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With its innovative thinking - modular platform architecture, composite bodies, flexible robotics rapidly deployed in microfactories rather than traditional large, rigid assembly lines, British commercial EV maker Arrival seems more like a technology company than another staid purveyor of heavy iron like the Detroit "Big 3".
Arrival claims a 50% operational cost savings for fleet owners. They've recently won a contract for 10,000 electric delivery vans from UPS. UPS and Hyundai are also investing in the company, with Hyundai interested in collaborating on advanced manufacturing.
I just read an article showing Amazon's vans are just about to start hitting the streets too.
Once commercial is going electric, you can bet rapid adoption of normal consumers is not too far off.
I think that user "recycled" makes a good point when he talks about the particular advantages for EVs as local delivery vehicles, in this post on the Amazon delivery van thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/60499368-post2.html
The same points are true of city buses that run the same route all the time and return to the garage at night, and in fact Arrival is also making buses.
But I agree that you wouldn't see huge customers like Amazon investing $4 Billion+ and UPS investing $500M-$1B in these vehicles, if they weren't a viable technology that offers advantages for commercial use. 10 years ago, it would have been a different story and you wouldn't see these big deals, but the EV technology is rapidly improving. In 10 more years it will be in a mainstream position for consumer vehicles in my opinion, not just a small segment of the market. Maybe 20-25 years and they will likely dominate the consumer market.
I just read an article showing Amazon's vans are just about to start hitting the streets too.
Once commercial is going electric, you can bet rapid adoption of normal consumers is not too far off.
Not necessarily. Things that work for commercial vehicles such as local delivery trucks don't necessarily transfer to a good vehicle for consumers to buy. Think about diesel engines. Great for delivery vehicles they last forever, they seem to be excellent at caring greater weight. But you put it in passenger car and nobody wants it.
I think local delivery is probably the best application for electric vehicles.
Not necessarily. Things that work for commercial vehicles such as local delivery trucks don't necessarily transfer to a good vehicle for consumers to buy. Think about diesel engines. Great for delivery vehicles they last forever, they seem to be excellent at caring greater weight. But you put it in passenger car and nobody wants it.
I think local delivery is probably the best application for electric vehicles.
Local bus routes are a similar application to local delivery, and Arrival is making those as well. As I said in the Amazon thread, I think these are really well suited to EVs in their current from, one could say it's "the killer app". You don't need to use a charging network, and the routes are predictable and comfortably within the vehicle's range, so you're not exposed to some of the things that need improving for some applications. Plus, commercial use really puts a premium on reliability and low operating cost - even more than personal use.
I think you need to be careful about saying this is *the same* as any other application. But I also think that the fact that Amazon and UPS are investing big in EVs for delivery reflects a maturing of the technology that goes beyond package delivery.
Local bus routes are a similar application to local delivery, and Arrival is making those as well. As I said in the Amazon thread, I think these are really well suited to EVs in their current from, one could say it's "the killer app". You don't need to use a charging network, and the routes are predictable and comfortably within the vehicle's range, so you're not exposed to some of the things that need improving for some applications. Plus, commercial use really puts a premium on reliability and low operating cost - even more than personal use.
the problem with buses is you'll have to double up your fleet you wouldn't have to do that with delivery vehicles you can deliver for a certain part of the day and build vehicle around being charged in the time it's not used for delivery buses run a lot longer I don't think it's feasible for buses. Buses should go hybrid. That technology works beautifully and local commuting.
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I think you need to be careful about saying this is *the same* as any other application. But I also think that the fact that Amazon and UPS are investing big in EVs for delivery reflects a maturing of the technology that goes beyond package delivery.
I didn't say anything was the same so thanks for putting words in my mouth. Also electric cars are backwards they're not more advanced the more advanced thing is an internal combustion engine that consumes fuel it's far more technologically advanced this is not a maturation it is a regression. That being said if cities can produce the extra demand of electricity and we can eliminate fuel costs then it's a great idea.
the problem with buses is you'll have to double up your fleet you wouldn't have to do that with delivery vehicles you can deliver for a certain part of the day and build vehicle around being charged in the time it's not used for delivery buses run a lot longer I don't think it's feasible for buses. Buses should go hybrid. That technology works beautifully and local commuting.
I didn't say anything was the same so thanks for putting words in my mouth. Also electric cars are backwards they're not more advanced the more advanced thing is an internal combustion engine that consumes fuel it's far more technologically advanced this is not a maturation it is a regression. That being said if cities can produce the extra demand of electricity and we can eliminate fuel costs then it's a great idea.
It is true electric vehicles have been around for a century and a half they fell out of favor in 1900 when the car we consider conventional vehicle today took over. And that's where they remained ever since.
The all of a sudden interested in it is good for the future of the electric car and I hope the interest continues if there's people out there that want electric cars now they have more than just one or two options.
Good niche, but electric delivery-vehicles were used as far back as the the later part
of the 19th-century.
And guess what, the limitations of battery-powered vehicles are still very much there.
It's not the 19th century, it's the 21st century, and today's vehicles and the growing charging infrastructure are totally different, so I don't think it's useful, other than perhaps in a rhetorical sense to make it sound bad, to look back more than 100 years to evaluate future prospects from today.
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