Canoo, the LA-based company making lounge-like EVs for monthly subscriptions, opened its waitlist today. Submitting your name to the waitlist signs you up to become one of the first customers for Canoo, which arrives in 2021. Joining the no-obligation waitlist is free.
The waitlist is part of Canoo’s marketing launch, a program the company calls, “The First Wave.” The company is gamifying the ordering process. You get points for making referrals to other potential Canoo customers. Completing surveys also helps build up your score. The person with the most points moves to the front of the line at launch and could bring prizes like Canoo swag.
Canoo’s subscription strategy is designed to reduce an EV’s cost. You get the vehicle via a single all-inclusive monthly payment that includes maintenance, registration, access to insurance, and charging on a month-to-month basis.
When we visited Canoo in November, CEO Ulli Kranz laid out the core premise for the vehicle:
Most electric cars today look like combustion-engine vehicles. They are SUVs or large sedans with huge batteries and very expensive. What’s missing is affordability. Therefore we put all our focus on an affordable electric vehicle while keeping in mind the ride-hailing and car-sharing that young generations have embraced.
The Canoo vehicle has the same footprint as a Volkswagen Golf or Toyota Prius. But the interior space is expansive. The front seats can be slid toward the front dash, turning the entire interior into a meeting room. The interior is equipped more with furniture than seats. Canoo execs call it a “post-SUV.”
Canoo’s first vehicle will launch in 2021 in Los Angeles.
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