Arcimoto

[floydv]

Excellent idea! However, don't count on the previously available grants and subsidies that may help the average worker's commute based on the current Administration's policy roll backs.

Fair point. I was thinking more along the lines of state or municipal grants or grants from non-profits and foundations.

 

[Rickb]

Fair point. I was thinking more along the lines of state or municipal grants or grants from non-profits and foundations.

Yes, but the various State or municipal grant programs are funded through Federal Tax application programs. Non-profit foundations are certainly private dollars, but generally their grant applications are approved for more charitable causes.

 

[Rob Croson]

Another model they can explore is "first-mile/last-mile" service, where a fleet of Solos (or eventually Elios) would provide rides for residents of underserved communities to get them to main transit hubs or backbones from their communities.

Why would you want to do this with single-passenger vehicles? Taking one person at a time to a mass-transit station... If you had three people to carry you'd have to make three trips. At even 15 minutes per trip, that poor last guy would have to wait nearly 40 minutes to get home. You'd really want multiple-passenger capability for something like that, I would think.

 

[floydv]

Why would you want to do this with single-passenger vehicles? Taking one person at a time to a mass-transit station... If you had three people to carry you'd have to make three trips. At even 15 minutes per trip, that poor last guy would have to wait nearly 40 minutes to get home. You'd really want multiple-passenger capability for something like that, I would think.

You're assuming most fares are multi-passenger. But what if you had a four passenger vehicle and had three separate, single fares? You'd still end up making three separate trips, lugging at least a thousand extra pounds, and probably with an older, higher-emitting engine. How does that better serve the needs of poor communities, which are already exposed to excess pollution? They'd be better off making those multiple trips in brand new, more fuel efficient two-seaters.

It's not an either/or. The ideal solution is probably some combination of two-seaters and multi-passenger vehicles.

 

[Muzhik]

Why would you want to do this with single-passenger vehicles? Taking one person at a time to a mass-transit station... If you had three people to carry you'd have to make three trips. At even 15 minutes per trip, that poor last guy would have to wait nearly 40 minutes to get home. You'd really want multiple-passenger capability for something like that, I would think.

You're also assuming that these three people all live close together, when in fact they could be several miles apart. If you live where the terrain prohibits a simple cross pattern of streets (as in my city) it can take 15 to 20 minutes just to get a few miles as the crow flies. IOW, there would be no time savings for driving around to pick them up, then driving around to drop them off.

 

[Rob Croson]

Possibly not time savings, but a huge cost savings, when you can buy one set of hardware to do the job, instead of three or four. Depends on the situation, I suppose. But the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ways to help underserved/underprivileged communities isn't to buy replicate sets of expensive infrastructure. Four bikes/scooters, sure. Four relatively expensive (for what they are) two-passenger EVs, instead of a single relatively inexpensive four passenger ICE vehicle? Probably not.

Anyway, so far as I know, none of us are actually in a position to design/implement any of these systems, so...

 

[Elio Amazed]

Arcimoto Production is Imminent.
http://www.kezi.com/story/35180694/arcimoto-plans-to-kick-production-into-gear-in-spring

 

[Rickb]

I'm SRK Amazed!

 

[Elio Amazed]

Video tour of the original Arcimoto facility.
Including a look at the 90,000-mile bench test set-up. Fascinating.

 

[Rickb]

Video tour of the original Arcimoto facility.
Including a look at the 90,000-mile bench test set-up. Fascinating.

Multiple likes!