Electric vehicle start-up in Banbury in £85m deal with car giants

New deal: Avinash Rugoobar, Denis Bierman and Edward Lee

An electric vehicle start-up company with a factory in Banbury has secured an £85 million boost from two car giants.

Arrival has secured the cash injection from Korea’s Hyundai and Kia.

The investment heralds the beginning of new partnership to increase the rate of use of commercial electric vehicles worldwide.

Arrival says that Hyundai and Kia will use its technologies to develop mobility services and electrify vehicle fleets.

Avinash Rugoobur, Arrival’s Chief Strategy Officer, said: “We are excited to come out of stealth mode with our partnership with Hyundai Motor Group, and our complementary expertise will allow us to rapidly design, build and roll out vehicles together.

“Accelerating electric vehicle adoption is good for everyone - for people, business and the planet.”

Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO at Arrival, said: “Arrival has created a game changing product category - Generation 2 Electric Vehicles. Hyundai and KIA make world-class vehicles with uncompromising quality. This strategic partnership will empower our companies to scale Generation 2 Electric Vehicles globally.”

The investment now values Arrival, which is headquartered in London and has more than 800 employees in five countries, at £3billion.