BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The agreement between Walmart and Canoo is part of Walmart's effort to support its e-commerce business and respond to a growing demand for electric cars, according to a press release by Canoo.
The Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) will be driven by Walmart associates and used to deliver various online orders. Optimized for sustainable last mile delivery use cases and engineered for high frequency stop-and-go deliveries, customers can receive their orders containing grocery and general merchandise along with food/meal delivery.
Walmart uses both dedicated fulfillment centers and shopping stores to facilitate online orders. The company uses 3,800 of its stores which are located within 10 miles of 90% of the United States population. This emphasizes the importance of efficient delivery for the company.
Designed with improved driver ergonomics and safety, the LDVs will contribute to Walmart's goal of achieving zero-emissions by 2040.
"Our LDV has the turning radius of a small passenger vehicle on a parking friendly, compact footprint, yet the payload and cargo space of a commercial delivery vehicle. This is the winning algorithm to seriously compete in the last mile delivery race, globally,” said Tony Aquila, investor, chairman and CEO of Canoo.
Canoo says that this agreement with Walmart only adds to the existing commitments the company has in Arkansas.
"Last year Canoo announced it had selected Bentonville, Arkansas, as its headquarters and Pryor, Oklahoma as the site for its U.S. manufacturing, further establishing an EV ecosystem in the heartland to create thousands of technology and manufacturing jobs in the surrounding communities," the press release stated.
Although the LDVs are not expected to hit the road until 2023, both Walmart and Canoo plan to kick-off advanced deliveries in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex in the coming weeks. These deliveries will help to refine and finalize configuration of the new electric vehicles.
The agreement with Canoo also provides Walmart with the option to purchase up to 10,000 LDVs.
To read more about the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles, click here.
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