From staff reports Canoo, the electric vehicle manufacturer, not only furloughed more workers, but has stopped manufacturing its vehicles at the company’s Oklahoma City plant. Additionally, its shares continued with another day of a drastic drop.
Reports confirmed that Canoo furloughed 82 employees and was focused on obtaining capital during the shutdown of the Oklahoma City plant located along Interstate 40.
The company opened a battery module manufacturing facility at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor in November 2022, and a vehicle assembly line in Oklahoma City in April 2023.
“We regret having to furlough our employees, especially during the holidays, but we have no choice at this point. We are hopeful that we will be able to bring them back to work soon,” the company stated in an announcement.
The company also reported it was in “advanced discussions with various capital sources” to raise emergency funding.
Canoo initially announced last week that it was reducing its workforce by furloughing another 10 workers at its facility in J ustin, Texas. The announcement came as the struggling EV maker experienced dramatic losses on Wall Street trading of its shares. Shares plunged 29.17% on Dec. 10 and fell 23.53% a day later and finally a 24.57% drop on Dec. 13.
Shares traded last Thursday plunged more than 25%. Shares dropped 3 cents for a 25.16% loss to $0.094.
Canoo has struggled for the past few years, despite landing contracts to provide vehicles to NASA and Walmart.
The Frontier reported Canoo Inc. could be required to repay $1 million in Oklahoma job creation incentives after closing factories in the state.
The EV manufacturer received the incentive payment in January after announcing it had created over 100 new jobs in Oklahoma. The money came from Oklahoma’s Quick Action Closing Fund, an incentive program that allows the governor to recruit new employers to the state with dir ect cash payments.
Canoo’s contract with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce requires the company to repay state incentive money if it fails to keep at least 80% of those jobs for 18 months, The Frontier noted.