Feds invest $5M in APMA to lead development of Canada’s first electric vehicle

The federal government is investing $5 million in the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) to support Project Arrow, the automotive industry’s first Canadian-made, zero-emission concept vehicle.

APMA will use its connections in the automotive manufacturing industry – its membership accounts for 90 per cent of all independent automotive parts manufacturers in Canada – to bring together industry and academic partners in southern Ontario to facilitate the project.

The partners will work together to design, engineer and build a connected and autonomous zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) concept car and its digital twin, which will be used as a virtual platform for testing and validating connected and autonomous (CAV) technologies before they are integrated into the physical car.

FedDev Ontario’s investment in this project will support 80 jobs, leverage over $6.6 million in other funding, support at least 40 automotive suppliers and technology firms, and generate $50 million in additional investment.

Photo: Project Arrow

The FedDev Ontario–funded Virtual Reality CAVE at Invest WindsorEssex will be home to some of the key project activities surrounding the digital concept vehicle, which will be used as a virtual platform for testing and validating connected and autonomous (CAV) technologies before they are integrated into the physical car.

The concept vehicle will also act as a blueprint for battery development and integration, tech transfer and intellectual property development.

“This lighthouse project is highlighting hundreds of advanced technology companies around the world and will serve as the calling card for the next generation of leadership in Canadian zero emissions mobility,” says Flavio Volpe, president of the APMA in a statement.

The federal government is setting a mandatory target for all new light-duty cars and passenger trucks sales to be zero-emission by 2035.