Tech Spotlight: Arcimoto says it’s on track to deliver its first vehicles — with seats for a driver and one passenger, three wheels and motorcycle handlebar-style steering — later this year.
Arcimoto, electric-vehicle company in Eugene, Oregon, raised nearly $20 million in a recent initial public offering, and its founder says the firm is on track to deliver its first vehicles to customers this year.
Arcimoto shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker FUV. That stands for “Fun Utility Vehicle,” which is how the company describes its vehicles with seats for a driver and one passenger, three wheels and motorcycle handlebar-style steering.
The price of the company’s base model is $11,900 — about a third of the price of a typical electric car, the company said.
At 1,000 pounds, the vehicles are about one-fourth the weight of a standard car. They’re also much smaller. Three fit into a typical parking space.
The street-legal vehicles can travel 70 miles on a fully charged standard battery pack or 130 miles with an extended range battery.
Arcimoto in the coming months plans to establish a larger production facility at an undisclosed location in Eugene, home to the University of Oregon. Company founder Mark Frohnmayer’s late father — former Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer — was president of the university from 1994-2009.
The company employs 23 people and will hire more people as production increases, Frohnmayer told The Register-Guard. Arcimoto had 1,778 preorder customers as of Sept. 19. It hopes to deliver its first vehicles by the end of the year and the rest of the preordered vehicles by the end of 2018.
Frohnmayer said the company’s goal is to dramatically increase production in 2019 and build at least 10,000 vehicles.
The IPO money provided financing for the startup — a small player in an industry dominated by Tesla and major traditional automakers. Arcimoto originally expected to raise about $10 million. “Raising nearly $20 million — almost double the original target — will let us move faster,” Frohnmayer told the newspaper.
The IPO — filed under Securities and Exchange Commission rules that make it easier for smaller companies to issue stock — was priced at $6.50 a share. The stock slipped 11.5 percent to $5.75 in its first day of trading Sept. 21. It closed Friday at $4.96.