Canoo halts operations due to ‘mandatory unpaid breaks’

In addition to this, another report claims that Canoo has never produced any vehicles in Oklahoma

Kanu appeared to be traveling up the creek without a paddle. On December 18, the company sent employees home for “mandatory unpaid leave” that will last until the end of 2024. As of now, the EV startup’s prospects in 2025 remain uncertain. In short, all is not looking good for the once-promising electric car maker.

All of this caps off a challenging year for Canoo. In April, reports emerged that the company was spending twice as much as its full-year 2023 revenue on the CEO’s private jet. By August, the company was facing litigation over failure to pay debtors. Then, in November, the company furloughed 23% of its workforce.

Read: Canoo furloughs 23% of factory workers after selling just 22 cars last year

TechCrunch reported that the brand began blocking employees from accessing Canoo systems on December 20. The benefits are said to last for the rest of the month. On top of that, a new KFOR report says Kanu lied about manufacturing the cars in Oklahoma.

In November 2023, the brand announced that it would deliver its first “Made in Oklahoma” electric vehicle to the state. The governor even celebrated the occasion, saying, “For the first time in 17 years, auto manufacturing is back in Oklahoma.” However, it turns out that might not be entirely true.

during an interview KFORA former Canoo employee claimed that not a single vehicle was produced at the factory there. They also shed light on the financial struggles facing the brand. “They hired too many people, too fast, and paid too much,” the former employee said. “Everyone is a boss, and everyone wants to be everyone’s boss… Everyone has a director title, so no one does anything. They have tons of equipment… and it looks great. They pretty much own the running of the entire line. Everything you need for an automotive assembly line.”

Despite all this equipment, they make no secret of where their cars come from. “I can tell you that those are not coming off our assembly line… If you talk to any employee at Canoo, they will tell you those are not coming off the assembly line.”

Read: Canoo made $886,000 in 2023, spent $1.7 million on CEO’s private jet

“All of these are handmade in Justin, Texas, by a completely independent company called AFV,” said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They make them, they hand-make them, and then they bring them here. Most vehicles end up just changing the decals — like 90 percent of all vehicles have decals.”

Notably, Canoo CEO Tony Aquila also owns AFV. Carscoops reached out to the company to get its side of the story but had not received a response at the time of writing.