Arcimoto’s $12,000 three-wheeled electric vehicle prepares to launch. Reuetrs’ Jane Ross reports.
This three-wheeled vehicle is the culmination of 10 years of work For Mark Frohnmayer.
It’s the Arcimoto SRK — an all-electric commuter vehicle retailing at a base price of $12,000 — and Frohnmayer hopes his first customers will have them in their driveways by the end of summer.
“I thought, you know, if we can build something that was much closer to the motorcycle in terms of efficiency and fun factor and, you know, footprint on the road but was close to the car in terms of capabilities and enclosable and carries groceries and stable, that we’d have a real product opportunity that the world has been missing for a long time, Mark Frohnmayer, Arcimoto founder and president, saying.”
Frohnmayer built seven generations of prototypes with regular car steering wheels. His breakthrough moment came when he replaced the steering wheel with motorcycle handlebars.
“By switching to handlebar steering, we were able to move the passengers into a more upright seating position like you’d have on a city scooter and that let us shorten the vehicle by almost two feet and drop hundreds of pounds — almost 600 pounds — of weight between generations 6 or generation 7 and generation 8 and that moved us way beyond our actual weight target and let us drop the cost to a point where it was actually going to be in the sweet spot that we were aiming for, Frohnmayer, saying”
The SRK can reach 85 mph and has a range of 70 miles. It has an equivalent fuel consumption of 230 MPG, the company says.
Frohnmayer said Arcimoto has already taken 1,500 reservations and hopes it’s just the beginning. He believes his small cars will soon have a big impact in the fight against climate change – offering commuters a sustainable and eco-friendly option to get to work.
