Late Arrival, but now innovative maker is ready to put its foot down

Rewind to 2017. An enthusiastic Royal Mail pulls the wraps off a new electric vehicle weighing in at 7.5 tonnes which, it claims, will transform its business over the following few years.

However, amid ongoing fanfare and promises, large-scale production by the newcomer vehicle manufacturer failed to materialise; that is, until now.

The company, of course, is Arrival, the 2015 start-up electric vehicle (EV) specialist which has bold ambitions to disrupt the fleet sector with its range of electric vans, trucks and buses. It has even revealed plans to dip a toe into the highly competitive car market.

Arrival may have only existed for a few years, but it has already attracted big-ticket investment, including $100 million (£73m) from Hyundai, which will see the carmaker and its sister brand Kia utilise Arrival components and technology in their own electric cars.

The Oxfordshire-based manufacturer is now listed on the Nasdaq with an initial valuation of $13 billion (£9.54bn); its current market capitalisation stands at a little more than $4.2bn (£3bn).

Since that early dalliance with the UK’s largest fleet operator, Arrival has moved on to collaborate closely with global delivery giant UPS on its 3.5-tonne van.

Two years ago, UPS placed an order for 10,000 vehicles. The first of these will be delivered this quarter, with production ramping up to full capacity by the end of the year.