Helixx

How This Startup Aims to Build Small Commercial EVs

Kitai

Aug 30, 2023 — 3 min read

Image: Helixx

This Startup Aims to Build Small Commercial EVs

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Helixx, a UK-based startup, is hoping to provide small businesses and ride-hailing operators with four inexpensive electric vehicles (EVs) that are based on a unified platform. In addition to this, the company also plans to offer manufacturing facilities in developing nations to produce these models. The vision is for local production of its budget-friendly EVs.

A wide selection of economical, cutting-edge mini electric vehicles with quick battery exchange capabilities is available to optimise performance and boost earnings.

These are designed for particular scenarios such as parcel delivery, construction sites, travelling by rickshaw, and shuttle services. Rapidly deployable licence-bearing production and service centres will ensure the first models arrive within 180 days. This cost-effective zero-emission transportation contributes to reduced air contamination and will help foster a lasting financial expansion in fast-developing major cities throughout the world.

It can be easy to mistakenly assume that EVs have become widely available, when evidence only points to a few countries in Western Europe and other areas such as China, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and some states in the US.

Generally speaking, these vehicles remain an expensive purchase in many parts of the world, including those in the Global South, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. To amend this situation, Helixx is introducing their range of cost-effective electric cars for commercial use - CARGO, TRUK, RIDE & TUK - to densely populated developing cities. Developed by Jakub Jodlowski & Jodyn Wong for last-mile delivery businesses, ride-hailing operators and construction companies alike.

The EVs created by Helixx will rely on swappable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with up to six battery packs, providing 2 kWh each and giving the vehicles a total range of 124 miles. However, pricing details have yet to be shared publicly.

Steve Pegg, CEO and co-founder of Helixx, noted that their team has spent four years researching the market to ensure the development of zero-emission EVs that could meet the requirements of developing economies. Their ultimate goal was to develop a solution that was able to quickly deploy these vehicles anywhere in the world without compromising energy efficiency or increasing costs and complexity.

Helixx is treading in the same footsteps as Arrival with its mix of EVs, but it has a different pricing goal. Its plan includes tailoring the bodystyles to targeted uses and creating a minimalist exterior design reminiscent of another Arrival model. It also pursues a microfactory-style approach for producing EVs, utilizing an Industry 5.0 digital platform to provide agility in supply chains and local sourcing of components.

Helixx is setting up a test production facility in the UK, with help from Siemens, to pilot its venture of establishing hubs in the UK and Singapore. Built upon a circular manufacturing ecosystem, these hubs are designed to give local businesses the capability to manufacture and run fleets of commercial EVs, tailored for various purposes. Pegg states: "Our purpose is to replace combustion-powered vehicles that cause serious pollution in growing cities around the world."

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