The British startup is partnering with UPS, which has placed an order for 10,000 of the company’s electric delivery vans. Arrival plans to start producing the vehicles later this year in the United Kingdom and the United States. The two companies are collaborating to design vans for drivers making dozens of daily stops, who are hauling ever-growing volumes of goods, said Avinash Rugoobur, Arrival’s president.
BrightDrop, a division of GM in Detroit, is building battery-powered commercial vans for customers including FedEx and Walmart. Los Angeles–based Xos Trucks is building larger electric trucks for both UPS and FedEx. Rivian, another California startup, is designing and engineering delivery vans, especially for Amazon. The e-commerce giant, which holds an ownership interest of approximately 20 percent in Rivian, has ordered 100,000 electric vans to be delivered through 2024.