First drive in a couple weeks - aaaaahhhh.

[CharonPDX]

Finally the rain stopped long enough to drive it in to work.  Discovered a few issues with having it sitting outside undriven for two weeks in the rain with no cover.  The cargo box definitely lets water in - the small rug I was using as a cargo area "floor" had gotten damp enough that it has started to grow mold/mildew. So chucked it out and will give it a good washing. I think the friction brakes started to rust or something, as driving I can hear a "tick tick tick" from the wheels that is 100% speed-related. (Above ~30 MPH just wind/motor noise is enough to cover it.) And it lost about 60% battery charge in two weeks of sitting there, so had to plug in to a charger near work to make sure I'll make it home.  I'll have to flip the 12V cutoff if I'm going to store it for a while again.

But fun to be on the road again!

[SparkE]

I will make a few comments about electric vehicles in general (I do not yet have a FUV, but have an EV for several years and I researched the flock out of it before getting one). Oh, and I would have bought a FUV if I could have gotten one, at the $12K price, 3 years ago. I sure as sheet wanted to, but they weren't available.

Anyhow, EVs in general :
- cold isn't good for (Li-Ion) EV batteries, in several different ways. They shouldn't be charged when really cold, and they won't be as efficient when it is colder (you can lose 25-40% efficiency, and thus range, just because it is cold)

- historically, EVs have implemented really poorly the logic to keep 12V batteries ("the accessory battery") charged up properly. The original LEAF was egregiously bad, batteries might last 18 months. So I would recommend a "smart" (knows when the battery is full and stops) trickle charger to top off the 12V battery every now and then. I do it at least once a month.

- It is 'best' for Li-Ion batteries to be neither fully charged, nor fully discharged. I don't go to extremes or be really picky about it, but I try to not charge past about 80-85% most of the time. I do a "full" chrge about once a month or every 6 weeks, because my vehicle does "top balancing" of the cells (makes sure that each of the cells is equally charged to the same amount when full). I also try to rarely go under 30% charge, and almost never go under 10% charge. I *try* to keep it generally between 25-80%, but don't get crazy about it; if I want the range, I charge to full.

- about the FUV, speifically : I was very surprised to read "it lost about 60% battery charge in two weeks of sitting there". That just shouldn't happen. I have left my EV sitting for over a month and come back with an almost identical charge. (I charged it to 60%, plugged in 12V trickle charger, left for a trip, came back 4 weeks later to a vehicle with a 60% charge in the main drive battery). So I can think of a few things. (a) it got colder and thus the range was shorter, having little or nothing to do with it sitting, or (b) the logic to keep the 12V battery charged is more aggressive in the FUV (maybe too agressive), or © something in the vehicle is a 'ghost' that is sucking power (could be bad programming, a bad piece of H/W, or maybe just bad design). It could be a combo of the 3 (or other things). I would tell Arcimoto about it. Personally, losing 60% of a charge in a couple of weeks is just worrisome. That just shouldn't happen (IMO). If you are basing your "it lost..." statement purely based on range and not an indicator of battery % charge, I would guess that 'a' was the issue. If you went from 100% charge to 40% charge in 2 weeks, definitely call Arcimoto. Something is wrong there (and maybe they can fix it).

- You mentioned brakes. I rarely use the brakes in my EV - it has "regenitive braking", which means electrons get pushed back into the battery when I take my foot off the "gas pedal", and the vehicle slows down. I use the brakes at FULL STOPS (I really don't like sitting at a light without my foot on the brake) and if I have misjudged how long ahead to "stop accelerating" to come to a stop at a sign or light (or, just the last 5 mph often). However, I do a "burn-in" (not the correct term, I can't remember it right now) of the brakes every 6 months or so. I drive at a higher speed 45-60 mph, turn OFF regenerative braking and use the plysical brakes to go from 60 to 10 mph very quickly. It "rubs all the krap" off the pads and rotors (including rust). I do it 2 or 3 times. And obviously, only with NOBODY AROUND (no other cars). I do not know if that info will be of any use to you, as I do not know anything about the braking system on the FUV. However, again, sitting two weeks and problems with brakes? Call Arcimoto, because that just sounds wrong.

- They would probably also like to hear about the cargo box leaking, so that they can fix the design problem.

[CharonPDX]

Oh, believe me, the director of customer support is well familiar with my emails/calls/texts... :-D

I know all about all those things (had an EV before my FUV, and have had a *LOT* of interactions with them.

As for charging in the cold - the FUV won't even *LET* you charge it if it's too cold. I plugged it in when it was under freezing, and it added no charge. If it's too cold, it reduces the maximum it will charge to, as well. When it was in the mid 30s, it would only charge up to about 65%.

In addition, unlike most EVs, the FUV displays *actual battery charge* percent, not an artificially-limited amount. My BMW i3, for example, shows "full" when it's actually at about 85% of the pack's physical limit, and "empty" at about 15%. On the FUV, 100% is 100% and 0% is 0%. You have to go through an extra step to even allow charging beyond 90%.

Breaking in the brakes was a "standard procedure" on the FUV for the first few hundred miles. They specifically said to do 35-to-0. I didn't have the opportunity to do it on my drive to work, I'll have to find somewhere to do it on my drive home.

The battery drain is worrying - but it does have a very small 12V battery, and I live in an area with bad cell service, so the integrated cellular modem for telematics may have been drawing maximum power the whole time.

[Templedog1]

Does anyone know the manufacturer of this battery?

[harriska2]

CharonPDX has telemetry so that Arcimoto can troubleshoot and take data. That is not standard and drains the battery.

---

Does anyone know the manufacturer of this battery?

See attached

[DanCooper]

Is it easy to add a battery heater, like heat tape, to keep the battery warm while connected to AC power?

[Templedog1]

The same company that makes the battery for zero motorcycles I see. I'm getting worried about Tesla battery day in April. I fear if Tesla reaches the heavens with new battery technology, Arcimoto could be left behind. Now I've read that Lucid has stated that their battery will be superior than Tesla. I also read on Twitter that Tesla's new "alien technology" isn't the battery itself but the way the drivetrain and battery operated together.

It's just not good for Arcimoto to be dependent on a battery manufacture. Elon Musk has said modules are a thing of the past.. plus cooling battery management is a key. Something zero motorcycles has none of I'm sure. It's a shame but I still feel the Arcimoto concept should be good only if Tesla doesn't decide to create a very small vehicle at cheap chinese prices .Troubling times.

[CharonPDX]

The big problem is that unless you're Tesla size, you *MUST* be dependent on battery manufacturers. Even GM/Nissan/etc are fully dependent on third party battery manufacturers.

[harriska2]

Anything that Tesla or competitors develop today will take at least 2 years to develop and produce. Probably another 2 years to mass produce and bring down costs.

[Templedog1]

Ford ,Chevy, Chrysler need to make batteries. It's the new engine.

Arcimoto as well, I hope they can figure something out. It's nervous to me because Tesla might offer something similar to Arcimoto... Elon said "offer a vehicle for world wide consumption". With their self driving capabilities and range there is only one thing left to do. That's going small. If they go smaller... That threatens Arcimoto.