Oklahoma Might Soon Be Home To A New Car Manufacturer

When we first talked about this possibility earlier this year, things were left up in the air. The deal for a new vehicle manufacturer to move to Oklahoma was still an idea, but as we move into the fourth quarter of 2021, things are looking good for new manufacturing jobs to come to the Sooner State.

Have you heard of Canoo yet? They're a new manufacturer of electric vehicles, except they're not on the same competitive plane as Tesla and Rivian... they're pushing the technology forward with a claimed "affordable" utility line of vehicles that all share the same parent platform. Imagine it as one frame that can fit any sort of body you'd want.

So far, looking around the website, there are three current models. A van-looking model named the Lifestyle Vehicle... a delivery model called the MPDV - AKA - Multiple Purpose Delivery Vehicle... and since it's Oklahoma, there has to be a pickup option. By the looks of the official website, there seems to be a passenger sedan in the works also. The only question is "Where will Canoo manufacture these vehicles?"

Governor Stitt has given this question his full attention. Not wanting to get skipped over again by another EV manufacturer and have a repeat of the Tesla Cybertruck drama, he's tossing the kitchen sink at Canoo trying to earn those manufacturing jobs.

So what has Gov. Stitt offered? Benefits and incentives worth nearly $300million.

If you remember, Pryor is the town vying for this manufacturing plant. The state owns the MidAmerica Industrial Park that is already home to Dupont and Google there, so they've offered some 400 acres of land valued shy of $20million, plus site development options worth even more. In turn, Oklahoma will get its first electric vehicle manufacturing plant and around 2000 new jobs to put revenues into the state economy.

While there is a lot of excitement surrounding the prospect of such an economic boost, as you can't ever please everybody, some people are adamantly against this move to give up so much in order to attract new jobs. Fans or not, in the spirit of transparency, it is worth mentioning that Canoo is one of three electric vehicle companies currently under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, something to do with their public offering.

Either/or, at least you now know the more pertinent sides of a story worth looking into for yourself. Who knows, maybe you'll move to the hills of Pryor to take a job yourself.