Now, another California-based electric vehicle launcher, Canoo, has unveiled a van with a “forward-facing” design that places the driver almost directly on the front wheels.
Instead of a hood, the Canoo truck has a flat front like a van. This allows more space for cargo beds without the truck being too large in general.
The Canoo truck is 184 inches long or a little longer than a Toyota Corolla. That it is much shorter than the Tesla Cybertuck, but the bed, at six feet, is only six inches shorter. (The Cybertuck can accommodate more people.) The Canoo’s cargo bed also has an extension that can slide out, providing two additional feet in length.
The body shape of the Canoo truck is similar to some trucks from the 50s and 60s, such as the General Motors Corvair truck, the Jeep Forward Control truck and the Volkswagen Type 2 truck, which was based on the VW bus.
Removing the engine also allows for more storage space inside the truck, in addition to just the cargo bed. There is more storage at the front under the cab, for example. The door that folds from the front of the truck can also be used as a work table, in the same way that people usually use pickup doors.
Similarly, the doors are also folded from the sides of the load bed for easy access. These doors can also be used as workbenches.
Canoo expects the truck to produce up to 600 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque from two electric motors, surpassing the V8-powered Ford F-150. The truck will be able to drive more than 200 miles charged, the company said.
Canoo has previously unveiled two vans, one for work van and one for “lifestyle” passenger van. Vans and pickup are based on the Canoe skateboard type platform that allows a variety of body styles.