Arrival, the London-based start-up, has confirmed its plans to open a manufacturing plant in the UK. The news follows on from the €100 million (£85m) investment the start-up received from giants Hyundai and Kia.
Imogen Pierce, Arrival’s spokesperson, said the plan has been on the drawing board regardless of the multimillion cash injection.
The company, which was listed among the Top 25 start-ups by LinkedIn in 2019, has secured a 15-year lease on a 120,600 sq ft manufacturing unit at Link9 Bicester. The location is a major distribution and production development located a short distance from Junction 9 of the M40; a 30-minute or so drive north of Oxford.
Photo as seen on Link9 Bicester website
Founded in 2015, Arrival is a technology company with more than 800 people globally. It also has offices in Germany, Netherlands, Israel, Russia and the US.
The company entered the market with Generation 2 Electric Vehicles, a new product category the company claims surpasses existing electric vehicles in cost, design and efficiency.
Building on proprietary software, components, sustainable materials and modular skateboard platforms, Arrival’s Generation 2 vehicles are purpose-built of any weight, type, size and shape are produced from Arrival’s platforms and assembled by microfactories.
Each low footprint microfactory produces any vehicle on demand and is located to serve local communities. "They are profitable from thousands of units and can be deployed within three months," the company said.
In January, Arrival received a 10,000 Generation 2 Electric Vehicles from UPS.
Arrival said its vehicles are priced the same, or less than, current fossil fuel vehicles, making the decision to switch to electric inevitable, and increasing the adoption of electric technology globally.
Hyundai-Kia partnership
Following the Hyundai and Kia investment in Arrival, the car manufacturers will use Arrival’s flexible skateboard platforms and technologies to create new purpose-built electric vehicles (PBVs) across multiple vehicle categories.
Hyundai and Kia will use key Arrival technologies to help achieve their recently announced goal to develop mobility services and electrify their vehicle fleets. Arrival will benefit from the OEM’s global footprint and economies of scale.
