Frequently Asked Questions - Technical

Electric motors are incredibly more efficient at using energy than a typical combustion motor, so even if the electricity to charge the batteries comes completely from coal, the overall carbon emissions into the environment are less than an average gas-powered car. Perhaps even more importantly, electric vehicles dramatically reduce the amount of toxic emissions in urban areas where people live and breathe the air. By focusing emissions at the power source, any advances in 'clean coal' or other methods of reducing emissions will benefit all EV drivers immediately, without having to purchase a new vehicle.

However, this is an issue that's becoming less and less relevant, as alternative energy production sources are brought onto the national grid. Currently, only 50% of the nation's energy comes from coal, with the remaining percentage provided by nuclear (20%), hydroelectric (6%), and other renewable sources.

The story is even better in Oregon, where 60% of our state's electricity comes from hydroelectric sources and only 8% from coal. This is also improving as wind, solar and wave power is being added to the state electrical grid.

Tandem seating in a three-wheeled vehicle provides the best configuration for aerodynamics, balance and vehicle handling, and makes for unique and fun drive experience. As the driver, you're centered in the middle of the vehicle, which gives you excellent balance and equal visibility on both sides. The drive experience of an Arcimoto combines the best features of a car and a motorcycle.

If properly designed, the three-wheeled configuration can provide an extremely stable and safe driving experience.

The SRK's reverse-trike configuration, low center of gravity and center-balanced seating provides handling and control that is in many ways better than most traditional four-wheeled vehicles.

All of our vehicles are built in Eugene, Oregon with parts and labor sourced as locally as possible.

All of the major electronic and motive systems are properly ventilated and utilize forced convection (fans blowing).

No, our analysis of regenerative braking has led us to conclude that improving the efficiency of other aspects of the vehicle and/or adding additional battery capacity wins out in a cost-benefit analysis.

Including solar panels on the roof is not currently a cost-effective method of capturing energy. Solar panels have a more attractive payback time when they are placed on a rooftop, where they have a significant surface area and can be utilized whenever the sun is shining. This energy can be used to charge the vehicle or to deliver clean, renewable energy back to the electricity grid.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to recapture energy that is not being expended in the first place. In general, energy recapture is possible anywhere that heat is being generated in the vehicle. Internal wind turbines would actually add to the vehicle's overall aerodynamic drag, causing it to lose more energy than would be gained.

Despite recent advancements in automotive flywheel technology, they are still very expensive to implement and present more hazards than typical batteries do. Some F1 racecars utilize flywheels to provide quick bursts of acceleration, but extreme current dumps are not required in our application.