The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada has unveiled the winning design of Project Arrow, the first, original, all-Canadian, full-build, zero-emission concept vehicle.
The winning design team, chosen from three finalists, hails from Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design in Ottawa.
The vehicle design “answered all the requirements of the competition brief” and it “properly showcases Canada’s leadership in this space,” the APMA said in a statement.
The vehicle looks like a cross between something from the Jeep family, a Tesla and Land Rover. It’s an SUV, not a sedan, fitting considering J.D. Power estimated that 80 per cent of all new vehicles sold during the third quarter in Canada were light trucks, SUVs and CUVs as passenger cars continue to fall out of favour among consumers.
“Some people said to me ‘that’s Tesla meets Fisker meets Land Rover meets Canada,’” APMA CEO Flavio Volpe told Automotive News Canada.
The trio of finalists, chosen from nine submissions, were:
- The Sea to Sky Electric’s E-Nova, submitted by Marie-Pier Alary and Bailey van Rikxoort from the Wilson School of Design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Richmond, B.C.;
- The Archer, submitted by Stephen Bykowy of Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in Toronto;
- And the Traction, the eventual winner, submitted by Kaj Hallgrimsson, Jun-Won Kim, Mina Morcos and Matthew Schuetz at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Project Arrow is the APMA’s response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call to action for a net-zero emission economy by 2050. Envisioned as an all-Canadian, zero-emissions, lightweight, concept vehicle to debut in 2022, it was unveiled at CES2020 in Las Vegas, and will serve to highlight Canada’s automotive technology cluster.
“Industry-led initiatives like this, and the partnerships we’re forming with companies like Ford, are clear signs the auto sector in Canada has a bright and sustainable future ahead,” Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains said in a video statement.
Volpe said there was no connection between Project Arrow and Ford’s recently announced $1.8-billion investment to assembly electric vehicles at its Oakville, Ont., assembly plant.
The federal and Ontario governments each are contributing $295 million to retool the plant, which will build EVs beginning in late 2024 or early 2025.
“We’re not at a production discussion, yet,” Volpe said. “This is a demonstration project.”
The idea is to showcase the best of Canadian ingenuity, from design to moldmaking to interiors and technology.
Project Arrow now moves to the engineering phase.
The APMA says its vehicle build team will be led by Ontario Tech University with the “virtual build” being led by the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation’s virtual reality CAVE.
The relatively new $4.6-million three-dimensional cave at Windsor’s Institute for Border Logistics and Security (IBLS), features three screens measuring 4.75-by-2.9 metres, and has changed the way projects are designed and developed, by allowing companies to test their products in advance and reduce the cost of failures.
The cave allows small and medium-sized shops — in this case the APMA’s design team — to test their technology before actually producing a mold.
