Oklahoma OK’s $300million For Tulsa Electric Vehicle Company

Six months ago, the rumored deal to entice a new electric vehicle company to call Oklahoma their corporate and manufacturing home was still being written... While the plans to build a new manufacturing plant outside of Tulsa is still a GO, Canoo's plans have changed a little, and Governor Stitt is antying up to persuade things back in Oklahoma's favor.

The plan last October was as follows... Oklahoma was willing to offer $300million in taxpayer funds to the company to bring them to Oklahoma. We were still fresh off the loss of Elon Musk's Tesla Cybertruck manufacturing push, and Governor Stitt wasn't about to let another EV company slip through the cracks.

Oklahoma taxpayers would purchase some land for the company... build the infrastructure and buildings this operation would need... and Canoo would become synonymous with Oklahoma's manufacturing might.

For all intents and purposes, it was a done deal. Canoo has been, and is still, recruiting engineers and higher education type positions in Tulsa, with plans to hire up to 2000 people for the plant to be built later in Pryor... That was last October.

A month later in November 2021, Canoo announced they would accept the bid to have their manufacturing plant built and paid for by Oklahoma taxpayers but would establish their corporate headquarter further east of the plant, in Bentonville, Arkansas - Home of Walmart.

Shenanigans...

Still, on the move to secure something positive for Oklahoma in his second term, Governor Stitt just approved a $15million cash expenditure from the state's Quick Action Closing Fund to get the details nailed down, which are confidential from the public, and the plan finalized for the state planned growth.

I'm not a businessman, but it sure seems like we've fallen for the old banana in the tailpipe... letting the CEO of this company play us like a fiddle since Canoo still gets the original and full $300million incentives package.

I suppose the thing to do is grit our teeth and hope for the best. I mean, who can really be angry about 2000 new skill-less jobs becoming available, open to anyone without higher-education requirements?

If you're curious what the Oklahoma-born fleet of vehicles will look like, hit play below and mull it over... Much like the Tesla Cybertruck, it grows on you.