Arrival Unveils Arrival Car, Its Purpose-Built Ride Hailing Vehicle
By Edward A. Sanchez – Dec 17, 2021
After the unveiling of its concept van for the UK’s Royal Mail in 2017, UK-based commercial EV startup Arrival has been at hard at work behind the scenes to increase its presence globally, including the establishment of a U.S. presence in Charlotte, N.C, along with forming partnerships with UPS and getting investments from General Motors and Hyundai Group, among others. The company is now expanding its product portfolio with the arrival (no pun intended) of the Arrival Car, its purpose-built vehicle for ride-hailing service.
As we’ve discussed many times on this blog and on our podcast, not all of the current entrants and intenders in the EV space will make it. Simply put, there is finite money to go around, and while not lacking for imagination, talent, and innovation, many of these startups simply don’t have the backing of financial, technological, or manufacturing partners to scale up to a level of being sustainable over the long term. The other key factor in whether these ambitious entrants succeed or fail is whether there is need or demand for their product or service.
By moving the driver forward, Arrival’s car has ample rear legroom which can also be used to store small bags.
Ride-hailing giant Uber has a need to electrify its fleet, and quickly, based upon the company’s self-imposed target of having a zero-emissions fleet by 2030. Up until now, Uber largely relied on vehicles privately-owned by its drivers. While the company is shifting its model to more leased or rented vehicles, none of them are necessarily purpose-built for ride hailing. The closest is probably minivans, which remain the gold standard for passenger-transporting practicality for most people.
Back to Arrival, the company has now officially unveiled the Arrival Car, which it first teased in May 2021, showing some shadowy silhouettes and renderings of a passenger vehicle concept. We now have a slightly better idea of the car, which was developed in collaboration with, and with input from, Uber drivers.
The interior of the vehicle boasts a lot of flexibility, with seats folding flat.
While perhaps not subjectively beautiful in the sense of a Karma GS-6, it is a wonder of packaging efficiency, combining an on-road footprint approximately the size of a Volkswagen Golf with more rear-seat space than the famed London Black Cab.
Styling-wise, at least to these Gen-X eyes, it looks like an amalgam of a BMW i3, Kia Soul, and maybe a tad of Chevy Bolt. The dashboard closely resembles that of a Tesla Model 3 or Y, with a prominent center horizontal display serving as a gauge cluster, infotainment, and control center.
Along with the unveiling of the “alpha” model of its ride hailing vehicle, the company also teased what the next design iteration might look like.
While the subjective “fun-to-drive” factor is certainly secondary in utilitarian-oriented vehicles, Engadget’s Daniel Cooper has high hopes for the Arrival Car based on his experience driving an Arrival Van prototype.
Details on the powertrain, battery size, price, and other specifications will presumably be released closer to its targeted arrival (really, I didn’t mean to) in the third quarter of 2023. Until then, Uber drivers will have something more practical and comfortable to look forward to, much like U.S. Postal Service workers. Hopefully Uber drivers won’t have to wait for more than a decade for their purpose-built transporter.
(Images courtesy Arrival)
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