Just a reminder....

[DanCooper]

I continue to be worried, and I have been from when I first found out about Arcimoto. There have been many failures and few successes in the alternative vehicle market. Arcimoto has put an awful lot of work into this. They seem to have a good product, poised to enter the market, but many of the failures have seemed to be that way too. I understand that targets are just targets and you don't always hit them, and they often have to be moved. I understand that deadlines are sometimes death points, as failing to meet a deadline can result in funding being withdrawn. But I would feel a lot more optimistic about this if they would publish their targets and progress regularly, and be open about the necessity to move targets sometimes.

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"The world is rapidly moving towards a sustainable transportation system and we at Arcimoto are working to play our role in that future." - from the Arcimoto web site. The problem is that world is NOT moving towards a sustainable transportation system. The current US government will do what it can to sabotage a sustainable future in favor of short term profits for the very rich. A business plan based on society-wide recognition of the need for sustainable energy and for cutting CO2 emissions cannot succeed at this time. There are a few people left who actually care about a sustainable future and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Arcimoto needs to start by serving that market as soon as possible.

[Rickb]

Dan, That would be Elio Motors business model.  Guesses and delay, after delay, after delay with financial woes being the only confirmed EM filing news.  

I appreciate Arcimoto making announcements when milestones are met and we can simply assume the reality of general target dates moving.  Arcimoto has always been very quiet about progress statements right up until a major reveal, case in point the Gen 8 and ETC Builds.  They also seem financially stable with available funding required to move closer to production.  I'm cautiously optimistic about Arcimoto.

The only real concern I have about any of the three wheeler concepts after making it to production is the required market acceptance for long term success.

[DanCooper]

Arcimoto is by far the closest to my interests and needs. I won't give up on them. I just hope their business model is realistic. There won't be a mass market for light vehicles for a long time. There will be a niche market. If they can serve that market for some years, and make a profit at a small production volume, eventually the mass market will develop. If technological civilization doesn't collapse first.

[Rickb]

I agree. The most realistic part of Arcimoto's business model is to start with lower production numbers and scale based on market demand. Mark Frohnmyer is a proven successful entrepreneur. Arcimoto is not his first startup rodeo.

This seems to be a period of civilized time when people appear not have the best judgement. I worry too about our future and new technology may take a big hit over the next few years.

[paravil]

If they do not come up with the promised blog entry by the end of this year, and it doesn´t dispel my anxiety as to progress towards production of an enclosed vehicle, I´ll be severely disappointed (I´ve just decided to relinquish my Solo order)

[Rickb]

I just emailed Arcimoto asking if it's time to shoot the December Newsletter out of the hopper.  Seems like the click of a button.  The countdown continues.  

Just because you request your Solo refund deposit, doesn't mean you may never buy a Solo.  Your interest may renew and your questions answered if provided the necessary test drive opportunity.  I'll report back with my test drive experiences for what that's worth.

Hopefully, the SRK works out better for your timeline requirements or Phil's narrow tilter concept magically comes to market.

[paravil]

Rick, I´ve given up hope that Phil will ever find a manufacturer for his tilting four-wheeler. And I have my doubts whether any large car or motorbike company will take on their own project, similar to the Nissan tilter, in the near future. There just doesn´t seem to be sufficient demand to warrant larger scale production.

I´ve also looked up the new `Fly the Road´ site and studied their latest publications. The tilting Carver system really does seem to suffer from distinct problems that are (as yet) nowhere near a solution. And my feelers towards people at Bosch here in Berlin lead to a great deal of caution regarding any participation.

[DanCooper]

A tilting vehicle adds a lot of complexity and safety concerns. It would require much more testing before it could be produced. It is hard enough to get into production with a basic light vehicle.

[paravil]

Dan, there are several tilting motor scooters, made by larger manufacturers already on the market. Testing and compliancy are a lot less stringent for vehicles internationally classified as less then the `car´ category (quads), especially if they are EVs. Australian Phil has calculated that the tilting mechanism only adds less than 300$ to production costs. The end product would cost little more than an enclosed version of existing tilting motor scooters.

It´s apparently not the cost that is preventing major manufacturers fron marketing their narrow, tilting, four-seater prototypes, but the realisation that there is not sufficient demand for any small urban vehicle. This is a limiting factor for both the Solo and ther Arcimoto. Any motor vehicle manufacturer would have had the facilities and the knowhow, and most of them have shown this with a large number of motor show prototypes. But all of them eventually decided not to produce them.

[DanCooper]

The Toyota I-road is more suitable for commuting within a city than for more spread-out places, because of its lower speed, shorter range, and narrower track compared with the SRK. If I happened to hit a big pothole I would rather do it in an SRK than an I-road. The active tilt probably won't react fast enough and the narrow track will tip you over. I think the only advantage of tilting is to enable a narrower track, and the only advantage of a narrower track is where parking is really hard to come by but motorcycle parking is available. I heard that the I-road will only be sold in Japan. I would like to see it here. Any light vehicle will help build market acceptance for all of them.