With the ongoing automotive electrification, Canada's Automotive Parts 
Manufacturers' Association (APMA) has devoted to Project Arrow to build an EV 
from the ground up. The collaborative project will bear fruit when unveiling a 
concept car at the end of this year, demonstrating local companies' competence.

Warren Ali, SVP of innovation at the APMA, said the project creates a neutral 
and open platform for the country's automotive components and technologies. 
APMA launched Project Arrow at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2020.

Ali will be the keynote speaker at Unlocking Global EnnoVation Opportunities, 
an EV webinar hosted by DIGITIMES Asia(https://reurl.cc/m3MR5M), on September 
22, 2022. 

A concept EV to unveil before 2023
Starting with a design competition that was won by a team of students at 
Carleton University in Ottawa, Project Arrow has attracted interest from 500 
automotive technology and software companies.   

Ali said as the project moved into the engineering phase, about 50 companies, 
including those focusing on components, software integration and the final 
assembly of vehicles, were selected to work on the concept car. Most of them 
were "born and raised" in Canada.

The group plans to unveil the vehicle in Canada in December and introduce it to 
the world at CES 2023. Ali said it would also launch a virtual version of the 
car to exhibit technologies from companies beyond those working directly on 
it.    

One of Project Arrow's primary goals is to demonstrate the components and 
technologies of Canada's many small-medium-sized suppliers and manufacturers, 
Ali said. The country also fosters a growing group of software companies 
focusing on the human-machine interface, cybersecurity, structure elements 
within vehicles and lightweighting. 

Ali said another goal of the project is to perform a gap analysis through the 
process – identifying the technologies, components or expertise Canada must 
expand and grow to be successful both near-term and into the future. For 
instance, Canada can use more talents in designing vehicles and building 
prototypes. He added that the project recruited a chief engineer who worked for 
Aston Martin, a British sports car manufacturer, and participated in its 
special projects such as Valkyrie, Formula One, and vehicles used in recent 
James Bond movie series.          

Project Arrow is an experimental and collaborative effort that provides 
suppliers with a more neutral platform to demonstrate their innovations to 
OEMs. Ali said a supplier traditionally innovates with the OEM's needs. For 
example, an OEM is like a master chef who designs the menu (car) and then goes 
to the market looking for every ingredient (component) required. However, 
Project Arrow went in reverse.     

"We went out and saw all of the best and brightest things that we had. And we 
said,' what can we build using all of this?'" Ali said.

Project Arrow can explore many new ideas to build the concept car. For 
instance, Ali said the inner panels of the vehicle will contain composite 
materials using agricultural waste, which would have gone to a landfill or been 
burned.       

A collective project showing Canadian auto industry's resilience
APMA and its partners from the industry and academia proceeded with the project 
at a time when the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 
July 2020. Ali said it is a free trade agreement (FTA) offering Canada an 
opportunity to grow the automotive sector's contribution to GDP from CAD35 
billion (US$26.6 billion) to more than CAD40 billion annually.     

The collective project could be useful when dealing with production challenges. 
For instance, Ali said while the group still has to figure out how it can 
address issues regarding semiconductor shortages, it found a partner that 
manufactures chips and develops an innovative platform that may reduce the 
number of electronic control units (ECUs) within a car.

Project Arrow has uncovered the strength and resiliency of the Canadian 
automotive supply chain, Ali said. The industry now can scale up to meet 
volume, quality and safety expectations from battery management systems, 
components and many others. 

Ali said the industry has also formed international partnerships with 
manufacturers in Europe and Asia through this project.

More importantly, Project Arrow bridges the traditional automotive world and 
the new generation of mobility technology and service providers. Ali said there 
is a collaboration integrating traditional manufacturers and new technology 
companies in each major vehicle system, such as battery and interior design of 
the vehicle.

The cooperation would enable a more robust end product and make the automotive 
industry in Canada successful for the next 100 years, Ali concluded.

Join DIGITIMES Electric Vehicle webinar(https://reurl.cc/m3MR5M) in discovering 
the Global EnnoVation opportunities, find out how to build an all-round EV 
ecosystem, strategizing for EV Blue Ocean.

For more webinar information, please visit https://reurl.cc/m3MR5M

CONTACT: Cleo.chang@digitimes.com

SOURCE: DIGITIMES ASIA

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