“British start-up Arrival moves operations to the US to focus on electric delivery vans and federal funding”

• The company wants to focus on the United States although its head office is currently in the United Kingdom.

• Arrival hopes to receive federal funding through its collaboration with UPS and Uber.

• The company wants to operate in the Class 4 van segment, where it might not have many competitors.

British start-up Arrival, which specializes in delivery vans, has decided to move its operations from the United Kingdom to the United States, where it hopes to have more success.

As the company has not yet produced its first vehicle, it is facing major financial difficulties which forced it to lay off 75% of its employees last November.

Additionally, Arrival said it would have to file for bankruptcy before the end of 2023 if it didn’t find new investors, which now appears to be the case.

Indeed, the start-up will merge for the second time with an ad hoc acquisition company in order to benefit from a cash injection.

This new merger should bring in $283 million to the company, which it will use to develop a unique model for the United States.

According to Arrival, this decision to abandon the British market in favor of the United States is due to the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which makes it more profitable to sell electric vehicles in the United States.

Indeed, qualifying electric vans could qualify for a subsidy of around $40,000, making them affordable enough for potential customers and profitable enough for the automaker.

Of course, Arrival will have to build these vans in North America to benefit from these preferential measures.

That’s why the company is looking for a site in North Carolina where it could set up an assembly line for its next van, which is expected to arrive late next year.

With this unique model, the start-up wants to target the class 4 van segment, a category where it should have few competitors for a few more years.

Another factor that could help Arrival succeed in the United States is that it already has an order for 10,000 vans from UPS and is working with Uber, which could also order large numbers of the van from come.

It will be interesting to see if the recent merger and the decision to focus on the US market will allow Arrival to become a key player in the electric delivery sector.

Source : Carscoops