Electric buses built by Arrival, a UK-based manufacturer, will be tested on British roads for the first time later this year in a test with transport company First Group.
Testing will begin this fall, starting with four of the first production vehicles produced at Arrival’s research and development facility in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Discussions are underway on new trials with other companies.
The tests are the latest step in the rapid expansion of Arrival, which has attracted investments worth hundreds of millions of pounds to build vans and buses powered by batteries with zero exhaust emissions. The company, which has not yet started full production, expects that by 2024 it will earn revenues of about $ 3.1 billion (£ 2.2 billion) from bus sales, along with about $ 10.9 billion from vans.
Arrival is also looking at an undisclosed number of new plant locations in the UK, a sign of its intention to increase production while preparing a reverse listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York at a $ 5.4 valuation. billion (£ 3.9 billion) The company’s main operations will remain in the UK.
Bus companies are rushing to cut carbon emissions to meet clean air regulations in cities. The First Group will not buy diesel buses after 2022 and plans to eliminate exhaust emissions by 2035.
The First Group is also conducting separate electric bus tests by rival manufacturers BYD ADL, Optare and Yutong, as well as a hydrogen fuel cell bus test in Aberdeen, its hometown.
Arrival hopes to launch bus production quickly to reach major cities around the world. The goal is to produce 1,000 buses in 2022 and 11,000 in 2024. In addition to an installation in Bicester, also in Oxfordshire, Arrival started work at a plant in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Arrival, which now employs more than 1,400 people, was founded in secret in 2014 by Denis Sverdlov, a Russian telecommunications entrepreneur. The company is using “microfactory” facilities that break with the traditional logic of making cars on large production lines, instead of using robots to assemble vehicles in “cells”.
The first publicly announced product, an electric van for “last mile” delivery to cities, will begin testing with United Parcel Service, a US carrier, in late February. UPS ordered 10,000 vans last year in a deal worth € 400 million (£ 350 million).
Avinash Rugoobur, president of Arrival, said that integrated tracking, information screens and internet connections can allow buses to better connect with other modes of transport and provide better user experiences. The flat floor also facilitates accessibility.
“We are really at the beginning of what is possible only within the bus platform,” said Rugoobur. The buses in use today “definitely do the job, but, similar to the van market, we’re talking about technology that hasn’t changed where the world is today”.
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Electric buses will have prices very similar to diesel buses, although Arrival estimates that the total cost of ownership will be significantly lower due to lower fuel and maintenance costs. He did not disclose the range of the buses, but Rugoobur said they should be able to service most urban routes.
Arrival buys its batteries from Korean LG Chem, but Rugoobur said the company would be happy to purchase batteries in the future from a UK-based factory, if one could be successfully launched.
The company is also working on driverless operations for controlled situations, such as inside the company’s warehouses, although Rugoobur warned that driverless buses on the roads were a bit distant.
“For driverless buses to become a reality, you need true, fault-tolerant road autonomy,” he said. They weren’t there. “