The UK-based electric vehicle startup Arrival announced that its “microfactory” in southern England has produced the first production-validation vehicle. The company is said to be in talks to raise funds for manufacturing and selling electric vehicles in the United States.
Arrival said that its electric delivery van was produced using a highly automated “microfactory,” which utilizes robotic automation and software-defined technology.
“This is the first time we’ve used a new method of vehicle production in our microfactory that doesn’t rely on traditional assembly lines,” said Denis Sverdlov, the founder and CEO of Arrival, in a statement. “While we haven’t yet achieved mass production, we’re focus on achieving it. We’ll continue to produce vehicles in our microfactory in order to achieve mass production.”
This is a significant step for Arrival, which was founded in 2015 and went public through a blank-check merger in March 2021. The company aims to develop electric delivery vehicles for customers such as UPS and Uber, and has received investments from Kia and Hyundai.
However, like many other start-ups in the electric vehicle industry, the company has cited supply chain disruptions and “production hell” as the reasons why it has been unable to achieve its goal of starting production of electric delivery vans in the third quarter. Arrival has also been affected by cash flow shortage, announcing workforce reductions and delays in spending on its “electric bus” project.
With intensifying competition, traditional carmakers are not willing to give up the promising market for electric commercial vehicles. General Motors and Ford are both developing electric commercial trucks, and Rivian, in which Amazon has invested, is a highly competitive rival in this niche market.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.