Automotive News Canada - November 2020 - 3

SECOND FRONT
* N O V E M B E R 2 020

THE TIP OF THE
To show that Canadian
parts companies can
compete with the best,
they're building
their own car
By GREG LAYSON

D I G I TA L A N D M O B I L E E D I T O R

IMAGINE THE ATTENTION THAT A
business card the size of a midsize utility vehicle would grab. That's precisely what the Canadian auto industry
will carry in its collective pocket upon
completion of Project Arrow, the first
all-Canadian, zero-emission concept
vehicle.
It's a response to a call by Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau for the country to have a zero-emission economy
by 2050. Flavio Volpe, president of the
Automotive Parts
Manufacturers'
Association
(APMA), was in
the gallery - and
inspired - when
Trudeau challenged the country
in that 2019 throne
speech.
" I thought,
Project Arrow
'Why don't we do
" gives us an
our own car? In
opportunity to...
Canada, we make
really highlight
every single part of and showcase
a vehicle for about the capabilities
20 different [autoof the Canadian
makers]. So, I said, industry, "
'Why don't we,
said Todd
from stem to stern, Sheppelman
build an all-Canadi- of ABC
an engineered, sup- Technologies.
plied, lightweight, P H O T O : A B C
TECHNOLOGIES
zero-emissions
vehicle?'
" Let's show everyone what Canada
can do. "
In early 2020, the APMA invited industry stakeholders, including
postsecondary institutions, to submit
design and engineering proposals for
Project Arrow, named after the all-Canadian-made Avro Arrow interceptor
aircraft from the 1950s. As a result, 93
Canadian companies have committed
to the car, which has entered the engineering phase.

The ambition to build an
all-Canadian, zero-emission vehicle
may be a " demonstration project, "
said Flavio Volpe of the APMA.
But eventually it could become the
prototype of a production vehicle.
FILE PHOTO

" If you can dream and you have a
platform, we have a place for it, " Volpe
said.
Participating suppliers are footing the bill for their contribution, said
Volpe, who has estimated that a concept vehicle typically costs $1.5 million
to $2 million to build.
The cost of developing such a vehicle for production is heftier. Volpe estimated that an automaker would spend
about $1 billion developing a new
zero-emission vehicle and getting it
into production.

NOT A 'SCIENCE EXPERIMENT'

WINDSOR, ONT. - AN
admittedly " heavy " fine against
Windsor Chrysler for misleading
advertising is designed to deter possible future transgressions, said
John Carmichael, CEO of the Ontario
Motor Vehicle Industry Council
(OMVIC).
The dealership was slapped with
the $17,500 fine in October for breaching the provincial Motor Vehicle
Dealers Act (MVDA) regulations and
its code of ethics. " By repeatedly fail-

'BEST BUSINESS CARD'
Once complete, the vehicle will tour
auto shows, exhibitions and automakers' headquarters in an effort to showcase what Canadian companies are
capable of doing. Volpe called it " the
best business card " the Canadian auto
industry could ask for.
" Not only am I telling you we can
make a car here, we did, " he said.
" Look, I'm showing you. "
The goal is to build a prototype and

One of the companies involved
in the project is ABC Technologies,
headquartered in North York, Ont.,
northwest of Toronto. CEO Todd
Sheppelman said it's " more than just a
science experiment. "
" Nobody's doing anything to
just spend money, " he said.
" It gives us an opportunity to be part of something larger than
ourselves, to really highlight and
showcase the capabilities of the
Canadian industry. I think a lot of
people get the feeling that life only
revolves around
the 40-mile [70-kilometre] circle around
Detroit.
" But Canada's a heckuva place. "
Sheppelman sees " a lot of
eagerness " among small Canadian

TRANS-CANADA NEWS
Repeating false ads nets
dealership five-digit penalty

ARROW
suppliers and tech companies new to
the auto industry " to show they've got
the goods. "
Volpe and Sheppelman both think
now is the time for Canadian suppliers to get serious about electrification. During the recent contract talks
between Unifor and the Detroit Three,
Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
both committed to electric-vehicle production in Ontario. California and
British Columbia will ban the sale of
internal-combustion vehicles by 2035
and 2040, respectively.
" The world is pushing, really at an
increasing pace, to electrification, "
Sheppelman said. " As leaders of Tier 1
suppliers, we have to look at this as a
long-term play. The momentum is really picking up in electric vehicles. "

ing to abide by the law, the dealership disrespected compliant dealers
and harmed consumers. I hope the
heavy penalty will serve as a deterrent, " Carmichael told the Windsor
Star, Oct. 7.
The dealership was fined for
advertising employee prices without
disclosing " clearly and prominently "
that the deal was not available to the
public.
The regulations and code of ethics exist to provide transparency and
to maintain a level playing field for
all dealers, Carmichael said. OMVIC

have it on tour by 2022 and also build
one that an automaker could mass-produce.
" We have to deliver something that
is relevant in the marketplace, " said
Sheppelman. " It's one thing to do a
technological exercise, but it's another
to have something that can go into production and excite people. "
Since light trucks and utility vehicles now make up almost 80 per cent
of new-vehicle sales, it's likely no surprise that the winning design concept
looks like a utility vehicle.
The successful design team, chosen from three finalists, hails from
Carleton University's School of
Industrial Design in Ottawa.
While Project Arrow is a " demonstration project, " Volpe said it could
serve as the prototype of a production
vehicle.
" We're not at a production discussion, yet, " the APMA leader said.
" If somebody else wants to build the
Arrow at volume, I'm all ears.
" If somebody else wants to take all
the lessons we learned building the
Arrow and turn those into a company
that makes things like the Arrow, it's a
bonus we didn't account for. " - ANC

Project Arrow is now in the
engineering phase of development.
The plan is to produce a vehicle that
any automaker would want to put
into production. I L L U S T R AT I O N : A P M A

5,000 KILOMETRES OF STORIES
fined Windsor Chrysler $3,500 in 2016
for advertising prices that also were
not publicly available. - Joe Knycha

Volvo EV plugs into
international charge network
RICHMOND HILL, ONT. - VOLVO
Car Canada has paired the introduction of its XC40 Recharge battery-electric utility vehicle with a deal to give
owners of its electric vehicles access
to the ChargePoint recharging network.
The California-based company has
more than 115,000 charging locations

3 11.20

in 18 countries. The partnership will
give Volvo EV owners access to more
than 80 per cent of public AC and DC
charging stations in the United States
and Canada.
ChargePoint's Canadian locations so far are clustered in major cities, mostly in Toronto, Montreal and
Vancouver. The company said it is
expanding its network.
" A partnership with ChargePoint
gives Volvo a way to break down
the Number One barrier to EV adoption, which is the ability to quickly
and easily get a charge, " said Anders
Gustafsson, CEO of Volvo Car USA.
- Benoit Charette
- ANC

Automotive News Canada - November 2020

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