Not every vehicle design is intended to be completely unadorned; once in a while designs come along that are actually intended to be used as a canvas for customization. 

One such example is California-based electric-vehicle maker Canoo. Mural artist James Goldcrown made a custom mural at the company’s Torrance headquarters that was then transferred to a vinyl wrap. 

Richard Kim, Canoo’s design chief, said that the idea was to celebrate and support artists by inviting them “to demonstrate the expressive potential that our electric vehicles offer.”

JGoldcrown mural for Canoo Canvas wrap program

According to the company, which plans to include other artists from around the country, the Canoo Canvas Series highlights the company’s “unique wrapping strategy” and the range of possibilities through customized vinyl wraps that will be designed to be easily removed or replaced. 

In a most interesting twist, customers won’t be making these wrap-based mods to vehicles they own. Canoo doesn’t want to sell you a car; it wants you to subscribe to one, and the company plans to repair, maintain, and even recondition its EVs—with the goal to form a community, with Tesla-like referral perks.

Canoo says that it will launch its first model—expected to resemble this van, with an 80-kwh battery pack and a range of about 250 miles—in 2022, followed by a last-mile delivery vehicle. That surely will make them easier to tell apart in the parking lot. And, it seems, driving around with your wrap of choice on the car may be a key to feeling like you own the expression, even if you don’t own the car.

Pricing and other details will be announced closer to Canoo's 2022 delivery.