Arcimoto, the real thing? ($12k tandem EV trike, 70/130 mi. range)

[JSH]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I still have an unperfected reservation number, so there is that. They already outnumber the ICE trikes on local streets.

I received an offer for financing at IIRC 1.9% for 36 months. After the $7500 State rebate, $14K would be $400/month. Half down and it be barely managable.

I'n torn about the MLM. It will be in my price range but it doesn't have the FUV's cage. It needs more development (software bugs and gear whine).

Must be those 177 company owned vehicles. I've seen maybe 2 - 3 on the road here in the Portland area. They are far outnumbered by Can Ams and Slingshots.

As of July Can Am had made at least 9300 2022 Rykers - we know that because that is how many they recalled for having a handlebar bolt that was too short.

The Can Am is only $9000 - which helps explain why Arcimoto is having trouble selling their trike for more than double the price.

[freebeard]

I may have exagerated, equal numbers on local streets.

I'm part owner of a PT Cruiser. ...
Let me know if you want to borrow the key.

I don't want to know how it works (Is the key duplicable?). I've managed a motor pool.

I am curious about the color and wheels. Does it have pinstripes?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I don't want to know how it works (Is the key duplicable?).

I am curious about the color and wheels. Does it have pinstripes?

Keyfob is duplicated 5k times. I've got one. You could say I'm 1/5000th owner of a used PT Cruiser. Faux wood paneling and basic 5 spoke wheels.


Here's the maiden voyage, which seems to have set the tone for how folks treat things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l30V426-_S4

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by JSH

Does any of that sound like company with a large backlog of orders to fill? They made 102 vehicles - 41 were sold to customers and they kept the rest. And now they are laying off workers. (Oregon Live says they laid off 50 and furloughed 66 employees.)

Sounds like supply chain problems. I know one of their powder coaters was shut down over
Corona-chan. Third quarter results will be official on the 14th. Via email:

Third Quarter Financial Results

Q3 was also a record-setting quarter for Arcimoto with 150 vehicles produced and 74 customer vehicles delivered, representing an approximately 80 percent increase in customer vehicles delivered compared to Q2. Please note that these are unaudited numbers and are subject to change. We'll have the official numbers when we release our third quarter financial results on Monday, November 14.

https://joyreactor.cc/post/4236810

[JSH]

So in 3 months they only sold 74 vehicles. Not promising. What happened to the other 76 - selling them to themselves again?

[freebeard]

"The only thing worse than growing too slow is growing too fast."

We'll know more on the 14th.

Consider that Faction and GoCars have found a way to work together with the FUV platform. Deliver rentals to point of use:

www.businesswire.com: Faction and GoCar Tours Partner on Driverless Vehicle Rentals
Partnership allows riders to experience driverless delivery of vehicles while expanding access across cities

The collaboration facilitates driverless delivery of GoCar Tour vehicles from GoCar’s depots to select pickup counters at partner locations, where customers can then drive them on tours and adventures in cities where GoCar operates.

“Leveraging Faction’s driverless technology to deploy vehicles allows GoCar to turn every hotel and tour partner in a city into a GoCar customer counter,” said Alasdair Clements, Co-Founder of GoCar. “By bringing vehicles to where our customers are, we can expand our reach, making it easier for riders to enjoy a GoCar Tour experience.”

Faction’s technology architecture is designed with driverless systems in mind, which allows it to incorporate new technology radically faster than legacy vehicle platforms. It partners with innovative companies to develop sophisticated teleoperation abilities, precise vehicle positioning, hazard recognition, and vehicle design to accommodate the 90 percent of urban trips that consist of one passenger traveling a few miles.

Equipped with Faction’s DriveLink® and TeleAssist™ technologies, the driverless GoCar EVs combine autonomy with remote human teleoperation. The driverless vehicle platform retains the GoCar EV Sport capabilities with up to 100 miles of city range, and includes patented GoCar Network technology and GoCar mobile tour guide.

[JSH]

There is a big problem with growing too slowly if you built out a factory for massive growth, priced your vehicle to require cost savings from large economy of scale, and are burning millions of dollars a month with almost no cash coming in.

Losing massive amounts of money while funding day to day operations with investors dollars only works if investors continue to believe in the plan. This is made more difficult if investors have lost massive amounts of money already. How many of the investors that bought in at $10 - $15 per share do you think are willing to put a few more million in now that those shares are valued at $0.60?


I admire your optimism but the plan never made any sense from the beginning. The projected sales were way to high for such a niche product and the selling price too low. How many times have we seen the same plan fail: promise to sell a trike with some car-like features for less than a motorcycle

[freebeard]

There is a big problem with growing too slowly if you built out a factory for massive growth, priced your vehicle to require cost savings from large economy of scale, and are burning millions of dollars a month with almost no cash coming in.

I think this is a case of growing too fast. They're way out over the tips of their skis, as it were.

I admire your optimism but the plan never made any sense from the beginning.

It all started when I wanted a Messerschmitt KR-200. I talk to my contact there about a [personal] lateral move into housing. There is an unanswered need there.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I think this is a case of growing too fast. They're way out over the tips of their skis, as it were.

Arimoto went public with a plan to sell 50,000 vehicles a year in 2022. That is what they told investors when they took the money. The reality is they will be lucky to make 500 vehicles in 2022.

Delivering 1% of projected sales is not growing the business too fast


Now they could have been realistic and said: We are going to be an electric Campagna Motors or Vanderhall. We will make 100 - 200 trikes a year for $50,000 each. That would have been realistic but being realistic doesn't get you an IPO and market cap of $1.3 billion.

[freebeard]

You're not wrong, of course. The Evergreen Edition went out the door at $40K, the current price is $21K against a target of $12.9K.

Beyond the production numbers, They've attracted interest from Munro Associates and XponentialWorks. And Tilting Motor Works .

All I want at this point is a complete drivetrain that I can drop into a VW Beetle. Rear, front or [with two] both.