[osaeconrod] Oregon Startup To Launch Electric Vehicle
- From: george.gvakharia@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: osaeconrod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:18:22 -0700
A 3-wheeled electrical vehicle designed in Eugene will be on display
tomorrow night at the Alberta street Art walk, we could check it out after
the Hydrogen Powered Vehicle Demonstration Tech meeting.
News story from:
http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Oregon-Startup-To-Launch-Electric-Vehicle-092209.aspx
Company website:
http://www.arcimoto.com/
Oregon Startup To Launch Electric Vehicle
By Tim Christie, AP Writer
Manufacturing.Net - September 22, 2009
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Tucked away in a nondescript garage off an unpaved
alley in Eugene's Whiteaker neighborhood, a group of young entrepreneurs
is trying to catch the next wave of human transport by building an
affordable, rechargable electric vehicle.
The company is called Arcimoto, and it will unveil a prototype of its
first vehicle, the Pulse, on Wednesday at Pioneer Square in downtown
Portland.
If all goes to plan, customers will be lining up to post $500 deposits on
the first Pulses, which are set to roll off the production line about this
time next year, said Erik Stafl, Arcimoto's 23-year-old CEO.
With the prototype in place, the company hopes to secure up to $10 million
in investor funding, open the production facility somewhere in the
Eugene-Springfield area, and employ 30 to 40 employees to build about 200
to 300 vehicles in the first year, Stafl said.
"We think this is a great place to be," he said.
The Pulse is a three-wheeled, two-seat, fully enclosed electric vehicle,
powered by a 62-horsepower electric motor and energized by eight 12-volt
lead-acid batteries. It features a complete roll cage around the passenger
compartment, and the final product will feature many of the amenities of
modern cars, including power locks and windows, an MP3-capable stereo
system, keyless entry, optional air-conditioning and, of course, cup
holders.
The vehicle should be quick off the line, handle like a sports car and be
fun to drive, with a top speed of about 55 mph, Stafl said. The range for
a base model will be about 50 miles between charges, and the car can get
fully recharged in six to eight hours by plugging it into a household
outlet, he said.
The cost of running the vehicle should be 1 to 2 cents per mile, compared
to 10 cents or more per mile to run a gas car, he said. Electric vehicles
require little maintenance -- no oil changes, for instance -- and emit no
polluting greenhouse gases.
"A lot of people will be interested in those benefits," he said. "A lot of
people are interested in green technology. They want to save a lot of
money on gas and save the environment at the same time."
Arcimoto is getting into the market at a time when the electric vehicle
industry is starting to take off, and the startup company will face some
stiff competition as it tries to win the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of
green-minded consumers.
"It's going to be the Wild West for the next five to 10 years" in the
electric vehicle industry, Stafl said.
Last month, the White House announced $2.4 billion in federal stimulus
funds would go to businesses nationwide to develop electric vehicle
technologies.
An Arizona company, Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., is planning
to use Oregon cities along the Interstate 5 corridor, including Eugene, as
a testing ground for a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.
There are dozens of other electronic vehicle -- or EV -- startups. The Web
site Venturebeat.com tallied no fewer that 30 last year. In addition, many
of the big automobile players are developing their own offerings. General
Motors, Chrysler, Nissan and Ford all plan to introduce battery-powered
electric vehicles next year.
"Unlike when hybrids first came to the U.S., when we had one or two
manufacturers and then others came on board, pretty much everyone is
working on this now," said Jennifer Watts, spokeswoman for the Electric
Drive Transportation Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group. "It's a
race to the market."
Oregon is among the five markets where Nissan plans to sell its first
electric vehicle, called the Leaf. Nissan has said it plans to sell the
Leaf at a price competitive with the Toyota Prius, the popular
gas-electric hybrid vehicle, which has a starting list price of $22,000.
The new Honda Insight, another gas-electric hybrid, has a starting list
price of $19,800.
Persuading consumers to buy a vehicle from an obscure startup company may
be a tough sell, but Stafl said he thinks Arcimoto can carve out a niche
in the EV market. For instance, the company won't try to compete with
Tesla Motors, the California startup whose first model is a
high-performance sports car energized by lithium-ion batteries and carries
a price tag of more than $100,000.
Arcimoto hasn't yet set a price for the Pulse, but plans to list it for
less than $20,000, making it an affordable option for people looking for a
clean, low-maintenance commuter car, he said.
Arcimoto will market the Pulse as a vehicle for people who live in urban
areas and who spend a lot of time commuting or driving around town, rather
than a vehicle intended to replace the family sedan or SUV.
"It's not a vehicle you'd take on a ski trip," he said.
The Pulse also should be attractive to businesses as a delivery vehicle,
Stafl said.
Arcimoto was founded in 2007 by Mark Frohnmayer, son of former University
of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer and one of the founders of
GarageGames, a company that develops tools for game makers.
Last year, Frohnmayer hired Stafl, who holds degrees in electrical
engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, to run the company.
Frohnmayer has invested just over $1 million to date in the company, Stafl
said, and the company plans to seek $7.5 million to $10 million in
financing from venture capital firms so that it can start a production
line, Stafl said.
Stafl and a crew of 13, including three refugees from the RV manufacturing
industry, have been working feverishly to get the prototype, a blue
vehicle with a sunroof, completed in time for Wednesday's launch.
The company's current headquarters -- a garage off Blair Boulevard with
offices
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