Canoo Inc., the electric vehicle startup with plans to headquarter in Bentonville, announced the addition of former NASA and Tesla Inc. executives to its board of directors.
Deborah Diaz was chief technology officer and deputy chief information officer during her time at NASA. Past roles include chief information officer for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Diaz currently serves on the board of directors of Archer Aviation, Primis Financial and ZeroAvia. She’s also CEO of Catalyst ADV, a technology and strategic growth advisory firm.
Canoo, which delivered three astronaut shuttles to NASA in July, said Diaz brings decades of experience in government and corporate leadership with expertise in technology governance, cybersecurity, management of complex IT systems and infrastructure, and digital transformation.
“Canoo’s innovative design, utilization of smart technology, and expert staff are very impressive,” Diaz said in a statement. “The company has built commercial orders in addition to U.S. government and military partnerships to transform future mobility. As Canoo scales and manufactures more electric vehicles, there will be an increased need to assure that risk-based data and system protections are in place to create a world-class infrastructure. I am excited to be part of the Canoo board and to help establish the roadmap for Canoo’s digital transformation journey.”
Canoo also added James Chen to its board of directors. He’s the former vice president of regulatory affairs and deputy general counsel at electric vehicle giant Tesla, and the former vice president of public policy & chief regulatory counsel at Tesla rival Rivian Automotive.
Canoo said Chen brings extensive experience in designing and implementing solutions for complex legal, policy and regulatory matters to the board.
“What excites me about Canoo is its approach of focusing on commercial fleets by taking the company’s transformative technology and tailoring innovative approaches to where the demand for electrification is the greatest,” Chen said in a statement. “That vision of combining the benefits of EVs with the demand of fleet owners and operators is incredibly inspiring.”
Canoo reported a loss of $112 million in the third quarter of 2023, an improvement from the $117 million loss the company reported in the same quarter the previous year. The company has warned investors that it might not be able to survive if it continues to burn through cash.
Still, the company’s order pipeline has been growing. In the past two years, it has announced deals with domestic and international customers in public and private sectors, including Walmart; Zeeba Co. Inc. of Los Angeles; Kingbee Rentals LLC of West Valley City; the U.S. Postal Service; Prime Time Shuttle of Los Angeles; and GCC Olayan of Saudi Arabia.
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