Project Arrow zero-emission vehicle design revealed

At CES 2020, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada launched the first, original, full-build, zero-emission concept vehicle named Project Arrow. The all-Canadian effort will be designed, engineered, and built through the joint efforts of the nation’s automotive supply sector and post-secondary institutions.

Recently the APMA unveiled the winning design from a field of three finalists and nine complete submissions. The winning team hails from Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design in Ottawa. The chosen vehicle design answered all the requirements of the competition brief and the APMA believes it is a design that properly showcases Canada leadership in this space.

“We feel privileged to be making our mark on the growing Canadian auto industry while playing our part in pushing towards a zero-emissions future. We designed this vehicle to represent what Canada is all about and can’t wait to see it on our roads someday,” said Kaj Hallgrimsson on behalf of his Carleton University colleagues Jun-Won Kim, Mina Morcos, and Matthew Schuetz.

The global automotive market is entering a new era that is driven by the “ACES” concept: autonomous, connected, electric, shared. Project Arrow is designed to showcase what Canada’s automotive supply sector, its auto-tech SMEs, and academic institutions can do on the global stage by working together.

“With this design, the team from Carleton University has given a face to the name of Project Arrow that one day we hope will launch a thousand shifts,” said Flavio Volpe, president, APMA.

As Project Arrow moves to the engineering phase, the vehicle build team will be led by Ontario Tech University and the virtual build will be led by the Windsor Essex Economic Development Commission’s virtual reality CAVE.

“We challenged design schools across the country to conceptualize the vehicle design and the response was excellent. To see young minds step up and work through the COVID-19 pandemic was inspiring. Their design ideas would make any global OEM design studio proud,” said Colin Dhillon, chief technical officer, APMA.

The virtual concept unveiling will come in 2021 followed by the concept car release and tour in 2022.