Helixx’s ‘McDonald’s For EVs’ Model Could Electrify Developing Nations

With each passing year, electric vehicle adoption rates surge like a GMC Hummer EV launching forward in “Watts to Freedom” mode. There’s just one problem: that’s largely happening in developed and first-world places like the United States, Europe and China. What about the rest of the world’s vehicles, especially in places that need cleaner air the most?

Enter UK-based startup Helixx, which detailed plans this week to borrow the McDonald’s franchise model—yes, really—to make compact and utilitarian EVs for developing markets in the Asia-Pacific region, India, South America and North Africa.

And to top it off, the proposed EV designs actually look pretty cool:

Take all of this with the gallon of salt you’re used to swallowing when it comes to EV startup news, but Helixx has a clever idea that’s not far off what’s already done in many developing markets. According to Forbes, Helixx is seeking to produce four modular EVs called CARGO, TRUCK, TUK and RIDE for various delivery, hauling, taxi and ride-share businesses.

Each one is powered by a 2kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack, but they’re not only swappable (something mainstream EVs still can’t really do), more packs can be added for more range. The vehicles can take up to 12kWh in packs for a respectable 124-mile range, according to Autocar.

But the vehicles aren’t even the most interesting part. That would be how these things get made: not at some sprawling, expensive central factory, but in small regional factories operated under licensed partnerships called Helixx Mobility Hubs. That’s where the McDonald’s model comes in. Each one is like an independently-owned franchise that can reportedly be set up in just under six months.

The license holder agrees to the terms, sets up the factory, and cranks out EVs it then rents out to local businesses on a subscription basis. The factories are reportedly scalable, too, so they can expand rapidly if demand is there.

Here’s what Helixx’s CEO told Forbes:

“Looking at the McDonald’s methodology, we can now get customers to finance or part finance or scale for us,” explained Steve Pegg, Helixx co-founder and CEO in an interview. “This is where Helixx sits more as a technology company because we then become asset-light. We own the technology. We own the vehicle. We own the supply chain, just like McDonald’s. But we get customers to build the content at a volume that they’re comfortable with. So what we’ve also done is developed the system like a bit like an onion where you can start off with a small facility and just keep adding layers and layers and layers if the market demands are.”

Again, lots of EV startups have big dreams that don’t go anywhere, so we can save the official hype for when the rubber meets the road. But this actually makes a ton of sense and is close to some current methods of developing-world vehicle production.

First off, we already know EVs will generally need much less labor and parts to produce than conventional ICE vehicles. Helixx will need to source its batteries from somewhere, sure. But once it does that, in theory, these should be easy to produce since no engines are involved. (And clearly, these could run on vastly less sophisticated software than, say, a Mercedes EQS or something.)

Second, the idea reminds me of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits, which have long been used across the world to produce vehicles in new markets. Bus, heavy truck and industrial vehicle makers ship whole kits full of semi-finished parts to foreign partners and licensees, and they assemble the vehicles locally. This is how carmaking got its start in India and Iran; even Volkswagen did this for a long time with the O.G. Beetle. Again, this works more easily if the vehicle in question is relatively simple.

So what we have here is a CKD kit on steroids, but franchised out to produce different kinds of EVs for new markets. It’s very clever, and actually pretty feasible as an idea.

That’s if Helixx can pull it off, of course. Right now, Forbes reports, the company is trying to raise funds, but is in initial talks with possible partners in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It’s also working on various software-driven ways to guarantee quality and consistency across the fleet, if these cars get built. The company is also exploring recyclability options for when these vehicles reach the end of their useful lives.

So far, I actually really this idea a lot, and I think it’s only a matter of time before startups and established carmakers work toward something similar. Electrifying rural and developing nations is a major challenge, but some of these countries have among the worst air pollution in the world, leading to all sorts of health problems—not to mention, we can’t tackle climate change if only the rich countries get to have clean air. (There are also very obvious issues around charging in those countries, too.) But selling people giant American-style crossovers isn’t the answer for countries like Bangladesh, either.

This, however, could be one clever potential solution to this challenge. It would take a lot to get it off the ground, sure, but maybe not as much as you’d think.