A British electric vehicle company is taking root in the United States and plans to adopt its new production concept as demand for new mobility systems grows.
Arrival, which develops electric vans and buses, announced last week that it would build a second microfactory in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company plans to assemble vehicles to place a United Parcel Service fleet order from the second half of 2022.
President Avinash Rugoobur told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday that its vertically integrated microfactories require less investment in space and capital than traditional manufacturing facilities.
“We are partnering with the city of Charlotte to produce an entire transportation ecosystem together,” he said in an interview with Mad Money. “When you look at the global scale that has to become electric, we look forward to having microfactories, you know, all over the world.”
Arrival is investing more than $ 41 million in the Charlotte facility, where the U.S. headquarters are located.
The company plans to go public through a merger of blank checks with Ciig Merger and expects to hire more than 250 employees at the site. That adds to the 650 jobs he said he would bring to the area as part of the corporate offices he announced in December.
Arrival says it has a mission to accelerate the transition to zero-emission commercial vehicles. The company claims a competitive advantage in that it designs its own batteries and other components internally and writes its own software, Rugoobur said.
“What’s interesting about the microfactory is that you can use existing warehouses and turn them into production facilities,” Rugoobur said.
UPS placed an order with Arrival nearly a year ago for 10,000 Generation 2 electric vehicles at Arrival as part of the shipping giant’s move to electrify its delivery van fleet. At the same time, the delivery company participated in Arrival.
Electric vehicles are expected to hit the streets over the next four years.