Arrival, the UK-based technology company focused on commercial electric vehicles (EVs), has raised $118 million from funds managed by BlackRock.

The fund-raising will be used to support the company’s growth plans as it ramps up vehicle production, including the launch of its first US microfactory in in York County, South Carolina, an investment of $46 million into the region and the creation of local jobs.

The company says it is re-inventing the automotive industry with its entirely new approach to the design and assembly of EVs. The company’s new method uses low CapEx, rapidly scalable ‘microfactories’ that can be placed anywhere in the world to serve the regions they are located in.

These microfactories, combined with proprietary in-house developed components, materials and software, enable the production of vehicles that are competitively priced to fossil fuel variants.

Arrival will begin fitting out the unit and is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2021, with start of production in the final quarter of 2021. Arrival’s microfactories can produce 10,000 vans or 1,000 buses per year.

This transformative approach reduces the costs of production and emissions of shipping, and does not require massive upfront investment, creating strong unit economics for the whole of Arrival’s product portfolio, including its electric van and bus announced earlier this year.

Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO of Arrival, said: “We are excited to welcome BlackRock as a strategic financial investor with its excellent track record in ESG. This additional capital will be invested into Arrival’s growth, as we deepen and expand our presence in the USA and other markets globally.

“With our new microfactory in South Carolina, we are looking forward to partnering with more cities and companies to create a sustainable future.”

Arrival has made major inroads in the commercial EV market having received an order of 10,000 electric vans from logistics company UPS, with the option for a further 10,000.

BlackRock joins other strategic investors in the company including Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation and UPS.

Arrival was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in the UK, with over 1,200 global employees located in offices in the USA, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, Russia nd Luxembourg.