Canoo has a very unhappy Christmas. The remaining employees of the frustrated US energy company have been placed on “unpaid leave” according to TechCrunch, with no plans to return for at least several weeks.
While it’s common for businesses to close at the end of the year, Canoo’s decision to lay off workers starting Monday is unlikely to be motivated by holiday cheer. The company, plagued by financial problems and a lack of longevity, turned to borrowing millions from CEO Tony Aquila, the private equity firm AFV Management Advisors, to stay afloat.
Canoo unveils an electric pickup truck that’s smaller than the Tesla Cybertruck
According to EV, the employees were notified of the mandatory leave by email last Friday, and were told that they would receive further updates to their email addresses in the first week of January. Employees’ access to the Canoo system was apparently terminated by the closing of the business that same day.
“We apologize for the timing of this message,” Canoo’s email read, as seen by EV. “Please take this time to have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season with your family.”
Mashable reached out to Canoo for comment, although we don’t expect a response as they are reportedly on vacation.
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Last Wednesday, Canoo announced that it has laid off 82 workers and is shutting down factories in Oklahoma, halting work while it tries to secure the funding it needs to continue operations. This follows a 12-week layoff of 30 Oklahoma factory workers previously announced in November.
“We regret having to lay off our staff, especially during the holidays, but there is nothing we can do at this time,” Canoo said in a brief statement last week. “We hope that we will be able to return them to work soon.”
This news probably comes as no surprise to anyone who follows the startup industry. Several executives have left Canoo in the past few months, including its last remaining founder. The company is also facing many lawsuits, some of which involve alleged non-payment of debts.
Last month Canoo reported that he only had $700,000 in cash, his stock is sitting at just $0.086 as of writing. The company lost more than $300 million in 2023 alone, generated only $886,000 in revenue – and spent twice as much on Aquila’s private jet travel.
Last year, Oklahoma approved up to $100 million in state grants based on Canoo’s performance over the next 10 years. Speaking to News 4 last week, the Oklahoma State Department of Commerce noted that it has only paid Canoo $1 million so far, and that “if necessary, [it] we will look at ways to get public dollars back.”
Canoo isn’t the only electric car manufacturer that seems to be going down this month. Tesla also temporarily halted production of the Cybertruck in early December, telling workers at its Austin factory not to report for their shifts for three days.
