CSI-WVC members with the engineering "mule" for Arcimoto's Generation 8 SRK (my photo).
Without
a doubt, the first meeting of 2016 for the Construction Specifications Institute-Willamette
Valley Chapter was a departure from the norm for our group. Rather than being
devoted to a discussion about construction documentation, or construction
project team communications, or the latest in building materials technology, we
instead gathered at the home of Arcimoto,
Eugene’s own automobile start-up, for a glimpse of what the company has been up
to.
I
previously blogged about Arcimoto’s unveiling of its Generation 8 SRK, which
the company touts as its market-ready, affordable, everyday electric vehicle. Because
most routine trips involve only the driver and maybe one passenger, a small,
efficient, and inexpensive means of transport makes much more sense than
hauling around town in a huge, gas-guzzling and polluting SUV.(1) I’ve
followed Arcimoto’s development of the three-wheeled SRK for several years now,
and I’ve become a big fan of the underlying concept. As I wrote back in November,
I regard the SRK as nothing less than a huge step toward a paradigm-shifting
future for personal urban transportation.
It’s
the SRK’s vast potential for changing how we get from point A
to point B that makes a visit to see a company like Arcimoto relevant to anyone
in the construction industry. After all, vehicles like the SRK may profoundly
reshape our thinking about the built environment. They require far less parking
space, meaning less precious land would be conceded to surface parking lots or
structures. Their proliferation would reduce air pollution, resulting in
improved air quality. Fewer filling stations would be required, so the land the
stations might have occupied would be available for higher and better uses.
Ultimately, our streets would be cleaner, quieter, and safer as oversized,
over-powered, and polluting cars declined in number. The implications for the
development and construction industries are huge.
The
SRK, which Bloomberg Business fittingly described
as being the “electric love child of a commuter’s bicycle and a multi-ton car,”
may also serve as a template for tomorrow’s autonomous vehicles. If they
proliferate, self-driving cars really won’t need to be big, heavy, and
expensive because manufacturers won’t have to pack in the many safety features
standard in today’s automobiles. Instead, they can be light, efficient, and
very affordable. Arcimoto is wisely anticipating the likelihood that autonomous
transport will become the norm and that its conception of the future for an economical
personal vehicle provides a logical platform for this technology.
Joe Morgan (in the Arcimoto T-shirt) describes the company's first generation prototype for its everyday electric vehicle (my photo).
Our
host for the evening was Joe Morgan,
Arcimoto’s lead for prototype production.
Joe ably answered the many questions we threw at him: When will
production begin? Will an enclosed version be available? What about heating and
AC? How far will it go between charges? What are the safety features of the
SRK? How can I preorder one? It was clear to me that my CSI colleagues were
very much intrigued, curious, and suitably impressed. Arcimoto’s office manager
Sebastiane Power, electrical
engineer Carter Marquis, and
mechanical engineer Jim Jordan were
also on hand to help answer questions and explain the thinking behind the
Arcimoto concept. Big thanks to all of them for being both highly informative and
generously hospitable.
Joe
toured us through Arcimoto’s modest design and fabrication facility, located on
Blair Boulevard in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. He also showed us the
company’s “museum,” located across the street. There we watched a video of the
two “alpha” SRK 8 models in action and also inspected the earlier iterations of
the SRK. The evolution of the concept has been gradual but also dramatic in
many ways. The Gen 8 truly appears to be a near-perfect distillation of what a
low-cost, high-performance, personal EV should be.
In
addition to Joe, Sebastiane, Carter, and Jim, I’m very appreciative for the
contributions of two important members of the Arcimoto team who were not
present: business development leader Jesse
Fittipaldi and Arcimoto founder Mark
Frohnmayer. Jesse and Mark made the arrangements for our meeting but could
not join us for a very good reason: They were (and still are) in the middle of
what has proven to be a wildly successful tour through the west unveiling the
Gen 8 SRK. The highlight of this tour so far was probably the giant 2016
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The fallout from CES has been a
tremendous amount of favorable press about the SRK. I’m sure it’s truly
satisfying for everyone at Arcimoto to see their toil and sweat finally bearing
fruit. Here’s a sampling of some of the buzz:
Business
News Network: http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=11315&DateTime=1%2F19%2F2016+7%3A02%3A49+PM&Term=Arcimoto&PlayClip=TRUE
Portland
Business Journal: http://m.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2016/01/arcimoto-counts-6m-in-electric-vehicle-preorders.html
Ars
Technica: http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/01/the-arcimoto-srk-electric-vehicle-is-the-most-fun-thing-we-did-at-ces/
Bloomberg
Business: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-08/arcimoto-electric-vehicle-wants-to-make-you-forget-about-cars
Kelley
Blue Book : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD58LRFwEUA
Mashable:
http://mashable.com/2016/01/06/arcimoto-srk-review/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#OccLLcKgq8qX
Yahoo
Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/arcimoto-showcases-ultra-affordable-generation-120000562.html
The Generation 8 SRK (Arcimoto publicity photo).
Arcimoto’s
goal is to begin production of the SRK by the end of 2016. The company already
has preorders from about 700 people, and this number is growing daily (in fact,
a couple of CSI members were ready to make their fully refundable $100 deposits
on the spot during our meeting!). Once enough people commit to purchasing the
SRK, Arcimoto will roll out a limited initial public offering of shares
to secure funding for the company’s expansion.(2) Joe said primary fabrication and
assembly will take place in Eugene but that a suitable facility for doing so
has yet to be identified. Ultimately, Arcimoto’s success could be huge for
Eugene, providing well-paying manufacturing jobs and further diversifying the
local economy.
By
the way, the name Arcimoto means “Future I Drive.” As the company’s website
states, their aspiration is to devise new technologies and patterns of mobility
that together raise the bar for environmental efficiency, footprint, and
affordability. I’m more hopeful than ever that Arcimoto’s vision of the future
will take hold and we will see what may prove to be the most transformative set
of developments in the automotive industry since the advent of mass-produced
cars more than a century ago.
(1) The SRK is fully electric and high-performance (the base
model has a range of 70 miles between charges and has a top speed of 85 mph).
Arcimoto has pegged the price of the base model at $11,900 (not including
possible incentives or tax credits).
(2) As enthusiastic as I am about the SRK, I haven’t committed
to purchasing one for myself yet. I’ve never been an adopter of early
technology, and my risk-aversion is paralyzing. Perhaps I'll purchase a future generation of the SRK when it becomes time to put my Civic Hybrid out to pasture.
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