U.S. electrical automobile startup Canoo has chosen VDL Nedcar to construct its Way of life Automobile, beginning with as much as 1,000 items for each the European and U.S. markets in 2022, with a goal of 15,000 items in 2023, Canoo CEO Tony Aquila advised traders on Thursday.

Canoo stated its association with the contract producer will enable it to ship automobiles to prospects whereas it builds a manufacturing facility within the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The deal is a lift for Nedcar, which was advised late final 12 months that its contract to make BMW and Mini fashions at its manufacturing facility in Born, Netherlands, would finish in 2023.

Nedcar CEO John van Soerland just lately advised Automotive Information Europe that U.S.-based EV startups had been exhibiting curiosity in utilizing the Dutch firm’s plant.

“There’s quite a lot of momentum within the U.S. for electrical automobiles, moreover these from Mr. Musk,” van Soerland said in the ANE Podcast. They begin out within the U.S. and so they wish to get a footprint in Europe.” 

Canoo plans to ship its first items of the Way of life Automobile to prospects by the top of 2022, adopted by a supply automobile and a pickup truck.

“This strategic partnership will allow us to ship automobiles to market whereas we construct our Section 2 manufacturing facility in Oklahoma,” Aquila said in a statement. “It additionally strongly positions us for geographic growth in Europe and builds an enduring relationship with VDL Group of corporations.”

In 2019 Nedcar constructed 174,097 automobiles for BMW, down from 211,660 in 2018, a file 12 months, in accordance with the corporate. The power presently builds the Mini Countryman, together with the plug-in hybrid variant, Mini Cabrio and BMW X1.

“This partnership advances our strategic imaginative and prescient to supply a contract manufacturing answer and increase our experience within the EV enviornment,” van Soerland stated in an announcement Thursday.

Canoo’s plant in Oklahoma can be positioned on about 400 acres (160 hectares) within the northeast a part of the state, 45 minutes from Tulsa, Aquila stated in the course of the firm’s investor relations assembly. 

Canoo went public in December by a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm, or SPAC.

The Los Angeles-based firm is one among a number of EV startups that went public by SPACs whose shares have posted steep declines since their debuts.

Canoo has stated it could introduce a pod-like seven-seat lifestyle vehicle and a supply automobile subsequent 12 months, adopted by a pickup truck in 2023.

The corporate developed a “skateboard” — a low-rise platform that bundles batteries and electrical motors with such chassis elements as steering, brakes and wheels — on which quite a lot of automobile physique sorts might be constructed.

Aquila, who’s the third-largest investor in Canoo, took over as CEO in April, changing Ulrich Kranz, who co-founded the corporate.

Kranz’s departure follows the exit final month of Paul Balciunas as CFO, elevating considerations amongst some analysts that Canoo was backing away from the technique it offered to traders when it was going public in December. 

In February 2020, Canoo introduced a deal to develop EVs with Hyundai, however Aquila stated in April that the deal now not exists.

Reuters contributed to this report