Do Not leave Arcimoto a deposit for a vehicle.

Hey Jeff,

Please do more research before throwing a bunch of FUD around. Arcimoto has been developing the Pulse for 2 1/2 years and accepting deposits for 8 months, with a stated intent to bring products to market in late 2010. The development team is working daily to bring the Pulse vehicles to production readiness. Yes, we are taking reservations in advance of production; also all preorder funds are kept in a separate account that will only be drawn from when a customer's vehicle hits the line - we are not using any of the deposited funds for vehicle R&D. Also, all deposits are refundable from the company for those who decide not to wait.

Regards,
Mark

Mark Frohnmayer
Founder and President, Arcimoto

Does Arcimoto have any response to this post? I believe that many of us are puzzled as to why there has been NO public action from them for many months now.

So the simple question: Does Arcimoto have sufficient capital to begin production?

Arcimoto has continued to show its Pulse concept vehicle publicly in Oregon and Washington (including tonight's Get Plugged In event at the Lane County Fairgrounds). That said, Arcimoto's main focus today is vehicle development, so the bulk of our resources are going to that rather than a big PR push. Concurrently with product development we are raising the funds (public and private) necessary to bring the vehicle into full production.

Hi Mark, let's not use acronym's, as some of your prospective customers may not understand what FUD is: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.

I was left with considerable uncertainty, and doubt, of your company producing a vehicle beyond evaluation prototypes. Rather than delve into your business, I will stay focused on my original warning.

Solicitation for deposits on vehicles that are unlikely to be built within the foreseeable future is at best, questionable. A minimal investigation indicated Arcimoto has neither the capital, nor the facilities to produce a highway capable three-wheel electric motorcycle in quantities beyond evaluation prototypes.
In case anyone would care to look, here is Arcimoto:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=544%20Blair%20Boulevard%20Eugene%2C%...
Between the Pizza parlor and the Printing shop.

"Delivery Schedule Arcimoto anticipates that the delivery of the Vehicles will begin during the fall of 2010."
No set delivery date is given. If a customer has provided a deposit, using your merchant credit card processing, a refund requires a 10% fee if they change their mind and decide not to wait for however long it takes your LLC to dissolve. And as stated earlier, if it's beyond 90 days, the customer credit card company won't be able to help.

Why not just focus on actually producing an electric vehicle, and not entice a cash deposit from good folks who came to you wanting to help the environment.

Regards, Jeff Thomas

Jeff,

It was clear from your original post that you were experiencing FUD -- I was just (semi-)politely asking you not to spread it. To your point about solicitation of deposits, it's a longstanding practice to do so -- companies from Tesla to Nissan have used reservations to help quantify market demand and anticipate scale rate well before initiating production. In part because of your feedback we've removed the 10% processing fee for deposit refunds, so impatient early adopters can opt out whensoever they decide.

I appreciate your feedback on focusing on vehicle product development and in fact, the lion's share of our effort continues to be in that direction.

Regards,
Mark

We had the nicest conversation last month on AmTrak across Montana with a fellow who said he worked for Arcimoto. He provided us with a 4th for whist and 500 (popular Midwest card games), and great conversation. We wish the best for this gentleman and this company. Hope the car is soon ready for the harshest winters! It'll never replace our Dodge Ram Cummins, but sometimes ya just gotta have fun! (and save the planet, I know, I know).

Great job Mark, Removing the 10% goes a long way on showing support. I know when I was buying my Triac (also a three wheeler whom I call Mac) I had to put a lot of faith, and money into a company that could take me for all I was worth. It is how they respond that makes the difference. I had many conversations before putting the 50% down at time of ordering it. Of coarse I was on the waiting list for about two years for it to get into production.
I must say I am VERY impressed with the lithium batteries in mine. I have about 15,000 miles on them with no signs of degradation at all. They also perform very good in cold weather. Lithium rocks

Keep up the good work. I can hardly wait to see one of these in person.
Mac and me

Mac,

It appears you have a collector's item, now that Green Vehicles Inc. has folded. My condolences, but I am glad you got your hands on the product! It looks like many others will not be so lucky (Aptera, etc.). Do you know how many Triacs were produced and sold?

Arcimoto,

Any lessons you can learn from yet another failed three-wheel EV enterprise? The Triac creators cited not enough capital as their main problem. They were running entirely on city and state clean-tech grants (half a million dollars), with little interest from private investors. Their price point was not much different from yours ($25K with Li batteries).

Ian

Whats the latest 2011 news on production ?

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Any projected release data? Cost estimates on various models?
Are you looking at Motor options, Extending range. Increased top speed options.
How well do the prototypes handle road course environments. Is any actual performance data available?

Do you have a projected release date yet? Are you considering motor options for increased power, top speed, extended range? Do you have any performance data/experience re: handling?