Charged EVs | Hyundai and Kia invest in UK EV startup Arrival, will develop EVs together


Hyundai and Kia invest in UK EV startup Arrival, will develop EVs together


Hyundai and Kia plan to invest €100 million ($111 million) in UK-based Arrival, and to work with the EV startup to develop new vehicles.

Arrival has sold its electric delivery trucks, which are native EVs – not conversions of ICE vehicles – to the Royal Mail and UPS.

“Arrival, Hyundai, and Kia will use Arrival’s flexible
skateboard platforms and technologies to create new purpose-built electric
vehicles across multiple vehicle categories,” Hyundai announced. “Hyundai and
Kia will leverage Arrival’s novel microfactories and software innovation while
Arrival will benefit from the OEM’s global footprint and economies of scale.
This will help accelerate the ‘Two Track’ strategy adopted by Hyundai, to bring
zero-emissions battery and fuel cell technologies to the commercial vehicle
market.”

Arrival has yet to build a production vehicle, and no details
of its powertrain have been made public. The company says it will start testing
prototypes in the UK early this year, and begin production in 2021. Hyundai has
not mentioned a timeline for its collaboration with Arrival, but did note that the
startup would be able to take advantage of the giant automaker’s mass
production expertise.

However, Arrival may have a more streamlined production
strategy in mind. The company says its vehicles “are assembled using small
footprint microfactories, located in areas of demand and profitable at
thousands of units,” and that one of these “microfactories” can be brought into
production in three months.

Sources: Hyundai, Electrek, Forbes










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