PRYOR, Okla. — Oklahomans are getting their first glimpse of the electric vehicles that will soon be built by Canoo in Pryor.

Fox23 spoke with people who stopped by Mid America Expo Center who not only wanted to check out the newest competitor in the electric vehicle market, but were excited about what the manufacturing facility could mean for Pryor and the surrounding communities.

Canoo’s electric vehicles will soon be manufactured inside the Mid American Industrial Park in Pryor.

Whether one is in the market for a pickup truck, a work vehicle equipped with blue light technology that kills germs, or a mini van, Canoo Ceo Tony Aquila is looking to set himself apart in the EV market with his multiple use case design:

“We wanted to build it for the working people,” he said, “so it had to super durable which is why we made it super simple and a lot of use case so it’s designed for the working people.”

Prices for an entry level electric vehicle start in the mid to low 30′s and climb into the 50′s depending on the configuration. The vehicles can also run as high as in the 70 range for their adventure model.

While the first new vehicles will be built at their plant in Bentonville, Arkansas, Canoo hopes to begin production at a 3-million plus square foot facility in Pryor by the end of 2023.

Aquila says a lot of factors came into play in how they selected the area:

“One thing that was so particular about this area is that there’s a lot of small communities,” he said. “When you have something like the nation, we can license IP and they can actually make some of those parts because they have healthcare, they can create small businesses and we can buy locally.”

Canoo plans to employ about 2,000 in Pryor, and want 50% of the work force to be comprised of Native Americans and veterans.

“The Northeast corridor of Oklahoma is ripe for growth,” said David Stewart, “and we think that Canoo will be the catalyst of that.”

Stewart, the CEO of Mid America Industrial Park says he anticipates there will many suppliers moving here.

“Once you get that synergy, and that momentum,” he explained, “it’s very logical that the population and people would move here and the education and training would be geared towards those companies.”

As the base manufacturing plant for the car, the Pryor location is expected to eventually produce 300,000 cars a year.

Fox23 caught caught up with Bill Pitts, a retiree who lives in Glenpool who’s encouraged by what he viewed at the expo center on Friday:

“Some of the other vehicles I don’t like their radical designs of another competitor and this one’s more smooth,” he said, “I think it’s going to go over, I hope it goes over in Pryor.”

The state is also hoping the business venture will be a successful one. They’ve signed an agreement to pay Canoo $15 million dollars to build the plant in Pryor and have committed to purchasing 1,000 vehicles for the state.

Negotiations are ongoing in regard to finalizing its agreement with Canoo to build and operate in Pryor. The industrial park still has to finalize its agreement. They do have an agreement in place that allows Canoo to access the land and begin preparing the site for the construction of a $400 million dollar manufacturing facility.

©2022 Cox Media Group