UK Electric van manufacturer wins 10,000 van order from UPS

The initial 10,000 vehicles will be rolled out in the UK, Europe and North America from 2020-2024. UPS have the option to purchase a further order of 10,000 vehicles during this period. UPS venture capital arm also announced an investment in Arrival of an undisclosed amount.

The vehicles will be built using Arrival’s new method of assembly using low capital, low footprint microfactories located to serve local communities and profitable from thousands of units.

Arrival’s ‘Generation 2’ electric vehicles offer UPS commercial and environmental benefits to make a seamless and cost effective transition to a zero emissions fleet.

“UPS has been a strong strategic partner of Arrival, providing valuable insight to how electric delivery vans are used on the road and how they can be optimised for drivers,” said Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO at Arrival. “We are pleased that today’s investment and vehicle order creates even closer ties between our two companies.”

Arrival has developed components, sustainable materials and software to customise both vehicles and operations of commercial fleet owners. The company’s skateboard platforms enable the creation of vehicles in any weight, type, size and shape to match customer requirements, which are then deployed close to areas of demand across the globe in Arrival’s microfactories.

Avinash Rugoobur, chief strategy officer at Arrival said “Arrival has created Generation 2 electric vehicles that are better in price, design and experience than traditional fossil fuel vehicles and existing EVs. This gives fleet managers a highly compelling commercial and environmental reason to switch to electric and will accelerate the adoption of electric technology globally. At Arrival, we believe this is amongst the most impactful areas to start the transition to a fully electric future, and our partnership with UPS will drive us both towards our shared vision of cleaner mobility.”

With over 300 million vans and trucks on the road fuelled by petrol or diesel, the commercial vehicle segment is a major contributor to transport emissions as well as the fastest growing vehicle segment.

The rise of e-commerce has contributed to this increase; over the past decade the number of parcels delivered per day in NYC alone has quadrupled to 1.5 million whilst van mileage in the UK has grown 56% since 2000.

The opportunity to significantly impact climate change, coupled with predictable routes and overnight depot charging, make commercial vehicles perfectly suited to seamlessly switch to electric.

Arrival www.arrival.com