A British electric vehicle company is establishing its roots in the US and plans to expand its new production concept globally as the demand for new mobility systems grows.
Arrival, which develops electric vans and buses, announced last week that it will build a second micro-factory in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company plans to assemble vehicles there from the second half of 2022 for a fleet order from United Parcel Service.
President Avinash Rugoobur told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday that the vertically integrated micro factories require less space and capital investment than traditional manufacturing facilities.
“We are working with the City of Charlotte to jointly produce an entire transportation ecosystem,” he said in a “Mad Money” interview. “If you look at the global scale that has to shift to electric, we expect micro-factories all over the world.”
Arrival is investing more than $ 41 million in the Charlotte facility, which is home to its US headquarters.
The company plans to go public through a blank check merger with Ciig Merger and expects to hire more than 250 employees at the site. That’s in addition to the 650 jobs it would bring to the area as part of the corporate offices it announced in December.
Arrival says it is a mission to accelerate the transition to zero-emission commercial vehicles. The company claims a competitive advantage by designing its own batteries and other components in-house and writing its own software, Rugoobur said.
“What’s interesting about the micro-factory is that you can use existing warehouses and turn them into production facilities,” said Rugoobur.
UPS placed an order with Arrival for 10,000 Generation 2 electric vehicles almost a year ago as part of the transportation giant’s move to electrify its fleet of vans. The delivery company simultaneously took an interest in Arrival.
The electric vehicles are expected to hit the streets in the next four years.