Canoo Holds Public Showing Of Its Electric Vehicles To Be Built In Pryor

Start-up car company Canoo showed off its electric car lineup for the first time to the public in Pryor. The company has provided drawings and photos of the vehicles for a long time - but seeing the cars in-person added a sense of weight to the concept.

Canoo CEO, Tony Aquila, said the goal is to showcase differences between Canoo and traditional vehicles.

“Today, you know many of the vehicles are like the old dial-up phones you know from history just getting a little better. But we wanted to create the iPhone. So it was just a different approach, so you had to kind of scrap and start from scratch," he said.

There's always a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to the reality of ambitious start-ups.

The expo at the Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor was the first time the public had the chance to get a feel for the electric cars, which they've only seen photos or models of. The showcase brought the concepts into reality.

There's been buzz for years - but for Canoo's plan to be fully realized - it may take a while longer for the plant in Oklahoma to be built.

"We’re targeting originally end of '23, but we now think it might peek into early '24," Aquila said.

Despite delays, Aquila's ambition to build a manufacturing plant in Pryor is unwavering.

"What we concentrated on is being American made. Not just American made but Native American made," he said. “Oklahoma’s an energy state. So these are energy products. These are clean energy products. So it’s organic, in my opinion, to also be here.”

Canoo said it should start production in Arkansas next year, before moving to its planned 'mega-microfactory' in Pryor.

The state of Oklahoma has already agreed to purchase up to 1,000 thousand vehicles.