How This Radical Car Missed Its Chance To Change The World - Maybe!

[BADBOY]

nothing changed. Enjoyed video. Happy 2019 to all.

 

[Phil B]

Yes, Elio has said an electric "engine" can be done. However, gas is the ICE is the way to go since it is far cheaper. What is your proof of receiving funding if it were electric?

Arcimoto recently did a second issue on their stock for the electric powered FUV. Electric is the hot button. Elon Musk is jut another PT Barnum, but he has no issue getting more investment money.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Arcimoto recently did a second issue on their stock for the electric powered FUV. Electric is the hot button. Elon Musk is jut another PT Barnum, but he has no issue getting more investment money.

https://insideevs.com/arcimoto-4-5-million-funding-electric-trike/

This latest funding comes from FOD Capital, LLC. This will be used to set up the production lines to build the FUV on a large scale, fulfilling 3,250 customer pre-orders as well as deploying rental fleets.

That doesn't seem like very many, not to mention, electric vehicle manufacturers don't seem to be around for very long.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...res-4.5-Million-Financing-Initiate-Production

The financing, led by FOD Capital, LLC, included the purchase of 500,000 shares of Arcimoto’s common stock at a purchase price of $3.00 per share, as well as the issuance of a $3.0 million senior secured note, which bears 10% interest over a one-year term, and a warrant to purchase 942,857 shares of registered FUV common stock for $3.50 per share. ROTH Capital Partners acted as a financial advisor for the transaction.

10% interest?! Holy moley. I don't forese this going well.

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/arcimoto#section-overview

Founded Date
Oct 1, 2007

Founded a little over 11 years and only 3,250 customer pre-orders? This definitely does not look good in the long term.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/0...llion-to-build-fun-utility-vehicles-now-what/

And despite their staggering $42,000 pricetag, these are effectively test vehicles. Before Arcimoto can begin cranking out FUVs at the planned starting price of $11,900, it must still build a run of "Beta" vehicles that will be operated by fleet partners later this year. That will provide another level of feedback and prompt another round of design tweaks before the vehicle and manufacturing system are finalized for production.

42k per vehicle?! I'm not one who can afford that. Even 12k has some issues. See below:

Obviously, Arcimoto would be thrilled to capture even a fraction of the demand and loyalty that Tesla commands, but the road to mainstream acceptance is even more challenging for the kind of category-defying vehicle they are making than for Tesla's altogether more conventional electric muscle cars. A decade ago, I saw very little chance of a path forward for Arcimoto, but like Tesla they are still here. Unlike Tesla, however, which has committed itself to the business of making and selling electric cars that simply replace privately-owned gas cars, Arcimoto has a fresh wind at its back that requires a reappraisal of its chances at success.

The opportunity now facing Arcimoto comes from a mobility technology that is fundamentally more "disruptive" than simply putting electric drivetrains into normal cars: on-demand mobility as a service. Apps ranging from Uber to Car2Go are beginning to open minds about how we get from point A to point B. And rather than owning a single car that can (however inefficiently) handle all your mobility needs, more and more people are finding that making mobility decisions trip by trip can allow them to use the best vehicle for each journey. Whether that's getting a ride from someone already on the road, picking up a car that you might otherwise never consider buying (like Car2Go's Smarts), making a quick trip on an e-scooter, or renting a truck from Zipcar or a sportscar for Turo, the "Cambrian Explosion" of new mobility options is beginning to open spaces for quirky players like Arcimoto's FUV.

Convincing committed car owners to buy what is technically a three-wheeled motorcycle will not be easy, even at the FUV's modest $11.900 starting price. Not because it's a bad vehicle per se, but because even a used car at the same price is going to do things that the FUV can't: easily taking long road trips, passing crash test standards, and keeping you dry in a deluge or warm in winter. Arcimoto executives argue that the FUV is optimized for the things that a lot of cars are mostly used for, specifically urban and suburban commuting and errands, and they are absolutely right. But in the private mobility market, where significant investments in a vehicle come with the expectation of a wide range of capabilities rather than optimization for just one, that's still a tough sale.

 

[johnsnownw]

Elon Musk is jut another PT Barnum, but he has no issue getting more investment money.

That's because he shares little in common with PT Barnum, and produces fantastic products...not the appearance of fantastic products.

I should know, I own two of them.

 

[Rickb]

Grumpy Cat, I wouldn’t be to critical of Arcimoto’s financially responsible and highly successful business model. The FUV, as does the Elio, either meets your needs or not. They both check most of my needs boxes and hope to own and drive both. The A Team has done exactly what they said they were doing with their private funding (while asking for refundable/no risk $100 reservation deposits to show interest), as well as with their initial public Reg A+ funding round, while accomplishing every production milestone event that I had hoped Elio Motors would have accomplished. The FUV test drive experience was the most fun I’ve had driving any vehicle. I still smile when I think about my recent test drive, the Arcimoto Manufacturing Plant (AMP) tour, and most importantly the dedicated employees I met that Fall day in Eugene, Oregon. I hope I can say the same after my Elio test drive, the EMP tour, and meeting the dedicated employees in Shreveport.

 

[Phil B]

That's because he shares little in common with PT Barnum, and produces fantastic products...not the appearance of fantastic products.

I should know, I own two of them.

Barnum also delivered - The Greatest Show On Earth. The reference about Musk was and is his ability to fire up a crowd and to raise money, unlike Paul Elio

 

[johnsnownw]

Barnum also delivered - The Greatest Show On Earth. The reference about Musk was and is his ability to fire up a crowd and to raise money, unlike Paul Elio

I'll give you that people get excited about Tesla, but it's for the products, not the showmanship that Elon conveys. I mean, Musk is absolutely terrible at public speaking. I suppose he's so poor at it that it's kind of endearing...so maybe a similar result to a showman, but taking a completely different path to get there.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Grumpy Cat, I wouldn’t be to critical of Arcimoto’s financially responsible and highly successful business model. The FUV, as does the Elio, either meets your needs or not. They both check most of my needs boxes and hope to own and drive both. The A Team has done exactly what they said they were doing with their private funding (while asking for refundable/no risk $100 reservation deposits to show interest), as well as with their initial public Reg A+ funding round, while accomplishing every production milestone event that I had hoped Elio Motors would have accomplished. The FUV test drive experience was the most fun I’ve had driving any vehicle. I still smile when I think about my recent test drive, the Arcimoto Manufacturing Plant (AMP) tour, and most importantly the dedicated employees I met that Fall day in Eugene, Oregon. I hope I can say the same after my Elio test drive, the EMP tour, and meeting the dedicated employees in Shreveport.

Here is the issue. Elio has 65k reservation holders. Arcimoto has/had 3k over the same time period. How is that sustainable to stay in business and have almost no orders? To have 1 order per day? Good car dealerships sell 100 cars a month, that's 3-4 a day.

Let's use another manufacturer. Harley Davidson sales are down. They are producing 231-236k motorcycles a year. Many analysts are predicting Harley will eventually go out of business.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/americas-favorite-motorcycle-company-serious-slide.html/

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/05/03/harley-davidson-sales-go-from-bad-to-worse.aspx

Even the Slingshot is in trouble:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/04/why-boeing-and-gm-stock-dropped-5-today-and-polari.aspx

https://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2018/04/24/polaris-reveals-2018-first-quarter-results/

Indian Motorcycles wholegood sales increased in the low-double digits percent range in the first quarter of 2018, while Slingshot sales were down low-double digits percent.

 

[Elio Amazed]

Here is the issue. Elio has 65k reservation holders. Arcimoto has/had 3k over the same time period. How is that sustainable to stay in business and have almost no orders? To have 1 order per day? Good car dealerships sell 100 cars a month, that's 3-4 a day.

Let's use another manufacturer. Harley Davidson sales are down. They are producing 231-236k motorcycles a year. Many analysts are predicting Harley will eventually go out of business.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/americas-favorite-motorcycle-company-serious-slide.html/

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/05/03/harley-davidson-sales-go-from-bad-to-worse.aspx

Even the Slingshot is in trouble:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/04/why-boeing-and-gm-stock-dropped-5-today-and-polari.aspx

https://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2018/04/24/polaris-reveals-2018-first-quarter-results/

There were only five or so $42,000 "test" vehicles reserved and produced.
Those were delivered to customers who were delighted to have the first SRKs.
There will be no more $42,000 SRKs or FUVs.

Yeah, OK, here's the issue... How can you possibly suggest that having 65,000 reservations and NEVER producing a vehicle is more sustainable than fufilling 3,500 initial reservations and then ramping up from there? Almost everyone here has conjectured that Elio reservations would skyrocket once they're out there on the road. Why in the world would you think that would be any different for Arcimoto?

 

[Rickb]

Here is the issue. Elio has 65k reservation holders. Arcimoto has/had 3k over the same time period. How is that sustainable to stay in business and have almost no orders? To have 1 order per day? Good car dealerships sell 100 cars a month, that's 3-4 a day.

Let's use another manufacturer. Harley Davidson sales are down. They are producing 231-236k motorcycles a year. Many analysts are predicting Harley will eventually go out of business.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/americas-favorite-motorcycle-company-serious-slide.html/

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/05/03/harley-davidson-sales-go-from-bad-to-worse.aspx

Even the Slingshot is in trouble:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/04/why-boeing-and-gm-stock-dropped-5-today-and-polari.aspx

https://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2018/04/24/polaris-reveals-2018-first-quarter-results/

Arcimoto’s business model focused on in-house R&D not in-house marketing and selling reservations. The 3000 reservation units equates to $45,000,000 in sales revenue to be used to help advance their production plans and perhaps roll out an official marketing/advertising campaign. Also, keep in mind Arcimoto’s production target is 200 FUV’s per week/10,000 per year with one shift. A sustainable business can only be determined after a business is a business with a product to sell based on market acceptance.

The reaction I got from people on the streets during my test drive was my eye-opener on how well received this vehicle will be when it hits the streets in greater numbers. “WTF is that?” “Where can I get one?” Along with waves, thumbs up, screams and hollers. I was surprised by the overwhelming reaction. The real eye-opener was from my could care less about a three wheeler vehicle wife’s reaction during and after her test drive.......with the typical ear to ear grin, “We need to get 2 of these!” My guess is we would see a similar reaction to the Elio, but doubt 250,000 units per year.

NOTE: There is no comparing either Elio, Arcimoto, and Electra Meccanica to Harley, Spyder, or Slingshot......different motorcycles/different market demographics. I wish them all crazy success and would have preferred that EM followed a similar business model from the start small and scale playbook. It may have been $12-15K, but we may have been driving it by now.