EV maker Arrival cutting jobs again in pivot away from UK to the US

Arrival is trying to squeeze the most out of its capital as it restructures for the second time in six months.

The first EV vans were supposed to be delivered in the UK but the company said in a regulatory filing that it is shifting its focus to the US.

Arrival, which went from stealth electric vehicle startup to a publicly traded company, said it will put the bulk of its remaining resources toward producing a family of van products for the U.S. market. Money will be put into related technologies such as core components, composite materials, mobile robotic and what it describes as software-defined factories.

Job cuts are going to be a consequence of the move. At the end of the third quarter, the company's cash runway was $330 million.

The company didn't say how many jobs it would cut The language used in the company's filing suggests it will be significant. The restructuring is expected to have a large impact on the company's global workforce.

The company will give more information on the earnings call.

Arrival said it will try to raise more capital to fund the commercialization of these vehicle programs in the U.S.

Arrival isn't leaving the UK completely. A small number of vans will be produced at the Bicester microfactory to support trials with customers.

The tax credit recently announced as part of the Inflation Reduction Act is one of the reasons the company decided to shift focus to the U.S.

Arrival said in June that it would slash costs and cut up to 30% of its workforce in order to protect the business from a challenging economic environment. Arrival said the plan would allow the company to meet its targets using $513 million in cash.

Arrival lowered the number of vehicles it would deliver from 400 to 20 and put the development of its battery-electric buses on hold.

It seems that the cuts were not enough.

Arrival had planned to use its existing cash on hand of $513 million plus funds available through a $300 million "at the market platform" to deliver the first vehicles to U.K. customers. The ATM was an unreliable source of capital due to the company's low share price.