• Canoo, an electric-vehicle startup based in Torrance, California, announced that the United States Postal Service will purchase six of its electric vans.

• The six LDV 190 vans will be delivered during the first quarter of this year, Canoo said.

• The LDV 190 uses a single electric motor on the rear axle and is slightly larger than compact vans such as the Ford Transit Connect.

UPDATE 5/15/2024: As part of its 2024 first-quarter earnings report, Canoo announced that its LDV190 vans have been delivered to the Postal Service, specifically to the South Atlanta Sorting and Delivery Center, from where they are now being use in delivering mail.

Earlier this week, the United States Postal Service (USPS) revealed plans to establish more than 14,000 charging stations at delivery centers across the country as it grows its fleet of EVs. The service said it will also order 9250 Ford E-Transits, bridging the gap until electric versions of the purpose-built Next Generation Delivery Vehicle arrive. But it appears the USPS is still open to exploring other avenues, with EV startup Canoo announcing today that the USPS will be purchasing six right-hand-drive versions of the LDV 190 during the first quarter of this year.

Few details were provided, with Canoo saying that it “is honored to participate as one of the potential suppliers” for the electrification of the USPS’s fleet. The California-based startup has been inching towards full-scale production over the past few years. The company claims it built its first production-spec Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles last November, delivering them to the Oklahoma state government; the company has facilities in Pryor and Oklahoma City. Earlier this month, Canoo announced it had began delivering its smaller LDV 130 to van rental provider Kingbee, part of an agreement for the company to purchase 9300 units.

The LDV 190 is a commercial version of the company’s Lifestyle Vehicle, a pod-like minivan first revealed back in 2019. Powered by a single electric motor on the rear axle producing 200 horsepower, the LDV 190 can reach 60 mph in under 9.0 seconds. Canoo says the 79.0-kWh battery provides over 200 miles of range, with a DC fast-charge at up to 150 kW bringing the battery from 20 percent to 80 percent in a claimed 32 minutes.

The LDV 190 measures 193.7 inches long, just a tad longer than the largest versions of the Ford Transit Connect. The curb weight for the two-seat van is listed at 4740 pounds, with a payload of 1763 pounds. Inside, the cabin features a 10.2-inch touchscreen and a heated steering wheel and seats. Although Canoo says it has started producing its commercial-spec vans, the passenger-carrying Lifestyle Vehicle still appears to be in production-car purgatory.

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