As part of Walmart's goal to achieve zero emissions by 2040, the retailer is purchasing 4,500 all-electric delivery vans from Canoo.
Walmart has the option to purchase up to 10,000 of Canoo's Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles (LDV), but for now only 4,500 are required. In the next few weeks the LDV will start appearing on roads around Dallas Fort Worth as Canoo and Walmart work together to "refine and finalize vehicle configuration." It's unclear if they will carry the Walmart branding as seen in the image above or if we'll instead be left waiting until 2023 for the blue bodywork and logo.
Canoo says the LDV is designed for high frequency stop-and-go deliveries, small packages, and grocery/meal deliveries. It's capable of carrying 120 cubic feet of cargo before a trip back to a Walmart store is required, but there's no details yet on single-charge range.
When reservations opened for the three configurations of the Lifestyle Vehicle in May last year, pricing was expected to range from $34,750 to 49,950. However, Walmart ordered thousands of custom configuration vehicles, so it's unlikely to be paying anywhere near that much per vehicle.
“We are proud to have been selected by Walmart, one of the most sophisticated buyers in the world, to provide our high-tech, all-electric, American made Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle to add to their impressive logistics capabilities. Our LDV has the turning radius of a small passenger vehicle on a parking friendly, compact footprint, yet the payload and cargo space of a commercial delivery vehicle. This is the winning algorithm to seriously compete in the last mile delivery race, globally,” said Tony Aquila, Investor, Chairman and CEO of Canoo.
This is actually the third electric vehicle deal Walmart has signed. The first was with Ford and Argo AI last year for autonomous deliveries, then 5,000 electric delivery vans were ordered from BrightDrop earlier this year. Meanwhile, FedEx is already using BrightDrop EVs for deliveries.