Arrival has announced a service network programme that will use the company’s digital service platform to train and certify any technician to service its vehicles. The service platform uses the data from Arrival’s vehicles and proprietary algorithms to enable existing service providers to repair and maintain its electric vans and buses. It will use existing networks of technicians and workshops, ensuring scalable coverage while helping maintenance and repair companies transition to electric vehicles.
Arrival has established four initial partners in Europe: ARC Europe Group, Kwik Fit, Rivus Fleet Solutions and ZF. It also has four initial partners in America. Together these partners will help form the Arrival Service Network, with more than 21,000 workshops and 60,000 mobile service units across the two markets promising an exceptional service to Arrival customers.
Powered by Arrival’s service platform, partners will have access to repair and maintenance documentation, in person and online training, predictive and automated diagnostics, and the distribution of spare parts.
“We’re aiming to fundamentally change the way that maintenance, service and repair is performed using in-house software to create a next generation experience for our customers,” said Serge Sulgin, CEO of Arrival Solutions. “The Arrival Service Platform will provide a marketplace to connect EV users with skilled and certified service providers, giving them an end-to-end solution for the newest and most advanced products in their fleet and allowing us to scale our service network quickly and on demand to meet our customers wherever they are. It will also give our partners the opportunity to upskill their workforce for the future of mobility.”
The service platform starts at the vehicle level, where on board sensors and embedded software constantly analyse the state of the vehicle and its components. This vehicle-specific information is maintained in the cloud, creating a real-time picture of the vehicle that allows Arrival to remotely determine which component needs service, rather than requiring technicians to manually diagnose an issue in the field. This remote capability is augmented by predictive models that aim to identify issues before they even occur. The platform then takes into account all the operations that are required to repair a vehicle based on the data received and builds an optimised work package determined by the criticality of the issue, the parts needed, the skill levels of the technician required and any additional supporting material needed. Customers will either be presented with scheduling options or an automatic selection based on their predefined criteria, and the platform will orchestrate the coming together of resources to perform the repair.
If the technician encounters an unexpected issue, Arrival Service Engineers located strategically across markets remain on standby to provide remote support via chat and live sessions using smart glasses, or in-person if needed. To ensure customer satisfaction, the platform carefully manages people by delivering training, certification, and technical support directly to the technicians and helping them stay up to date. Automatic warranty authorisation and easy job documentation further support the technician through the entire process and minimise any paperwork required.
Arrival believes its new approach to servicing vehicles will ensure consistent, convenient access for customers through established and respected operators. The company said it will continue to add partners to the network as production ramps up.
