Canoo & Hyundai to co-develop EV platform

The US American electric vehicle startup and the South Korean automotive giant have teamed up in an engineering partnership to develop electric vehicles. Canoo and Hyundai will co-develop an electric vehicle platform based on Canoo’s skateboard technology to be used for upcoming Hyundai and Kia EVs and PBVs (Purpose Built Vehicles).

Canoo has made waves with their subscription-based EVs designed on a scalable skateboard platform for which they recently opened a waitlist. The company has put particular attention into their functional integration, which they say “reduces the skateboard size, weight and total number of parts, which ultimately provides more interior cabin space and a more cost-effective EV offering.” This kind of flexibility in design would allow for Hyundai to develop a rather large series of EVs.

The company has only been around since 2017 but managed to reach its beta testing phase within 19 months. They aim to launch their first commercially available electric vehicle in 2021, which is “designed for a world in which transportation is becoming increasingly electric, shared and autonomous.”

Hyundai has big plans for investing in electrified vehicle technology, as the company recently committed to invest $87 billion USD over the next five years for future growth in electrified vehicles and PBVs. The aim here is to diversify vehicle models to meet diverse customer needs. Furthermore, the investment is also aimed to help reduce extraneous complexity in Hyundai’s EV assembly lines, allowing for more adaptable responses to market demands and customer preferences.

Hyundai made headlines at the recent CES in January with their first fully electric PBV concept, another electric vehicle platform, as well as a VTOL concept being developed in cooperation with Uber, as the two companies aim to conquer the skies.

“We were highly impressed by the speed and efficiency in which Canoo developed their innovative EV architecture, making them the perfect engineering partner for us as we transition to become a frontrunner in the future mobility industry,” said Albert Biermann, Head of Research & Development, Hyundai Motor Group. “We will collaborate with Canoo engineers to develop a cost-effective Hyundai platform concept that is autonomous ready and suitable for mass adoption.”

Source: Press release via Email