- US-founded commercial EV firm, Canoo, has been granted regulatory approval for pilot testing of right-hand-drive variants of its electric vans, as it gets closer to a full UK launch.
- Specifically, this small batch of pilot EVs have been granted Individual Vehicle Approval certificates, which confirm that they meet all the regulations required of commercial delivery vans.
- These pilot vans come ahead of a future UK launch of its electric van range.
Canoo UK launch gets closer
The two EV models granted approval consist of the LDV 130 van, and its larger sibling, the LDV 190. Changes needed to meet the regulations, compared to the Bill of Materials on the original US-spec model, stood at less than 2% on both specific models. This small batch of approved vehicles will run as pilot models, presumably to further test their suitability in the UK, and review what, if anything, needs ironing out. From this, we can expect feedback on how these Canoo EVs have performed in the country in the coming months. The development of right-hand-drive EVs has already been previously in the works for Canoo in the U.S., with the United States Postal Service already having placed an order for RHD variants of the LDV 190
The approval is a milestone for the manufacturer, who have been eyeing up a UK launch for a while now. Its LDV 190 was already on display at the UK’s Commercial Vehicle Show earlier this year, while it also opened its first European location at Bicester Motion this month, further achieving this strategic goal.
Despite this most recent move, Canoo still haven’t pinned down a date for a full UK launch – but this announcement could becoming sooner, following this approval. Once it arrives, it wont be short of rivals. Not only will it need to compete with models with longstanding brand reputation, such as the Ford E-Transit, but also newcomers in the local market, such as an electric van coming to Europe from BYD.
