Arcimoto Pulse

[eventhusiast]

Pat, the motor going into the speedsters is an AC unit with regen, an AC-50 puts out i believe 67hp, the motor and controller cost under $5k, this would have been perfect for Aptera

The main thing i dont like about Arcimoto, the car looks so unfinished and low budget, especially the open cockpit model.

[BryanSR]

Originally Posted by miamisunray

Interesting post, thanks.

Yes, I have always thought about getting a Lotus esprit or an older Ferarri 308 and have a conversion done (much to the utter horror of the purists of the aforementioned), but the cheapest Lotus I have found is around $10K.. still way out of MY range for an electric car.

I will certainly do more research along the lines of a $15,000 conversion,say, including labor---if I can--, then I can select a reasonable 'under 2 grand' donor car for the ultimate local driving experience. some of the cars I like for that are:

Opel Gt
Lotus (any)
Datsun 240, 260
Corvette would not be out of the question
any cool classic car
Fiat X19,
Lancia zagato
Aptera... oops....

I have a 1993 Mercury Capri convertible that I would LOVE to convert... It is in good condidtion BUT I don't have the physical ability anymore or a place or tools to do the job anymore. There is a guy down under in Australia who did one with the help of many people & he even got sponsors after his film got popular for a minute...

[miamisunray]

HEHE... I like your take on the Desiderata!!

Yes, you are right about the open cockpit one. That's why I was excited when I scrolled down to see they actually DO have enclosures for the thing. I think it looks cool enough... A bit 'low-budget", perhaps, but at an anticipated $20,000 I would expect top-notch production values... otherwise forget it.

The more I think about the former post mentioning the cost of a reasonable li-battery pack suggests to me that perhaps, since it will be around a year from now that I will actually be buying something, that I indeed WILL get a cool donor car, and have someone do a conversion, hopefully for no more than $15,000 all-inclusive of labor. In a year the prices and quality of li batteries may be down a bit... so all will be good. A nice, clean, production vehicle would be nice.... but it seems that most of us are just butting our heads against our collective wall wondering when these things will become available, and at what price.

It seems these companies should keep rock-solid quiet about what they are doing, until they are financed and ready-to-go. Otherwise they are just turning off people like you and me.

[PatQ562]

Yeah, too bad about the "Aptera---oops". Oh Well. Other interesting donor cars are as humble as the VW bug (actually slightly lighter and more aero than the Karmann Ghia), various early Honda Civics if you can find an intact one, and VW-based kit cars such as the afore-mentioned Speedster or dune buggy if you like open-air motoring. VW parts are widely supported in stock form or beefed up for the dune buggy crowd. Another possible candidate is an original Mini, surely one of the neatest packaging jobs for four adults, with legendarily nimble handling. The good thing about old, tin-can cars is they didn't need power steering or brakes which removes considerable complexities from the EV conversion.

Pat Q

[miamisunray]

True, lots of cars to consider. Here's hoping that we hear some fantastic news that SOME EV start-up is finally producing cars available for FLORIDA... not just Caleefornya.

There's so much money down here you'd think there was a Florida-based EV.... however I have not heard of one.

[IanO]

Latest newsletter:

http://www.arcimoto.com/journey/april-2012-newsletter

The generation six SRK prototype was just finished, and shown off to a number of California investors. The styling changes indicate they are starting to pay attention to aerodynamic concerns (hubcaps, fairing extends to the wheels).

This generation will be used to test out their manufacturing processes. The original intent was for a pre-production run of 14, but the latest rumor is that customers have reserved 40 of them at the cool price of $41k. The final generation seven vehicle is still targeted at $17.5k.