Canoo reinvents its electric pickup as quirky American Bulldog compact off-road pickup

Other EV makers, like Ford, Rivian, and Tesla target the off-road community with ever-larger electric pickup trucks and off-road SUVs stacked with features. Canoo appears to be going in the opposite direction, opting instead to adapt its minimalist design and compact four-door truck platform to end up with the American Bulldog off-road electric pickup truck.

The American Bulldog is based on the Screaming Eagle electric light tactical vehicle that the company delivered to the US Army in late 2022. Compared to the standard Canoo electric pickup truck, the American Bulldog features more aggressive tyres, pressed steel wheels for added durability, and a simpler truck bed design.

Overall, the Canoo seems to have stripped back a lot of the features from its regular pickup truck, going as far as to replace the external storage cubby with a light strip and a set of rugged mini bullbars that feature bright red recovery hooks.

The door frames and roof also feature far less glass than the regular Canoo pickup truck, which would make the vehicle more durable and suitable for off-road applications. The whole package also seems like it would be cheaper to manufacture, too.

Canoo hasn't listed any drivetrain specifications for the American Bulldog, but it would be very surprising if the EV didn't deliver the same expected 500+ hp and 200+ miles from an AWD drivetrain as the regular Canoo pickup.

In addition to a simpler truck bed and a ruggedised front, the American Bulldog is previewed with a flat roof rack with plenty of mounting and fastening area. Likewise, the walls of the truck bed. 

Canoo didn't provide any indication of when the truck will be available to order, but it did make what has to be the most patriotic EV launch video to hit the internet in 2023.

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