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Arcimoto

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Rickb

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floydv said:
Sethodine points out that they have two different business models, and you acknowledged that. However, I think what's implicit in the two business models is that they dictate two different approaches to getting capital -- what's appropriate for Arcimoto isn't necessarily appropriate for Elio and vice versa. Their approaches (e.g., level of reservation deposits) are not interchangeable.

Arcimoto's approach is to start small, and it will likely stay a small, niche product for a niche market in the foreseeable future. Elio's approach is "all in" -- they are swinging for the fence, looking to actually make a dent in both the new and used car markets. Such an approach is based on and requires mass deployment and high volume production, which in turn requires much higher levels of capital than Arcimoto. You can't build that level of mass production in a start-up shop; it requires an actual factory, and actual factories require large investments. And therefore Elio's approach requires a higher level of commitment from potential buyers in order to generate the higher levels of interest and investment needed.

I like to think of it this way: Elio's approach amounts to a much bigger "boulder" that needs more energy to overcome initial inertia and resistance going uphill in the American car market, whereas Arcimoto's approach allows it to start with a much smaller "rock" that takes a lot less energy to get moving. But by the same token, it's much more difficult to turn a rock into a boulder.

It's not a matter of which business model is "better" -- each approach serves the model the company has taken, and it doesn't seem productive to compare the two approaches. I'd like them both to succeed, if for no other reason than to see more three-wheeled vehicles of ALL kinds on the road. This doesn't have to be a zero-sum game where one three wheeler succeeds at the expense of the other.
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Keep in mind I didn't say or know if one or the other will succeed based on their chosen approach to production and business model, but only that one poses no risk to it's reservationists and seems to be more fiscally responsible using their own money for development. I hope they all succeed and other three wheeler options follow.
 
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floydv

floydv

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Rickb said:
Keep in mind I didn't say or know if one or the other will succeed based on their chosen approach to production and business model, but only that one poses no risk to it's reservationists which I appreciate from a fiscal responsiblity standpoint. I hope they all succeed and other three wheeler options follow.
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Agreed. Basically, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
 
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Rickb

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floydv said:
Agreed. Basically, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
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Yes, but I am not a risk taker working to hard for the money I have in retirement. With that said I have reservation deposits on both the Elio & SRK so it will be a win win with room for both in my garage, plus a small space along the wall under the stairwell for the Toyota i-Road. Sounds like a potential autocycle collection. Unless, of course you meant EM's and Arcimoto's risk and they both have their butt's covered.
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