DETROIT — U.S. electrical automobile startup Canoo stated on Thursday it could construct an meeting plant in Oklahoma that was scheduled to open in 2023 and till then would use VDL Nedcar within the Netherlands as its contract producer.

The Canoo plant will probably be positioned on about 400 acres of land in Pryor, Okla., within the northeast of the state, CEO Tony Aquila stated on the firm’s investor relations assembly in Dallas. The plant will embody a paint store, physique store and normal meeting and make use of over 2,000 folks, the corporate stated.

“We now have picked the superior state of Oklahoma to fabricate,” stated Aquila, who beforehand opened places of work in Dallas.

A Canoo spokeswomen declined to provide a price for funding within the plant and didn’t give particulars on its capability.

Till the Oklahoma plant opens, VDL would construct Canoo’s pod-like, seven-seat lifestyle vehicle for the U.S. and European markets, he stated, permitting Canoo to satisfy its dedication to begin manufacturing within the fourth quarter of 2022.

In December, Canoo went public by means of a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm. In April, it changed CEOs, with Aquila, a former software program government and certainly one of Canoo’s largest shareholders, taking up.

Canoo developed a “skateboard,” or a low-rise platform that bundles batteries and electrical motors with such chassis elements as steering, brakes and wheels, on which a wide range of automobile physique varieties could be constructed.

VDL is scheduled to construct as much as 1,000 autos subsequent 12 months, with a goal of 15,000 in 2023, Canoo stated.

After the life-style automobile, Canoo plans to introduce a multipurpose supply automobile and pickup truck.