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Arrival and Uber to collaborate on EV for ride-hailing industry; based on Small Vehicle Platform

Commercial electric vehicle company Arrival is partnering with Uber to develop an affordable, purpose-built electric vehicle (EV) for ride-hailing drivers.  The Arrival Car is expected to enter production in Q3 2023.

Arrival went public in March; the Arrival Car is the realization of the Small Vehicle Platform (SVP) referenced in the company’s Investor Deck.  As described, the SVP will support ranges between 100-300 km depending upon the configuration, and support a payload of 450-800 kg.2023.

The Arrival Car will address the global need to shift ride-hailing and car sharing services—with more than 30 million estimated drivers across the ride-hailing sector—to electric to reduce emissions and improve air quality in cities.  Uber has committed to becoming a fully electric mobility platform in London by 2025 and by 2030 across North America and Europe.

As a typical ride-hailing vehicle will on average drive 45-50,000 km a year, versus 12,000 km for a typical vehicle, Arrival Car will prioritize driver comfort, safety, and convenience, while ensuring the passengers enjoy a premium experience.  With this in mind, Arrival will collaborate with Uber drivers in the design process over the coming months to ensure the Arrival Car reflects the needs of professional drivers and their passengers, with the final vehicle design expected revealed before the end of 2021.

Following the launch of Uber’s Clean Air Plan in London two years ago, more than £135 million (US$187 million) has been raised to support drivers with the cost of switching to a fully electric vehicle. Uber’s focus is now to encourage drivers to apply for EV Assistance under the Clean Air Plan.  This will help clean up urban transport and drive a mass market for EVs.

The Arrival Car will join Arrival’s previously announced commercial products, the Bus and Van, to provide cities with a multi-modal zero-emission transportation ecosystem that they require in order to meet their sustainability goals over the coming years. 

Ride-hailing could play a key role in creating accessible and efficient multi-modal transportation systems reducing both total numbers of vehicles in cities, as well as emissions.  Arrival’s Microfactories will enable decentralized production in cities around the world, producing vehicles close to areas of demand.  This strategy also enables the production of vehicles specific for the region to service the many markets seeing rapid growth in ride hailing and car sharing.

Uber Green recently launched in London, giving passengers the ability to select a fully electric vehicle at no extra cost, while drivers pay a lower service fee.

So far in London, more than 3.5 million trips have taken place in fully electric vehicles.  Uber is committing to double the number of drivers in EVs by the end of this year as part of the roadmap for all cars on the app to be fully electric by 2025.

Arrival was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with more than 1,800 global employees located in offices across the United States, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, Russia, and Luxembourg.  The company is deploying its first three Microfactories in North and South Carolina, US and Bicester, UK in 2021.

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