Arcimoto

Arcimoto
Private company
Industry Automotive
Founded November 2007 (2007-11) in Eugene, Oregon
Founder Mark Frohnmayer
Headquarters Eugene, Oregon, United States
Products Electric vehicles
Website arcimoto.com

Arcimoto is an electric vehicle company from Eugene, Oregon[1] developing the SRK, a tandem two-seat, three-wheeled electric vehicle.

SRK

The company's first vehicle[2] is a tandem two-seat three wheeled electric motorcycle with an estimated range of 70 miles (110 km) or 130 miles (210 km), depending on battery pack purchased (12 or 20 kWh),[3] and a theoretical fuel economy of 230 MPGe at neighborhood driving speeds.[4] The SRK is freeway capable, with a maximum speed of 85 mph (137 km/h). The company announced the SRK April 23, 2011 and revealed their eighth generation prototype in November 2015. As of December 2015, the company was touring the west coast of the United States with product representative generation 8 prototypes, which added handlebar operation, dual-motor front-wheel drive and hand-operated regenerative braking.

Founding

The company's founder, Mark Frohnmayer, is the son of politician and former Dean and President of the University of Oregon, David B. Frohnmayer. Frohnmayer founded Arcimoto in November, 2007 after he sold his previous company, GarageGames.

Development History

Arcimoto has designed and built eight generations of three-wheeled electric vehicle prototypes.[5] Arcimoto revealed their fifth prototype, and the first SRK, on April 23, 2011. According to Frohnmayer, actor Nathan Fillion drove their vehicle and came out saying it was like driving a shark, which is where the name SRK came from.[6] This model added extra power (89 hp) and four body designs on a common chassis.[7] According to Frohnmayer, Generation 6 SRK, revealed in April 2012, was to be the pilot with 14 vehicles produced, 10 of which already had committed purchasers, then the pilot run had been increased to 40 units, sold for $41,000 each. Some time later, Generation 7 was expected to be the mass production model in late 2012[6] but became the first pilot.[8]

On September 23, 2009, Arcimoto debuted the Pulse, with an estimated $20,000 price, taking pre-orders for $500.[9] The Pulse is now considered a Generation 3 prototype by the company.[10]

As of April 2015, development was in the 8th generation refinement stage, with a 50-vehicle pilot of the 8th - and final - generation expected "as early as 2016".[11] More recently, the company's website, in late August, offered "Arcimoto will unveil Generation 8 this summer… We’re now building SRK Generation 8", while a Dow Jones Business News article said that the latest prototype due in October, has an estimated selling price of $11,900.[12]

See also

References

  1. Finley, Klint (October 18, 2015). "The Key to Cheap Electric Cars? Ditch the Steering Wheel". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  2. http://www.arcimoto.com/
  3. Gitlin, Jonathan M. (January 9, 2016). "The Arcimoto SRK electric vehicle is the most fun thing we did at CES". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  4. Yoney, Domenick (November 19, 2015). "Arcimoto Generation 8 SRK is a 3-wheeled lesson in persistence". AutoblogGreen. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  5. https://www.arcimoto.com/history/
  6. 1 2 Said by Frohnmayer during an in-class presentation on 7 February 2012 at Oregon State University.
  7. "SRK | Arcimoto". Arcimoto. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  9. Heldler, Jason (September 27, 2009). "Arcimoto Pulse - 3 Wheel Electric Vehicle". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  10. https://www.arcimoto.com/history
  11. Culverwell, Wendy (April 29, 2015). "After $1M investment, Eugene EV startup eyes pilot, production". Portland Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  12. Mims, Christopher (September 2, 2015). "What to Expect When You're Expecting an Apple Car". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 2016-09-26.

External links

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