Arcimoto is an ultra-efficient “autocycle” (officially) that gets the equivalent, in charge, of 230 miles per gallon. When founder Mark Frohnmayer first sketched his idea in 2007 for a 3-wheeled EV, he was searching for an alternative to the car for all those quick trips to the store/mall/coffee shop, but he wanted something that would be fun to drive.

His FUV (fun utility vehicle) provides an open-air experience with a semi-enclosed cabin, tandem seating, power-assist handlebars, and regenerative braking. 

Two front-mounted motors powered by a 20-kWh battery send it from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5-seconds. Arcimoto says the FUV battery range is 100 miles around town, about 66 miles at 55 mph. Its peak charge rate on a Level 2 charger is about 3.3 kW. It will fully charge in 4 hours on a Level 2 charger and 8 hours with a household 120-volt outlet.

Frohnmayer’s concept is bigger than just the FUV and instead is focused on the chassis that holds the batteries and can be configured to provide alternatives to many of our gas-powered vehicles, from a single-seat “Deliverator” for last-mile deliveries to a tandem “Rapid Responder” for emergency services to a flatbed for hauling and a “Roadster” (without the roll cage or windshield) for sport.

They produce as many of their own parts as possible at their Eugene (Oregon) manufacturing plant using CNC robotics for body parts. They estimate at their 10-acre facility (dubbed the RAMP), they can scale up to produce 50,000 units per year.