Arrival’s forthcoming fully electric van has achieved EU certification that puts it on track to start production later this year.
The company said today that it’s successfully completed all the required functional and safety testing to achieve European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EUWVTA), which is a critical step towards starting trials with customers in the coming months.
Revealed last year, the vehicle is expected to start production at the company’s Bicester production plant in Q3 2022 and is intended to revolutionise the commercial vehicle sector with its “outstanding total cost of ownership and robust design”.
Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO at Arrival, said customers have already expressed strong interest in the van; the company has over 140,000 non-binding letters of intent and orders for variants of the vehicle. Delivery giant UPS has placed an early order for an initial 10,000 vehicles.
“With an unrivalled user experience and lower total cost of ownership it will help them accelerate their transition to zero-emission vehicles,” Sverdlov added.
“This version of the vehicle we started in 2020, so to have passed all certification tests in this short time frame is a truly monumental achievement by the whole team,” he continued. “We now look forward to starting production later this year and delivering vehicles to our customers, in order to help to make cleaner air for cities all over the world.”
The Arrival Van will be manufactured using the firm’s new method of design and production of affordable electric vehicles by local microfactories. These are expected to have a lower Capex and cost of assembly, shorter commissioning times and be more environmentally friendly than traditional methods of production.
The vehicle is made from Arrival’s unique lightweight composite materials, which are designed to be recyclable, durable and lower in cost. It will also feature in-house hardware and software, providing businesses with the tools they need to optimise fleet operations, and the technology is upgradable over a vehicle’s lifetime.
Arrival announced its sales model last year – it’s selling vehicles direct and signed up LeasePlan as its preferred operational leasing partner – and revealed that its Global Service Network Program will provide a comprehensive repair and maintenance network for both the van and the Arrival bus, supported by four initial partners in Europe: ARC Europe Group, Kwik Fit, Rivus Fleet Solutions and ZF.
