Arrival, a British electric-vehicle start-up, has partnered with Uber to develop a plug-in car for drivers to buy and operate as ride-sharing vehicles.
Called the Arrival Car, it is expected to go into production in the third quarter of 2023 for the U.K., and then to other countries, including in two small “micro-factories” planned for the southern U.S. The company is also working on an electric van, and UPS has committed to purchasing up to 10,000 of them, with an option to order up to 10,000 more. An Arrival city bus is also planned.
The timing of the Arrival Car’s launch coincides with Uber’s commitment to becoming a fully-electric mobility platform in London, England by 2025 – which levies a zone charge on vehicles that don’t meet ultra-low-emissions standards – and across North America and Europe by 2030.
In London, Uber operates a Clean Air Plan, which adds a surcharge of three pence per mile on city trips. Once a driver accumulates at least £100 and meets certain criteria, “you can apply to use it to help reduce the cost of an EV through an approved vendor,” according to the company’s website. The plan was launched two years ago and has accumulated more than £135 million.
The company also recently launched Uber Green in London, where riders can choose fully-electric vehicles at no extra cost, and those drivers pay a lower service fee. Uber said more than 3.5 million trips have been taken in electric vehicles in London, and plans to double the number of drivers in EVs by the end of 2021 in preparation for its all-electric goal by 2025.
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Arrival hasn’t mentioned pricing, but said the Arrival Car will be “an affordable, purpose-built electric vehicle for ride-hailing, and will be designed in partnership with Uber drivers.” The final design is expected before the end of 2021. The company went public in March 2021, and plans to use about US$660 million of gross proceeds to build vehicles and expand its network of small factories. No vehicles have been built yet, but the electric van is expected to begin road-testing this summer, and the electric bus in the fourth quarter of 2021.
