Currently reading: Hyundai and Kia invest £85 million in British EV start-up Arrival

Korean car makers will use London firm's skateboard platform for a new line of electric commercial vehicles

Kia and Hyundai have invested €100 million (£85.4 million) in London-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Arrival, making it one of the UK’s most valuable start-ups. 

Through the new partnership, the Korean car makers plan to “introduce competitively priced small and medium-sized electric vans and other products for logistics and on-demand ride-hailing and shuttle service companies” using Arrival’s scalable EV platform.

Arrival says its skateboard-style platform can be used for a range of bespoke new EVs across different categories. Its suitability for commercial vehicle applications will allow Hyundai and Kia to expand their EV range beyond passenger cars such as the Kia e-Niro and Kona Electric. It will also reduce the average CO2 output of the manufacturers’ fleets ahead of tightening European emissions regulation in 2021.

Arrival was founded in 2015 but hasn't widely publicised its actions. It has 800 employees working in a series of innovative, small-footprint ‘microfactories’ in five countries that build vehicles to order to serve communities in the surrounding areas. 

The company’s Gen2.0-EV is an electric van aimed at companies in urban areas. Technical details remain unconfirmed, but it's claimed to have a range of 300 miles and a payload of 4250kg. It's expected to be priced from £35,000 when it enters production in 2021. 

06 Arrival van 1

Arrival CEO Denis Sverdlov said: “We're excited to come out of stealth mode with our partnership with Hyundai and Kia, a globally respected OEM [original equipment manufacturer] with brilliant products on the road, and our complementary expertise will allow us to rapidly transition to full-scale global production. 

“Accelerating electric vehicle adoption is good for everyone - for people, business and the planet – and we're pleased to undertake this mission with our partners Hyundai and Kia.”

Earlier this week, Kia announced development of a bespoke new EV arriving in 2021 as part of a £19 billion electric mobility development programme. Also detailed was a plan to branch out into commercial EVs with investment in global start-ups. 

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In 2019, the firms invested £60 million in Croatian hypercar firm Rimac as part of a technical partnership that will involve them developing two high-performance EVs by the end of this year.

Read more

Hyundai and Rimac team up to develop electric performance cars​

Kia to launch new EV in 2021 as part of £19bn strategy​

Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: Deputy editor

Felix is Autocar's deputy editor, responsible for leading the brand's agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry - both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today's most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years. 

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Rtfazeberdee 21 January 2020

How much for the UK itself i wonder.....

According to Guardian article: Sverdlov described Arrivals offering as generation two electric vehicles and said the £85m investment would allow global expansion.
FastRenaultFan 16 January 2020

Sure Hyundai and Kia are basically the same company anyway.

So one big company invest in this small electric company from two sources whitin its company. Just makes it easier for that company to get the funding as its coming from two sources and does not look as big if an invester or shareholder looks at what Hyundai or Kia have been investing in. 

Interesting looking vans do.  The name of the company is not great do. Maybe they could just call it A and use an A as there logo. 

gradesurgeon 1 December 2022

As a result, two divisions of the same large corporation pooled their resources to invest in the smaller electric firm. The fact that the cash is coming from two different places—Hyundai and Kia—means that the firm doesn't seem as significant to potential investors or shareholders.

jagdavey 16 January 2020

Wha about the Vacant Honda Swindon site????

Surely Boris should have encouraged Elon Musk to locate his Megafactory in the up-coming vacant Honda factory in Swindon. He could have billed it as "oven-ready" rather than Tesla having to put up with the lengthy time its gonna take him in Berlin to do it.......(They started on a new Airport in 2006 & its still not finished)

Pietro Cavolonero 16 January 2020

Apples & potatoes

Why would the Swindon plant be suitable? Is it cost effective to convert or is it cheaper to start from scratch.

Discuss....