Arcimoto

[3wheelin]

I received my Arcimoto FUV "Evergreen Edition" in early October. I got vehicle #11 off the assembly line. I've been driving it for over two months now, and love it.

As to the loose relationship between order numbers and delivery dates - yeah, there are a few factors at play. First was the initial "place your preorder refundable deposit of $100" going back to 2011 (when I placed mine.) They took that list, and offered the chance to purchase the "Evergreen Edition" to people in Oregon, Washington, and California and to fleet/rental preorders. So if deposit #2 was in New York, they weren't offered the chance to purchase. Much like Tesla, they're offering their expensive trim line model first - $20,000. The base-model $12,000 version will be coming once production ramps up. So if deposit #7, even if they're on the West Coast, wanted to wait for the cheaper model, they're skipped. Then even among the "paid the nonrefundable $5000 down payment on the Evergreen" they started earlier this year, there is a little jockeying around in position, largely based on delivery logistics. For example, the reseller in New Zealand had three preorders/Evergreen deposits that really shouldn't have been shipped together, but Arcimoto lumped them one after the other for simplicity. When they knew they were going to ship a few to California, they rearranged the order of shipping for ease. But of the people who have taken delivery, they're *mostly* in the expected order. The other confusing thing is that people were told which Evergreen deposit they were based on when they paid their Evergreen deposit (first person to down pay the $5000 got "Evergreen #1", second got "Evergreen #2", etc,) but the actual Evergreen *DELIVERY* order is based on original preorder number. "Evergreen Deposit" number is not the same as "Evergreen delivery slot" number. Which makes sense - just because original-depositor number 3826 happened to pay their Evergreen down payment a few minutes before original-depositor number 23 doesn't mean they should get their vehicle before number 23. As long as you paid your Evergreen down payment by the "first shipment batch deadline" you got your vehicle in "original deposit" order, roughly speaking.

I was "overall preorder" #20, Evergreen slot #4, but I ended up getting VIN #11. (Note also that they had a much more expensive "paid beta" called "Signature Series" they delivered in 2017-2018. Those vehicles (~6?) were all recalled and replaced at the beginning of the Evergreen production. So those all got VINs before they started shipping a single "Evergreen deposit" order, hence why the discrepancy between my Evergreen deposit and the VIN.)

The range is very close to what they specify - note that while they were advertising "about 100 miles" for a long time, they did specify that was "city" range, and have added lines to the specs showing 65 miles at 55 MPH, and 35 miles at 70 MPH. Those both "feel" about right. It is definitely not a long-range highway commuter. But it is GREAT as an around-town vehicle - and I have gone ~70 miles in a day with a mix of city and freeway driving. (My normal commute is ~12 miles each way by "mix or urban and rural back roads" - highest speed limit is 45 MPH on my route. I could drive on the freeway (I do sometimes,) but even when not on the Arcimoto, I usually take the back roads just because they're a more reliable length time commute - reliably 25-30 minutes as opposed to "somewhere between 15 and 45 minutes" the freeway takes.)

0-60 is a bit slower than they advertise, but they have said that they're still tweaking the throttle response - it is slower than it should be 0-10, but very sprightly above that, with the ~20-60 speed quite quick. I'd say it's about 10 seconds 0-60 now, but if they tweak the power curve to apply the same power available at higher speeds to the lower speeds, I can easily see their claimed 7.5 seconds. Zero problems passing people.

It handles the rain with the current half-doors just fine, with one minor exception: while the rain stays off you when moving, when stopped the rain does drip on to my arms, and any cross-breeze while stopped causes it to fall on to my legs. Solved with a waterproof lap blanket. And the full doors with windows are expected to be ready sometime in the next couple months.

Here are a couple pictures I have taken of mine, including my janky awning to protect it somewhat from the rain when parked at home (I have no garage)

Thanks for your in-depth and honest review of FUV!

 

[BaldGuy]

I personally see the FUV as more a golf cart (good to take you around the retirement village, as well as the golf course) and the Solo and Elio as a real car that one could go anywhere with including a big trip that included freeway driving. I see the Sam as somewhere in between. I think Sam would be great for city driving and country driving but freeway not so much. Also the Sam's lack of AC would make it quite uncomfortable for summer city driving. Just my .02 worth, might be wrong, just the way I sees it.

 

[Rickb]

I personally see the FUV as more a golf cart (good to take you around the retirement village, as well as the golf course) and the Solo and Elio as a real car that one could go anywhere with including a big trip that included freeway driving. I see the Sam as somewhere in between. I think Sam would be great for city driving and country driving but freeway not so much. Also the Sam's lack of AC would make it quite uncomfortable for summer city driving. Just my .02 worth, might be wrong, just the way I sees it.

BaldGuy, I haven’t a clue why you see it that way! Happy New Year on this Christmas Day!

 

[BaldGuy]

BaldGuy, I haven’t a clue why you see it that way! Happy New Year on this Christmas Day!

Yea, that's exactly how I imagined them being used. They are always advertising them retirement villages to me and I'm sure the FUV will be the ultimate machine there.

 

[Rickb]

Yea, that's exactly how I imagined them being used. They are always advertising them retirement villages to me and I'm sure the FUV will be the ultimate machine there.

I discovered after my test drive experience that the FUV is the ultimate machine for work or play, pre or post retirement, living in or out of retirement villages, for golfers or non-golfers. “Drive it, you’ll like it.” It may not meet your needs, budget, or buy it, but you may better understand it.

 

[Samuel Gompers]

The Arcimoto should, perhaps, call itself "The Wayback Machine". A century ago, electrics had a advertised range of 80-100 city miles at 20-25mph. Needing a lap blanket in a vehicle was a common occurrence. Protection from the elements was spotty. Longer trips were a grand adventure. Car companies folded left and right.

 

[Rickb]

Yea, that's exactly how I imagined them being used. They are always advertising them retirement villages to me and I'm sure the FUV will be the ultimate machine there.

 

[RSchneider]

Yea, that's exactly how I imagined them being used. They are always advertising them retirement villages to me and I'm sure the FUV will be the ultimate machine there.

This is why they are selling a bunch of them to go down to Costa Rica and be rented. That country is full of retirees and retirement communities. So the FUV would work well there for those communities but you do not want to leave them as the roads and lack of any sort of recharging would deem them useless. Top it off, power outages are common there and it's accepted to have no power for a few days as they operates at a snails pace. Since those communities is full of very wealthy people from around the world, they would rent one and probably buy one down the road. The FUV would be not so great during the rainy season though. You are in a rain forest (during the summer) and as you'd expect, it rains hard and often.
The FUV will do well in Hawaii coast, California coast and Florida. Other than that, it'll be a rarity.

 

[Rickb]

They are selling a bunch of them to coastal areas because coastal rental businesses expressed early interest and is a significant part of their fleet sales marketing plan. Yes, they have a marketing plan. Coastal rental fleet sales ‘rainbow of color’ Evergreen delivery ramps as non-wealthy inland reservation owners anxiously wait their opportunity to take delivery of their FUV’s. It will be a rarity not to see FUVs on the streets of both coastal and inland urban areas. Attach the half or full doors during the rainy/cold temp seasons. Credit due to Mark Frohnmayer, CEO and his Team. Market acceptance of the Arcimoto FUV three wheeler will benefit Paul Elio CEO and his Team’s future retail production roll out. If you have zero interest in the FUV, you may as well hope for their wild and crazy success because it will benefit all other potential three wheeler startups. The more options the better to go three wheels.

 

[Samuel Gompers]

Why not? After all these years, what's a few more months?

While I'm not near as confident in either Arcimoto or Meccanica as you are, I really hope you get your vehicle, especially with the non-refundable deposit on the line. We're all cheering for you.

Well, Rick, it's been 5 months. More than "a few more months", but at least it's not been another year. When they tell you again that your doors, etc are still not available, are you going to continue to postpone, or will you take what you can (hopefully) get?
I'm still impressed with your patience and optimism.