditional way of building, offering, and using vehicles…to achieve their vision of a world in which transportation is affordable, electric, shared, and autonomous,” said John Wall, SVP and Co-Head, BlackBerry Technology Solutions.
The vehicle will also feature AI-assisted driving features powered by an Nvidia Drive AGX Xavier compute platform. It delivers 30 TOPS of performance for object detection and sensor fusion, running algorithms to provide cross-traffic alerts, blind-spot, and pedestrian detection, as well as convenience features such as adaptive cruise control and lane-centering control. The software-defined Drive AGX Xavier also allows for more advanced features, like auto lane change, traffic light recognition, and evasive steering, to be introduced when they become available.
“Canoo’s futuristic vehicles and unique subscription offerings require a robust, scalable solution,” said Rishi Dhall, Vice President of Automotive at Nvidia. “Nvidia Drive enables automotive innovators like Canoo to develop and deploy safe and reliable highly automated and autonomous software-defined EVs.”
After the debut of the canoo in 2022, the company expects it to be followed by a series of delivery vehicles set to launch in 2023, and a “sport vehicle” comes afterward. See some of the vehicles imagined in one of the images.
Check out the skatekart video at https://vimeo.com/461432538:
Canoo’s in-house design team worked with Porch House to create the film which was shot in California’s Rabbit Dry Lake. The piece is directed by Cody Autterson, produced by Andrew Schneider with Jared Fadel as the Director of Photography. Still photography is by Jack Schroeder, and Jenna Norman captured the behind the scenes photos.
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