Over 300 stakeholders, executives, and politicians gathered at Arcimoto’s unveiling of its extended production facility in Eugene Tuesday. The company also revealed new innovations.
“Welcome to the RAMP!” began Arcimoto’s president, Mark Frohnmayer, before a crowd that included Mayor Lucy Vinis and Congressman Peter DeFazio. The new 250,000 sq.ft. space sported the company’s distinctive Fun Utility Vehicles (FUV) and variants.
One key improvement that Frohnmayer said came organically from users was doors. Other models had design features to accommodate golf clubs and other recreational gear.
One pilot project for wildfire response will incorporate technologies developed at Arcimoto’s new production space.
Frohnmayer shared video of the “Smoke Jumper Initiative” during his presentation. He said not only would a lightweight electric vehicle respond to calls, it’ll have a 3-gallon pump with a special fluid that’ll match the firefighting capacity of a standard engine with 300 gallons of water.
“We had fire at the gates a couple years ago,” Frohnmayer told KLCC after his formal remarks. “And the question for us was, ‘Is there anything we can do to help solve that problem?’ And the real benefit of the Arcimoto platform: it’s nimble, it’s quick, it can get places faster. And so if we can blend that rapid response capability with the ability to actually have some serious horsepower putting out fires, that’d be a huge win.”
The “Smoke Jumper” project will launch this summer, with select rapid responders units across the region.
E-bikes and driverless delivery vehicles were also highlighted in Tuesday’s ceremony.
Frohnmayer also presented a bar chart showing Arcimoto’s output in recent years, from just over 150 in 2020, and more than 450 in 2021.
“Arcimoto more than doubled year-over-year production in 2020, and more than tripled year-over-year production in 2021,” he told the crowd. “Even considering down time with the move over to the ramp, we expect to triple production once again this year. Then we start taking the big steps up.”
Plans are to produce up to 50,000 Arcimoto vehicles a year by 2025. The RAMP facility is at 311 Chambers Street in Eugene.
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