HERE FOR THE RIDE

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY CAMILLE ROWE

If you live in Eugene, Oregon, you’ve more than likely seen an Arcimoto speeding through the streets at some point. If Arcimoto doesn’t ring a bell, picture this: a large, colorful, motorized tricycle that typically seats one to two people at a time. Th ese vehicles, coined as FUVs, or Fun Utility Vehicles, are fully electric and designed to be an emission-free alternative mode of transport for driving short distances. Arcimoto’s mission, as stated on their website, is to “catalyze the shift to a sustainable transportation system.” Th e company believes this is possible through moving away from gas guzzling SUVs and shifting the collective view on short range transportation. A main objective of its mission is to reframe casual transportation in a light that shows people just how quickly emissions can stack up, no matter the distance. Th e average passenger vehicle emits 411 grams of carbon dioxide per mile gas-run vehicles, which ammasses to roughly 4.6 metric tons of carbon emissions per year. However, fully electric vehicles have net carbon emissions of zero.

If you’re not quite ready to purchase one for yourself, Arcimoto runs a rental program that allows you to take an FUV for an emission free spin at a relatively aff ordable price point of $16 per hour. To see the atypical vehicles for myself, a friend and I rented one from the Arcimoto rental center, located near headquarters just off of W 2nd Ave. From the fi rst few minutes of the rental, it lived up to the name FUV. After an initial rundown of how to operate the controls, my friend and I were free to take off and drive the streets in our rainbow, cheetah print ride. Th e vehicle proved pretty easy to control and withstood the steep uphill drive to Skinner’s Butte with ease. Logistics aside, the experience was genuinely fun from beginning to end, and with music blasting it felt like we were driving a tiny rainbow spaceship around town, drawing smiles and waves from pedestrians and other drivers along the way. Going public in 2017 after its initial founding in 2007, Arcimoto built its headquarters here in Eugene, only a few minutes from campus. Founder and CEO Mark Frohnmayer said inspiration for Arcimoto was born from his own personal need for a fully electric vehicle. After months of searching for something to match his sustainability ideals, inspiration for Arcimoto struck Frohnmayer during a visit to the Eugene celebration parade, where he saw a three wheeled kit vehicle. “Th at was the true moment of inspiration,” Frohnmayer said. “Th e right product in the three wheel vehicle space had truly mass market potential, and nobody was doing it.” Beyond the general lack of innovation in the three wheel vehicle market at the time, Frohnmayer said sustainability has been a pillar of Arcimoto from the start. “Cars are awesome to carry fi ve people to Portland and back but are super ineffi cient if you’re going by yourself to get coff ee,” he said. Th e company has been working with the University of Oregon for nearly two years, which helped Frohnmayer shape rental business models and fi nd ways to make Arcimoto more rental business models and fi nd ways to make Arcimoto more appealing to students, most of which only have the frequent appealing to students, most of which only have the frequent need for short range transportation. need for short range transportation. Looking back at the larger picture now, Frohnmayer Looking back at the larger picture now, Frohnmayer said the word of Arcimoto spreading said the word of Arcimoto spreading among the student body is similar to the among the student body is similar to the collective eff ort to combat climate collective eff ort to combat climate change. “At the end of the “At the end of the day, sustainability is a social day, sustainability is a social networking exercise — networking exercise — we’ve all got to work we’ve all got to work together on this, together on this, and we have to and we have to fi gure out how to fi gure out how to work together work together eff ectively if eff ectively if we’re going we’re going to solve the to solve the problem,” problem,” Frohnmayer Frohnmayer said. Th e FUVs that we see on the streets are the product of a lengthy process of trial and error. Arcimoto was founded offi cially in 2007, and not long after, the fi rst FUV prototype, coined as Th e Vision, was developed but ultimately determined to be unsafe for the road. Over the decade following Th e Vision, seven additional prototypes were created, each one a slight reinvention of the last, smoothing out bumps in design, safety and materials among other features. Th e seventh prototype, or Th e First Pilot, was meant to be the fi rst FUV available to consumers in late 2019, until the company “conceived a fundamental breakthrough” in the midst of its building process, resulting in a vast improvement in features such as weight, price and vehicular range. Th e eighth and most current prototype, or Full Circle, is the fi rst to be off ered to the public, and at its core, it encompasses the original idea of an FUV while featuring a variety of more modern features. Even as the most recent generation is getting off of the ground, the company has big plans moving forward. As a closing to its mission statement, the company plans to create self-driving FUVs and expand globally in an eff ort to “eliminate traffi c and increase productivity and leisure time.” Tuga Putuga, an Arcimoto team member, said there are typically 17 vehicles available for rent at that location, and the company has partnered with other local businesses like the Graduate Hotel, who rent out an additional few FUVs for guests of the hotel. Th e majority of buyers are older members of the community, according to Putuga, and those who do buy an Arcimoto seem to divide their interest between convenience and environmental friendliness. However, he said younger people have also been drawn to the FUV for short-term rentals. “Younger people will mostly rent for the fun,” Putuga said. “Tourists rent for the fun as well after the hype they’ve been seeing on their social media.” Pulling up to the rental center as our hour came to an end, it was defi nitely harder to part with the FUV than I had anticipated. Driving through city streets in open air with had anticipated. Driving through city streets in open air with my favorite song playing was an experience that I had long my favorite song playing was an experience that I had long associated with expensive convertibles. associated with expensive convertibles. But Arcimoto provides this But Arcimoto provides this experience fairly experience fairly inexpensively, and it inexpensively, and it does so in a way that’s does so in a way that’s cutting down on cutting down on emissions, all while emissions, all while being incredibly fun. being incredibly fun. If you’ve yet to try it If you’ve yet to try it out, or fi nd yourself out, or fi nd yourself on the fence about on the fence about Arcimoto, my only Arcimoto, my only advice is to get advice is to get down to W 2nd down to W 2nd Ave. and see for Ave. and see for yourself. yourself.