Arrival electric van production receives boost as company goes public

UK electric van manufacturer Arrival will ramp up production of its new electric van as it becomes a public company.

Arrival has been listed on the New York stock exchange (Nasdaq) with a value of £9.5 billion.

The company says it will use £660m of the proceeds to kickstart vehicle production and expand its global network of factories.

Arrival plans to produce its vehicles in microfactories, which cuts costs and enables it to offer vehicles with much lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

The microfactories are rapidly scalable and enable decentralised production that can be deployed in local communities, hiring local talent, paying local taxes and using the local supply chain.

It also allows the production of vehicles designed for the local region’s mobility requirements.

Arrival has already announced its first three Microfactory locations in Bicester, UK, Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO of Arrival, said: “We believe that all vehicles will soon be electric, because it is better for people, the planet and business. Arrival’s invention of a unique new method to design and produce vehicles using local Microfactories makes it possible to build highly desirable yet affordable electric vehicles - designed for your city and made in your city.

“Going public is an opportunity that will allow us to continue to scale globally, bringing these products to more and more cities and people.”

There has already been strong interest in Arrival’s vehicles, with a commitment to purchase up to 10,000 electric vehicles from United Parcel Service (UPS), plus an option to order up to an additional 10,000.

Arrival’s Van is expected to begin public road trials with customers this upcoming Summer, and the Bus is expected to start trials in Q4 2021 with First Bus, one of the UK’s largest transport operators and leaders in sustainable mobility. Production for the Arrival Bus is expected to begin in Q4 2021 and the Arrival Van in the second half of 2022.

Arrival unveiled its new van last month.