'Something needs to be done': Former Canoo employee begs state leaders for action

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A former Canoo employee says state leaders should make every effort to hold the electric vehicle company accountable following the company's decision to furlough all of its local employees and shutter its Oklahoma production facilities last week.

The employee spoke with News 4 on the condition their identity not be revealed since they signed a non-disclosure agreement. They said from the get-go they were initially excited to join Canoo's team in early 2024, especially after the State of Oklahoma awarded it more than $100 million in state-funded, performance-based incentives in 2023.

The plan was to pay out the incentives to the electric vehicle manufacturer over a 10-year period to help the company get off the ground. Canoo promised to manufacture its vehicles in Oklahoma, bring jobs, and create revenue in return.

Last year, Canoo claimed it built its first three vehicles at its Oklahoma City plant and sold them to the state, but a former employee told News 4 last week they were actually built in Texas.

"I've seen a company go from the bottom up and I was really excited to see this one grow," the employee said.

The employee said within their first few days of employment, they noticed there seemed to be little motivation, noting that higher-ups often took several smoke breaks and were dismissive. The employee noted the management structure overall was just an unorganized disaster.

"Nobody really cared," the employee said. "I really didn't see any type of motivation at all. Just kind of, you know, showing up, and we're doing a lot of preventative maintenance."

The employee said they found that preventative maintenance to be strange considering the robotics inside of the factory never produced an entire electric vehicle.

"Nothing was functioning," the employee said. "There was no, there was not one robotics line that actually worked to fabricate a part."

The employee said those in charge would often improvise during factory tours, noting examples of equipment being put into a ghost mode.

"There was a couple key robots that were able to do like, kind of not full movements, but kind of mimic, you know, kind of a movement that it would do if it was operating," the employee said.

The employee said the environment wasn't sustainable and that they weren't surprised when an announcement was made in November, when Canoo had furloughed some of its employees, before the follow-up announcement last week that all of its employees had been furloughed in Oklahoma.

News 4 has reached out to Canoo for an interview to discuss a growing list of allegations, but that request has been denied.

A spokesperson did provide the following statement last week:

The company is in advanced discussions with various capital sources… 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.

Spokesperson for Canoo

News 4 also reached out to Governor Kevin Stitt's office for comment last week, but did not hear back.

However, News 4 did hear back from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce last week. A spokesperson said, since the incentives were performance-based, the state had only given Canoo $1 million to date, and the department would look at clawing that money back if necessary.

"I would say it's very sad when big companies take advantage of taxpayer money to invest in things that suit themselves," said the employee. "Something needs to be done."

The employee said that they feel for the other employees and families impacted by the furlough, saying that it's not something anyone deserves this time of year.

"During this holiday season, it's a very hard time to be without a job but not knowing what your future looks like and having to rebuild that, that's going to be a very difficult task."