Arcimoto History

[DiscjockeyDale]

I think this page on Arcimoto's website just scratches the surface of a very interesting 10 year saga.
Would anyone be interested in helping to put some old material together into a more comprehensive history in this thread?

https://www.arcimoto.com/history/

   

[Kepesk]

The most comprehensive history I've ever heard was Mark's talk at the University of Oregon a few months ago, but I don't think there's a recording available. I don't really want to step on the A-Team's toes, but I could summarize to some extent if anyone is interested?

[DiscjockeyDale]

The most comprehensive history I've ever heard was Mark's talk at the University of Oregon a few months ago, but I don't think there's a recording available.  I don't really want to step on the A-Team's toes, but I could summarize to some extent if anyone is interested?

Absolutely. I am!

If we could compile old news articles, pictures, videos and any other information we happen to run across to go along with that, I think it'd be great.

Kind of like a massive walk down memory lane. When we get it started, I can post the thread link in the resource library for easy access.

[Rickb]

I like this idea and would participate, but afraid I may post inaccurate information from sources that may have written articles containing inaccurate information.  The most accurate historical account would be info directly from the Arcimoto Website Newsletter updates page or posts made by Arcimoto on their Facebook page.

[DanCooper]

Let's face it the internet contains lots of false news, but also makes fact checking possible. I do my own fact checking if I care about the topi. How would I know if a fact checking site is honest? So I say share all we find. Caveat lector.

[Kepesk]

Alright here's a basic summary of the history as I know it.  It's really an amazing story.

Mark used to run a moderately successful video game company called GarageGames.  After selling his stake in it, (as he tells it) he wanted to do something positive with his earnings.  Eugene is a heavily bike-friendly city, and as such Mark was a bike commuter, but it wasn't really convenient for things like going across town and getting groceries and such.  However, as the A-Team frequently points out, a two ton gas-guzzler is not a great solution for transporting one person to the grocery store.

There's a guy down in the neighboring town of Creswell who developed a kit to build a tiny one-seater three-wheeled electric vehicle called the BugE.  You can still get them at http://bugev.net/.  Mark spotted one at an event, ordered a kit, built it, and decided he could take the idea to the next level.  In late 2007, Arcimoto was born.


The BugE

Mark used the money from the sale of GarageGames to fund the first three Arcimoto prototypes.  The first was a fancy proof-of-concept, the second more of a development platform, and by the time they got around to building the third, they knew they needed something more polished that they could show off.  They needed to know whether the concept would be accepted.  So they cut apart a Toyota Yaris and put it back together as a three-wheel concept called the Pulse.


The pretty, pretty Pulse

They showed off the Pulse at a number of events, and it drew enough attention that they knew that this sort of vehicle was viable.  And just as they were about to make some tough choices to find the funds necessarily to proceed, they found their first investor.  That allowed them to built the Gen 4 prototype.  It was the first prototype based on a truly original concept, and not just a car-with-motorcycle-features or a motorcycle-with-car-features.  In some ways, the Gen 4 is the basis for everything they've done since then.

This is sometime around when Nathan Fillion came onto the scene.  I don't know how he found out about Arcimoto, but he was impressed enough that he ordered one immediately ("I don't want a free one; I just want the first one").  He went on to talk about it on Conan, and he and the A-Team even created a rather funny little short film with the Gen 4:



After learning some lessons from the Gen 4 and refining the design, they built the Gen 5, and (I think) completed it in 2011.  It was originally intended to be the prototype of the production model (much as the Alphas are today).  So they took it on tour in California, showed it off to investors, and Stana Katic (Nathan Fillion's co-star in Castle) was filmed driving it around.


Stana Katic with the Gen 5

Then on the last day of the tour, one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped.  It rolled twice before coming to it stop.  Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed, but the accident was a setback for the company.  Everyone went home and they had to close down the shop that summer.

On a side note, it was in this period of time that I found out about Arcimoto and preordered.  Despite the fact that they had no current prototype and the most recent newsletter was pretty grim, I was convinced enough to fork out a little cash.

They were able to pin down the faulty part that caused the accident, and with that lesson learned, they have had a renewed focus on safety ever since, both in rigorous selection and testing of the components and in making the entire platform more stable and secure.

After a few months, the shop opened up again and they started building the Gen 6.  They redesigned it from the ground up with safety and stability in mind.  However, after a long period of refinement and testing, they knew that it was too complex, too heavy, and too expensive to market effectively, and they needed to find ways to simplify and lighten the design.  Mark has explained, "We kept aiming for 'Global Transportation Solution' and kept hitting 'Mid-Life-Crisismobile.'"


Mid-Life-Crisismobile (with me inside when I test drove it in 2012; don't read TOO much into this)

Eventually they took their refinements and built the Gen 7, sometimes called the "Orcamoto" because of the color.  The Gen 7, despite a number of improvements, failed to do what they wanted.  It was almost the same weight as the Gen 6, the complexity was not sufficiently reduced, and it was still far too expensive.  Once completed, they drove it around town and posted some photos in what was (unbeknownst to me at the time) a farewell tour.  It was difficult to see a path forward, and the shop was shut down a second time.


The Orcamoto

Later that month, as Mark tells it, he took some inspiration from some other unconventional vehicles he had seen, and started wondering how switching to handlebar controls with more upright seating would affect his design.  For the first effort to figure that out, he literally set up a couple of folding chairs in his basement and had a buddy measure him.  After doing the math on how much it would shorten the design, he called up one of his engineers whose reaction was something to the effect of "Really?  You want to try this AGAIN?!"

A few months later, they had a CAD design of the Gen 8, and a few months after that, they first released those funny purple renders and showed off the engineering mule.  The Gen 8 was born.  It was sometime during this process that they got involved with a big investment firm and started planning for their (wildly successful) IPO.  A few months after the engineering mule reveal, they revealed the first Alpha, and the rest is history.


This is the photo I snapped when the engineering mule was first showed off to the public

Arcimoto's story reminds me of Scaled Composites, the company that launched the first commercial spacecraft with just a hundred people, a few good ideas, and a lot of trial and error.  Arcimoto may have had a lot of ups and downs, but something great is coming out of it.

Admin Note: Click on the thumbnails to view larger images. A link will be readily accessible in our "Resource Library" and also at The Arcimoto SRK Club. Absolutely Outstanding Article Kepesk! --Dale

[ben]

Alright here's a basic summary of the history as I know it.  It's really an amazing story.

...Then on the last day of the tour, one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped.  It rolled twice before coming to it stop.  Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed, but the accident was a setback for the company.  Everyone went home and they had to close down the shop that summer.

On a side note, it was in this period of time that I found out about Arcimoto and preordered.  Despite the fact that they had no current prototype and the most recent newsletter was pretty grim, I was convinced enough to fork out a little cash.

They were able to pin down the faulty part that caused the accident, and with that lesson learned, they have had a renewed focus on safety ever since, both in rigorous selection and testing of the components and in making the entire platform more stable and secure....

thanks for the A-team historical summary, kinda puts things into perspective,... find it reassuring that there is commitment to the vision of developing efficient AND reliable "hardware"

one though did cross my mind after reading,

"...one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped.  It rolled twice before coming to it stop.  Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed..."

and reading the post about being "screwed" (i.e. having to go to pep boys to fix a flat tire),...  might be a good idea for anyone purchasing a vehicle w/ three wheels (i.e a "fun utility vehicle") to at the vary least review and understand the handling characteristics will be different from a car (w/ 4 wheels) or a motorcycle (/w 2 wheels)

https://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/3w_tips.pdf

[Rickb]

Alright here's a basic summary of the history as I know it.  It's really an amazing story.

...Then on the last day of the tour, one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped.  It rolled twice before coming to it stop.  Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed, but the accident was a setback for the company.  Everyone went home and they had to close down the shop that summer.

On a side note, it was in this period of time that I found out about Arcimoto and preordered.  Despite the fact that they had no current prototype and the most recent newsletter was pretty grim, I was convinced enough to fork out a little cash.

They were able to pin down the faulty part that caused the accident, and with that lesson learned, they have had a renewed focus on safety ever since, both in rigorous selection and testing of the components and in making the entire platform more stable and secure....

thanks for the A-team historical summary, kinda puts things into perspective,... find it reassuring that there is commitment to the vision of developing efficient AND reliable "hardware"

one though did cross my mind after reading,

"...one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped.  It rolled twice before coming to it stop.  Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed..."

and reading the post about being "screwed" (i.e. having to go to pep boys to fix a flat tire),...  might be a good idea for anyone purchasing a vehicle w/ three wheels (i.e a "fun utility vehicle") to at the vary least review and understand the handling characteristics will be different from a car (w/ 4 wheels) or a motorcycle (/w 2 wheels)

https://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/3w_tips.pdf

True, one needs to know a vehicles limits, however, keep in mind that experience was with the SRK  Gen 5 and a faulty part. The Gen 8 and the FUV production vehicle are significantly different platforms.

[Kepesk]

Tell me about it. I tried to back up one of the alphas around a pole in my first test drive and I did an embarassing 18 point turning job because I couldn't get the hang of backing and turning with three wheels.

[harriska2]

Is the driver still working for Arcimoto? Do you know what part malfunctioned?

“Then on the last day of the tour, one of the A-Team was driving it at a decent speed when a critical part snapped and it flipped. It rolled twice before coming to it stop. Fortunately, it landed on its wheels and the driver came out nearly unscathed, but the accident was a setback for the company.”