EXCLUSIVE: How Arrival Is Bringing 'Completely New' Approach To EV Industry

Arrival SA ARVL is one of numerous electric vehicle companies looking to grab a share of an expanding EV market, but the company's president said it's entering the increasingly competitive space with a fresh approach.

"We're a technology company that's really pioneering a new way of design and production of affordable commercial electric vehicles," Arrival President Avinash Rugoobur said Wednesday on "Benzinga Live."

Arrival's New Approach: Arrival has enacted a new method of production using vertical integration in microfactories, Rugoobur said. 

The company aims to improve living conditions in cities by developing sustainable mobility ecosystems that can help create cleaner air, he said.

"It's only possible through this vertical integration," Rugoobur said. "So we design our own in-house technologies and it's sort of a real differentiator that makes us quite unique."

Arrival designs its own software, hardware, components, composite materials and robotics, he said. It takes a long time to reach the level at which the company has arrived, he said.

Arrival was founded in 2015 and, following years of design work, the company is just months away from starting production, he said.

Arrival's Financial Results: Arrival released its preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021 in March. The company is set to announce its full financial results on Friday.

Rugoobur told Benzinga the company's results highlight the strength of market demand. The major achievement noted in the preliminary results is the completion of the company's first van skateboard structure. 

"We showed a video of the van skateboard chassis being put together using the microfactory process and that's really the coming together of all of the technologies that we need to build the vans at scale," he said.

Arrival plans to begin production of its European commercial van in the third quarter. The U.S. van will enter production in the fourth quarter, Rugoobur said.

The company expects to build between 400 and 600 vans in 2022.

"This method is completely new. It's taking technology of today, innovating on top of that and creating something wholly unique for the industry. We think it changes the game," Rugoobur said.

See the full interview here:

ARVL Price Action: Arrival shares have traded between $2.91 and $22.93 over a 52-week period.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, the stock was down 4.4% at $3.69 Wednesday afternoon. 

Photo: courtesy of Arrival.