Calif.-founded EV maker Canoo, once worth $2.4 billion, goes belly-up after moving to Texas

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/canoo-ev-maker-goes-bankrupt-20054204.php

Back in 2020, electric vehicle maker Canoo snagged a $2.4 billion valuation before it had shipped a single car. Now, just months after yanking its headquarters from Los Angeles County to Texas, the company has gone belly-up.

Canoo and its subsidiaries filed for liquidation bankruptcy on Jan. 17, marking the end of the road for a company that couldn’t justify its glut of early funding. In its four-year span as a public company, Canoo battled investor lawsuits, Securities and Exchange Commission charges, executive departures and a mixed reception of its cars. Auto tech blogger Steven Symes recently likened Canoo’s cargo-style van to an “eraser on wheels.”

Canoo and its subsidiaries filed for liquidation bankruptcy on Jan. 17, marking the end of the road for a company that couldn’t justify its glut of early funding. In its four-year span as a public company, Canoo battled investor lawsuits, Securities and Exchange Commission charges, executive departures and a mixed reception of its cars. Auto tech blogger Steven Symes recently likened Canoo’s cargo-style van to an “eraser on wheels.”

A Canoo news release announcing the bankruptcy said the company will “cease operations effective immediately.” It noted that executives had been unable to win a loan from the Department of Energy — which Rivian did secure — or gain financing from “foreign sources of capital.” The company’s assets will now be sold off, the release said, with proceeds going to creditors.

The struggles at Canoo were apparent long before the bankruptcy filing, despite deals with the U.S. Postal Service and with Walmart. The retailer had signed a nonbinding agreement to buy 4,500 Canoo vans, but Fortune reported in November 2024 that it hadn’t yet bought a single one.