Hmmm, not sure what to make of this. The Arcimote Pulse might make a good city car for doing errands with but the current lead-acid battery version has a range of just 40 miles. Future lithium-ion versions will go 80-100 miles. But where do you put the groceries? Storage space appears to be a teensy bit limited. Plus, it’s a one-seater. Price will be $17,500.
Still, I like it. It’s a brave little car. Maybe in ten years there will be a multitude of tiny EV cars zipping around cities. I sure hope so.
It is a tadpole configuration (2 wheels in front, 1 in back), so a safer chassis than a delta configuration. The single rear drive is a little less stable than 2-wheel drive with sudden braking at higher speeds.
A main problem is classification, do you want to have to don a helmet each and every tie you go on an errand in this electric city vehicle. Because it is a 3-wheel vehicle, it can avoid certain safety requirements for cars, and you need a motorcycle license and, in most states, riders must wear a helmet.
As the owner of a GEM, I can attest that another drawback is a rough ride to a lead sled. Cost prohibits advanced Li ion for me.
Hi jcwinnie, good questions.
You’re right that the ‘tadpole’ configuration is more stable and safer than a traditional three-wheel setup, and provides a more car-like driving experience. As for the single rear drive, we have some exciting advances to the drivetrain to announce very soon, so check back to learn more.
For classification, we’re actually in a comfortable middle ground between motorcycle and car in our initial target market. In all of the states we’ll be selling in, registration and insurance is done at motorcycle rates, but the fully-enclosed design means that drivers won’t need a certification on their license and aren’t required to wear a helmet.
As for the ride on a lead-acid sled, I can tell you for certain that that it’s not rough at all. It’s basically the most fun and comfortable time you’ve ever had on three wheels, or even four!
You’re right that pricing on Li-Ion is at a premium at the moment, but it’s coming down all the time as manufacturing increases. We’re looking for ways to provide the best prices to our customers on Li-Ion models when they’re released.
Thanks for the comments.
Jeremy @ Arcimoto
Hi, thanks for mentioning us. We had a great time in San Jose last week showing the Pulse, and it’s definitely raised some awareness and questions as well.
To answer a few of your questions, I can say definitively that we’ll have plenty of room for groceries and a way to access them. The back of our prototype doesn’t have any access, but the production model will come with a full hatchback with storage for 4-8 bags of groceries.
The look of the current prototype pictured is slightly deceiving; it does actually seat two passengers, and the back seat folds down for extra storage. Our next prototype will showcase the new ergonomic layout of the interior, which now seats two tall riders comfortably. Our founder is 6’4″, so he needed to be comfortable in both!
As for range, the daily average drive on the west coast – our initial target market – is 22 miles. With nearly double that range in the base model of the Pulse, it will fit the needs of most of our customers easily. We are also planning on releasing the lithium-ion versions at the same time, priced based on current market rates of batteries at that time. These extended range models will easily support anybody’s extended commute and more.
Thanks again for the comments.
Jeremy @ Arcimoto
VP Marketing