UK electric van manufacturer wins £118m BlackRock investment

Arrival, the electric vehicle manufacturer with factories in Banbury and Bicester, has raised $118 million from funds managed by BlackRock.

The fundraising will be used to support execution of the company’s growth plans as it ramps up vehicle production, including the launch of Arrival’s first US microfactory in South Carolina.

Arrival says it is reinventing the automotive industry with its entirely new approach to the design and assembly of electric vehicles.

The company’s new method uses low capital expenditure, rapidly scalable microfactories that can be placed anywhere in the world to serve the regions they are located in.

Related: Arrival is ramping up production with microfactories

These microfactories, combined with proprietary in-house developed components, materials and software, enable the production of best in class vehicles that are competitively priced to fossil fuel variants.

This transformative approach reduces the costs of production and emissions of shipping, and does not require massive upfront investment, creating strong unit economics for the whole of Arrival’s product portfolio, including its electric van and bus announced earlier this year.

“We are excited to welcome BlackRock as a strategic financial investor with its excellent track record in ESG,” said Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO of Arrival. “This additional capital will be invested into Arrival’s growth, as we deepen and expand our presence in the US and other new markets globally. With our new microfactory in South Carolina, we are looking forward to partnering with more cities and companies to create a sustainable future.”

Arrival has made major inroads in the commercial electric vehicle market having received an order of 10,000 electric vans from logistics company UPS, with the option for a further 10,000. This investment is a reflection of the significant market opportunity for electric vehicles, particularly in the commercial segment, which continues to grow with increasing demand for ecommerce and is predicted to reach 8m commercial and passenger fleets by 2030 in the US alone.

Related: Arrival reveals post-pandemic bus

Arrival is poised to address this entire market, with its competitive price and substantially lower total cost of ownership, solving the problem of pollution and congestion in cities around the world.

The new funding will support Arrival’s plans to scale its microfactory footprint in both the US and Europe. As part of its US strategy, the company announced this week the launch of its first US microfactory in York County, South Carolina, an investment of $46 million into the region and the creation of local jobs.

Arrival will begin fitting out the unit and is expected to begin operations in Q2 2021, with start of production in Q4 2021. Arrival’s microfactories target production of 10,000 vans or 1,000 buses per year.

BlackRock joins other strategic investors in the company including Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation and UPS.

Arrival www.arrival.com