Arcimoto

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. He was a founder of GarageGames. Frohnmayer founded Arcimoto in November, 2007 after his exit from GarageGames, which sold to IAC in March, 2007.

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]

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".[9] 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, with an estimated selling price of $11,500.[10] The company is taking pre-orders from residents of the United States and its territories.

See also

References

  1. ↑ ""The Key to Cheap Electric Cars? Ditch the Steering Wheel" from". WIRED. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  2. ↑ http://www.arcimoto.com/
  3. ↑ http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/01/the-arcimoto-srk-electric-vehicle-is-the-most-fun-thing-we-did-at-ces/
  4. ↑ Blanco, Sebastian (2015-11-19). "AutoBlogGreen, "Arcimoto Generation 8 SRK is a 3-wheeled lesson in persistence"". Green.autoblog.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  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 24 April 2011.
  8. ↑ https://www.arcimoto.com/development
  9. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2015/04/after-1m-investment-eugene-ev-startup-eyes-pilot.html
  10. ↑ http://www.nasdaq.com/article/what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting-an-apple-car-20150831-00003

External links

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