Photo: Arrival
If Google's now defunct Firefly electric autonomous car were to have a corresponded in the world of light commercial vehicles, then this truck designed by Arrival for the Royal Mail would definitely be it.
Electric vehicles are generally speaking perceived as being friendlier, or less aggressive. To get an idea why, it's enough to watch a drag race between a Tesla and your supercar of choice: even if the EV wins it, it's still the gasoline-powered vehicle that steals the show.
But sound can't be the sole reason - no, the designers are just as much to blame. Apart from Tesla who has made its cars look as serious as possible (perhaps with the sole exception of the Model X), the others went out of their way to signal that particular model had a special propulsion system. BMW's i3, Nissan's LEAF, Renault's ZOE - even the Bolt looks positively harmless - they all had the appearance of something you would have no problem allowing your daughter to marry.
So, it's either a deliberate or a subconscious thing - or maybe a bit of both. However, all efforts to date pale in the face of Arrival's delivery truck built for the Royal Mail. The design seems to fuse a truck, a coach bus, and a toddler's toy to create an electric truck that will be used to transport packages between its mail and distribution centers in the London region.
“Royal Mail is delighted to be collaborating with Arrival and pioneering the adoption of large electric commercial vehicles," said Paul Gatti, Royal Mail Fleet’s Managing Director. "We will be putting them through their paces over the next several months to see how they cope with the mail collection demands from our larger sites. We have trialed electric trucks before but not of this type of innovative design and look forward to see what additional benefits they can bring to our existing fleet of around 49,000 vehicles.”
Proceedings will start with a trial run, but if it proves successful, a much larger part of that 49,000-vehicle fleet might switch to electric propulsion. There are three versions being considered - of 3.5, 6, and 7 tons - each optimized to deliver up to 100 miles of range.
The announcement comes only days after Deutsche Post DHL started working with Ford on the development of similar vehicles, even though we doubt Ford's designers will ever be able to come up with something as cute as this.
Arrival also claims the trucks are 'autonomous-ready,' which can very well be true considering the company is indeed involved with Roborace, the self-driving racing championship. However, the trials starting now will probably not focus on this technology.
But sound can't be the sole reason - no, the designers are just as much to blame. Apart from Tesla who has made its cars look as serious as possible (perhaps with the sole exception of the Model X), the others went out of their way to signal that particular model had a special propulsion system. BMW's i3, Nissan's LEAF, Renault's ZOE - even the Bolt looks positively harmless - they all had the appearance of something you would have no problem allowing your daughter to marry.
So, it's either a deliberate or a subconscious thing - or maybe a bit of both. However, all efforts to date pale in the face of Arrival's delivery truck built for the Royal Mail. The design seems to fuse a truck, a coach bus, and a toddler's toy to create an electric truck that will be used to transport packages between its mail and distribution centers in the London region.
“Royal Mail is delighted to be collaborating with Arrival and pioneering the adoption of large electric commercial vehicles," said Paul Gatti, Royal Mail Fleet’s Managing Director. "We will be putting them through their paces over the next several months to see how they cope with the mail collection demands from our larger sites. We have trialed electric trucks before but not of this type of innovative design and look forward to see what additional benefits they can bring to our existing fleet of around 49,000 vehicles.”
Proceedings will start with a trial run, but if it proves successful, a much larger part of that 49,000-vehicle fleet might switch to electric propulsion. There are three versions being considered - of 3.5, 6, and 7 tons - each optimized to deliver up to 100 miles of range.
The announcement comes only days after Deutsche Post DHL started working with Ford on the development of similar vehicles, even though we doubt Ford's designers will ever be able to come up with something as cute as this.
Arrival also claims the trucks are 'autonomous-ready,' which can very well be true considering the company is indeed involved with Roborace, the self-driving racing championship. However, the trials starting now will probably not focus on this technology.
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