Arcimoto Announces Production Plans for $11,900 Electric Reverse Trike

I guess I cover the reverse trike beat here at TTAC.

It started with a post about a Chinese death trap three-wheeler I’d seen advertised. In the comments to that post, one of our readers suggested looking into the Elio project. We’ve done that a few times since then, including an exclusive review of one of their prototypes. Because of our coverage of Elio Motors, a group of Elio deposit holders who have become disenchanted by continued production delays asked us to consider their charges. While it’s true that I’m in what may be a minority of automotive writers that don’t think Elio is a scam, I’m not naive. There are ample reasons for skepticism and we take the word truth in our title seriously, so Mark Stevenson and I looked into the critics’ complaints and we both decided they were adding nothing new to issues raised by Elio’s critics before.

However, I do keep tabs on their Facebook group, which is how I found out about Arcimoto, a Eugene, Oregon company that hopes to put their highway capable electric reverse trike in production by the end of next year with a starting price of $11,900.

Arcimoto was founded by Mark Frohnmayer, who spent 10 years as a video game designer before embracing the world of real hardware. The Arcimoto trike is going to be called the SRK, promoted as “the everyday electric” and the company will be showing a production prototype for the first time later this week in their hometown, then followed by a road show in California. Like the Elio, SRK is a tandem two seater with front wheel drive. Unlike the Elio, which has a conventional 3 cylinder gasoline engine, the Arcimoto SRK will feature individual 30 kW AC induction motors for each of the front wheels. Projected 0-60 performance for the 1,023 lb trike is 7.5 seconds, with a top speed of 85 mph. Handling is said to be “nimble”. Turning circle is a tight 27 feet. Range with the standard 12kWh battery pack will be 70 miles — though a larger, 20 kWh pack will be an option. Like Tesla, Arcimoto is using standard 18650 form factor Li-Ion cells.

The SRK will be regulated as a motorcycle and the base model has moto-like al fresco riding. Equipped with all-weather panels and a HVAC system, the SRK will cost about $15,000. Fully optioned models will cost about $20,000. Arcimoto says that it takes just minutes to enclose the SRK. Mercedes-Benz SLs and DeLoreans have gull-winged doors. Tesla describes the passenger doors on their new Model X crossover as “falcon-winged”. Arcimoto says that their optional door is a “one of a kind Eagle winged door”. They will also offer something like a sedan delivery option for commercial customers, called the Deliverator, with the rear seat replaced by a fully enclosed cargo area.

When I asked Frohnmayer why someone should spend $20,000 on an SRK instead of thousands less on an entry level Nissan Versa, he said people who live in San Francisco or London would appreciate a vehicle that can park in a tiny space. Frohnmayer said they kept the total length down to 106 inches because it will fit nose first in a conventional city parking space, allowing three SRKs to park in the same space as a Toyota Highlander. While it’s intended as an urban vehicle, Frohnmayer stressed that it’s not a speed restricted neighborhood electric vehicle. He’s hoping that the SRK’s “engaging driving experience” will set it apart from economy cars.

The SRK is the eighth generation vehicle developed by Arcimoto, started in 2007. It’s the first to feature an upright seating position like on a CanAm Spyder along with handlebars instead of a steering wheel. Those changes allowed them to reduce the weight of the vehicle by an impressive 700 lbs. A conventional automotive type seating position means a longer vehicle to accommodate leg room. Longer vehicles are heavier vehicles. Unlike the CanAm Spyder, though, the SRK does not require sophisticated electronics to keep it stable in turns. Though the rider is sitting high, the weight and location of the battery pack keep the overall center of gravity low. The two electric motors and their gear reduction units keep the weight biased towards the front, the way God and Morgan intended three-wheelers to be. Between that and the low center of gravity, both front wheels stay on terra firma when cornering hard. Cornering is aided by electrically assisted power steering.

Because of the availability of hand controls, Arcimoto has given the SRK two braking systems: a conventional hydraulic system operated with a foot pedal, and a regenerative braking system that is activated by a hand lever. Frohnmayer expects that regenerative braking will provide most of the stopping power for the SRK in real world use.

The SRK will be regulated under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as a motorcycle. It does have rollover protection built into the space frame, and the five point harnesses are meant to duplicate the safety of the BMW C1 scooter’s passenger protection. Like the C1, it has crush zones, front and back. Unlike the Elio, there doesn’t appear to be any side impact protection. The company will likely piggyback on Elio Motors’ lobbying U.S. states to have three wheelers given a special class of motor vehicle — autocycles — that would more or less have the status of motorcycles, but without drivers having to wear helmets.

Initial sales will be in just three states — Oregon, California and Washington — with plans to expand to other markets as production ramps up. Initial production will be 10,000 units a year, though Frohnmayer hopes to eventually sell hundreds of thousands per year. They’re also looking into making the SRK in China, but U.S.-built Arcimotos will comprise almost completely of domestic content with the exception of the traction motors, which are sourced from Italy.

Sales will be direct from Arcimoto, with service provided by local partners (probably similar to Elio’s deal with Pep Boys). There are no plans to set up a dealer network, though the company is looking into standalone company owned stores or mall kiosks, similar to Tesla’s current setup.

Mark Frohnmeyer has promised TTAC a test drive of Arcimoto’s latest prototype, provided we can get someone out to Eugene. If that’s something you like to see us do, let us know in the comments.

By the way, while the disgruntled Elio deposit holders seem to think that Arcimoto has more credibility than Elio, Frohnmayer didn’t disagree when I told him that both companies are in similar situations, credibility-wse. He said that’s why they use the word “target” for production dates.

I make no apology for thinking that there is romance in the idea of starting up a car company and would like to see both Elio and Arcimoto succeed. If they do, I’m sure that TTAC will do our utmost to arrange a comparison review of their two trikes.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS