CHARLOTTE — Arrival, a British electric vehicle maker, delayed its Charlotte-area production timeline earlier this year as part of a business reorganization. The company now says it is refocusing its operations on the U.S. market, where Charlotte is the center of its business.
Arrival said in its announcement on Thursday that “significant further investment” would be needed to scale its microfactory in the U.K., which had been expected to begin electric van production in the third quarter. The facility missed that target but produced its first “production verification vehicle” last quarter. Arrival said today the further investment would be best directed to the U.S. and that it “plans to further right-size the organization and cut cash intensive activities while continuing to advance its core technologies.”
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Details on a potential production timeline for electric vans in Charlotte were not announced. Arrival has said previously it hopes to begin production at its Charlotte microfactory in 2023, but has not clarified when. A company spokesperson told CBJ earlier this month that Arrival needed to raise capital for the Charlotte facility.
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