Mission Arrow’s rubber has lastly hit the highway.
Video equipped solely to Automotive Information Canada exhibits the all-Canadian, all-electric autonomous prototype constructed by a number of members of the Automotive Components Producers’ Affiliation (APMA) in movement in Oshawa, Ont., a couple of week earlier than it heads to Atlanta, the place will probably be proven to quite a lot of auto executives.
On April 11, the APMA will display the car’s capabilities for quite a lot of potential clients at Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.
Peachtree Corners is a municipality adjoining to Atlanta. And Curiosity Lab describes itself as “a publicly funded residing lab designed to supply an actual world take a look at setting to advance subsequent technology clever mobility and sensible metropolis know-how.”
APMA President Flavio Volpe and representatives from 20 member firms will make the journey south.
“This can be a particular space in Peachtree the place we are able to display the automotive rolling,” Volpe mentioned. “Curiosity Labs and Peachtree Corners has arrange a collection of conferences with potential clients, together with Tier I suppliers and OEMs.”
The show would be the first time firms exterior the APMA will witness the car in movement. It’s been pushed in spurts in Ontario virtually solely behind closed doorways.
Initially, 534 Canadian firms expressed curiosity in taking part in Mission Arrow, with 150 new to the APMA’s database and 58 making the ultimate the lower to collaborate on the challenge.
The car’s launch at CES and subsequent debut on the Canadian Worldwide AutoShow marked the beginning of a two-year tour that can take the Arrow in each concrete and digital type to completely different occasions and auto exhibits world wide showcasing Canadian-made know-how.
“We’re on a tour and that is cease No. 1,” Volpe mentioned of the Curiosity Lab.
Volpe mentioned that whereas it’s costly to maneuver the car round — he didn’t reveal a price — the APMA has 16 extra demonstrations scheduled for 2023.
It should seem at electric-vehicle exhibits in Toronto and Montreal. It should even be seen by automakers which have scheduled particular demonstrations. And, will probably be in Detroit for a know-how present.
“The media crush is over. However the demand for the car, the requests to see it, is unabated,” Volpe mentioned. “It’s nice to be on the highway every single day this yr. I’ve nonetheless not happy the quantity of requests.”
Volpe wouldn’t say what lies forward, after 2023, or whether or not a second Arrow is deliberate.
He would solely say “keep tuned.”
“However it shouldn’t finish right here,” he mentioned. “There’s an excessive amount of goodwill and too many individuals and jurisdictions in what Canada can do.
“It’s an envoy for Canadian auto. So, I’m completely satisfied to make all these stops.”