APMA launches Project Arrow, an all-Canadian zero-emissions concept vehicle

Image Credit: APMA

The Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association (APMA) has launched a project to build what’s being called the first all-Canadian zero-emissions concept car.

Introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, the project is titled Project Arrow – a reference to the Avro Arrow supersonic jet designed and built in Canada in the 1950s – and is an effort to meet the Canadian federal government’s call for a zero-emission future by 2050.

This is the third generation of industry collaboration projects put forth by APMA and is aimed to be completed by 2022.

APMA’s other two industry collaboration projects were the Connected Lexus Technology Demonstration Program, launched in 2014 with 14 independent Canadian firms. In 2017, APMA launched a fleet of demonstration vehicles in Stratford, Ontario as part of Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network and is currently working with more than 90 auto tech startups. Two of those vehicles drove more than 3,600 kms from Toronto to Las Vegas this week to join a third for technology demonstration at CES.

“At the intersection of advanced mobility and climate change lies the challenge of our times. Future generations will ask if we ran faster or stretched out our arms farther,” Flavio Volpe, president of Toronto-based APMA, said in a statement. “The Arrow will be remembered as the gauntlet we dropped in response to this call to action.”

Aimed at the 2022 auto show circuit, Project Arrow will be rolled out in four phases:

• Phase 1: Design Competition and Selection, Summer 2020
• Phase 2: Engineering Specifications release and Supplier RFP, Fall 2020
• Phase 3: Virtual Concept Unveiling, 2021
• Phase 4: Concept Car Release and Tour, 2022

APMA will launch Phase 1 in March 2020. Interested parties are advised to contact the organization at https://www.apma.ca