• Faction Technology (Faction), an autonomous delivery vehicle (ADV) developer, has partnered with ElectraMeccanica, a Canadian compact EV manufacturer, to integrate its self-driving technology with the latter’s “SOLO EV” vehicles.

• So far, ElectraMeccanica has delivered three EVs for a pilot program to retrofit the tech. As per the deal, Faction can order up to 24 SOLO EVs over the coming year for additional pilot deployments.

• The SOLO EV, primarily pitched toward commuting and deliveries, has a range of 100 miles and can travel at a maximum speed of 80 mph. Faction is already working on the test pilot to deploy the vehicles for both food delivery and vehicle on demand services.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Not only Faction, but many other peer startups and incumbents in the ADV space can be seen taking a similar approach to product development by retrofitting their self-driving technology into third -party vehicles. The list include peers Wayve (who retrofits its tech into Online grocer Ocado’s delivery vehicles), Motional (retrofits all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5s), and incumbent Oxbotica (whose software is integrated into AppliedEV’s electric vehicle modular platform). Nuro , who develops both the autonomous tech and its own vehicle, also first piloted deliveries by retrofitting its self-driving tech into Toyota Prius Sedans.</ul>