Currently reading: UPS orders 10,000 electric vans from British start-up Arrival
Global logistics company is the first to add Arrival's adaptable commercial EV to its global fleet

Global logistics firm UPS has ordered 10,000 electric delivery vans from London-based start-up Arrival.

The vans, based on Arrival’s Generation 2.0 EV architecture, will be rolled out across the UK, Europe and North America before 2024 as UPS transitions to a zero-emissions fleet. 

The American company also has the option of ordering another 10,000 vans in the future, having made an investment in Arrival of an undisclosed amount through its venture capital arm.  

The transaction, said to be worth “hundreds of millions of euros”, comes just two weeks after Arrival announced an £85 million investment from Hyundai and Kia, which will go towards developing a new line of bespoke commercial EVs for the Korean manufacturers.

UPS and Arrival have been working together since 2016, with the former providing “valuable insight to how electric delivery vans are used on the road and how they can be optimised for drivers,” according to Arrival CEO Denis Sverdlov. 

Detailed technical and performance figures for Arrival’s electric van remain unconfirmed, but the firm claims it will "surpass traditional vehicles in cost, design and efficiency with 50% operational cost savings for fleet owners". 

It's also yet to be confirmed which of Arrival’s five low-footprint ‘microfactory’ sites will produce the UPS vans. 

Last year, online retail giant Amazon placed an order for 100,000 electric vans from American start-up Rivian, which, like Arrival, bases its EVs on a skateboard chassis and can adapt them to suit the specific needs of its customers. 

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Hyundai and Kia invest £85 million in British EV start-up Arrival​

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Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: News and features editor

Felix is Autocar's news 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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Turpitz 30 January 2020

New Electric Van

Come on guys, surely we must be able to build a van, currently only the vauxhall Vivaro (and it's derivatives) are manufacturrd in uk, we need more manufacturing, the made in UK badge must carry a premium, lets not abandon manufacturing!
si73 30 January 2020

A good news story for a start

A good news story for a start up company, where they'll be built is of interest, they have microfactories but don't say where they are, but that they are placed to support local communities, does that mean that they are effectively pop ups? Which doesn't sound feasible.. I'm guessing that these vans will be built in the locations suitable for their delivery, ie UK, EU and US.
xxxx 30 January 2020

Good news day

Pretty good practical design too. Certainly good for UPS's image