Hyundai and Kia invest in EV platform
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation have announced a strategic investment of €100m in a new partnership with Arrival, a UK-based electric vehicle start-up.
Through the partnership, Hyundai and Kia plan to use Arrival’s scalable electric platform to introduce competitively priced small and medium-sized electric vans and other products for logistics and on-demand ride-hailing and shuttle service companies.
They will also explore the development of a range of Purpose Built Vehicles (PBV).
Hyundai will contribute €80m and Kia €20m.
Albert Biermann, president and head of research and development division for Hyundai Motor Group, said: “The eco-friendly vehicle market in Europe is expected to grow rapidly due to the introduction of further environmental regulations. Through the joint development of electric commercial vehicles with Arrival, we will be able to gain a competitive advantage and progressively establish our leadership in the global eco-friendly vehicle market, with Europe at the forefront.”
Arrival has production plants and R&D centres in the US, Germany, Singapore, Russia and the UK. The company’s strength lies in its ‘skateboard’ vehicle platform, which it claims is fully-scalable to accommodate multiple vehicle types.
