Arcimoto isn't long for this world 

I can't help but question the decision making process that lead them to the conclusion that there was enough market traction for them to have so many employees and model variants.

Steve, from the moment I saw this product on your channel, and learned of its cost, I thought to myself that it was too pricey for a vehicle with such limited use. My overall thoughts were--too expensive, doesn't hold or carry much and a one person vehicle w/a limited range. However, I feel bad that this has happened and hopefully some good can come from their present situation.

think their main problem was they were not able to ramp up their manufacturing to a profitable level. They also were charging too much to rent them, which meant less people were exposed to them and often had a bad impression. They also needed to make the doors available. They are over engineered. They are very sturdily built, but that makes them heavy and less efficient.

I found the Arcimoto product compelling for campus and inner-city operations. They have tremendous utility. I don’t understand how sales were so bad. It’s not a product for the general population. Perhaps their marketing message was confused out of desperation to find a market. The prices seem a bit high, but maintenance should have been low. It’s too bad. As a stock holder, I selfishly want them to succeed, but I have little hope. I’ll hodl till the end because I hold so little value anyway.

I invested in Arcimoto a few years ago, but given their current state I'm fortunate that I pulled out about a year ago. IMHO, they should have focused only on the FUV, producing it at scale to get the price down to ~ 10K. Very sad: At the right price I think it could have done well as a inter-city vehicle.

Got an elder motorcycles buddy who switched to the Acrimoto. He loves the acceleration option, plus way it drives, including through the hills. I have thought it was kind of high price for open sides, and notice no specs for battery chemistry type. He did get tech support for a battery replacement, when one or more cells caused a low range problem. That was fully remedied wo cost to buddy via warranty support at his home garage.

Arcimoto, like the majority of electric vehicle startups, had more sizzle than steak. They failed going out the low end, but others are going out the top end (= way too expensive). Aptera, for any number of reasons we all talk about, is different, but not immune to failure. 2023 will be a difficult year.

Disappointing and sad news in the EV industry. I believe we need smaller more efficient vehicles in the marketplace. Thank you again for your detailed reporting Steve!

The Arcimoto would be great for puttering around town (as would the Nimbus) like you say -- for the quick trip to an appointment or to the store. But that's not much utility to justify the $25k price. The Aptera is just SO much more versatile for roughly the same price. With only two of us at home it can (almost) be our ONLY vehicle. Not so with the Arcimoto or the Nimbus.

Arcimoto should have remained focused on the FUV and Deliverator and they should have made full doors standard and "removable", like a Jeep, if the owner wanted to be more "sporty". The time to introduce variants is after you have an established core market. In a bullish economy I could see this company picked up by by an investor looking to take advantage of the considerable development done here, but I don't see that happening in an economy at the edge of recession. It will be intersting to see if Aptera touches on this news in the webinar tomorrow.

Really sad, I root for them. These vehicles would have been great in European cities, and had they ever been available over here, I probably would have bought one (if there were enclosed doors available for the winter)

They had my support with the original option of solar roof.

Unfortunately they put the emphasis on Fun rather than Functional. For $20K+ it really needs to be a daily driver rather than a recreational vehicle. If it were enclosed and had AC then it might be workable as a commuter vehicle, but the FUV could realistically only be driven to work or shopping on clear and mild days. The range is adequate for daily use for many, but it falls short on overall utility. It might be really good as a vacation rental to cruise the local scenery, but apparently they failed to penetrate that market sufficiently.

Arcimoto just couldn't scale production, the FUV had too many parts and was difficult to assemble! They also created five different versions all with smaller markets to addresses. Had they fixed production woes in 2020 with a full redesign and cut the cost to $14,000 it might have sold big.

I just looked at my $FUV investment. It's down 97.88%. But I'm holding out hope!

I thought that Sandy Munro had shares in Arcimoto. I think that Arcimoto and Aptera would make excellent partners if they joined forces.

Yeah . . . The Nimbus was ALWAYS preferable to me. The main benefits of the Arcimoto was that it looks much more suitable for dirt roads/snow, the passenger seat looks less cramped, and it would make a great urban food delivery vehicle. The Nimbus is cheaper, has better climate control, and can go faster. I haven't heard much from Nimbus lately, so I'm worried they also might be struggling, but I'm hoping they make it.

The citroën Ami retails for around 6000 Euros in the EU don't know if you have this in the US yet but that's some stiff competition from a major motor manufacture with talk of adding the Citroen Oli to the line up as well.

Big problem trying to.produce so many different variations right off the bat. Their only chance, assuming they get more money, would be to focus on one or two at the most models.

Wow! Bad news. I got excited about the Mean Lean Machine. I almost sold two days ago. I can't believe they were loosing money at $17,500. The rental program should have been closed down a year ago instead of expanded. Maybe I'll get one at auction in Honolulu.

Arcimoto actually extended me an offer here in San Diego. Good thing I didn't take it as the company was scrambling at the time

I don't see how anyone came to the conclusion that Arcimoto would ever succeed. Where did it find all of the delusional investors? I am guessing they were mostly retail investors. Right now, you can get a new Chevy Bolt EV for well under $24,000 before you even apply the federal incentive. My state adds a $2500 incentive. That is below $14,000 net! It is hard to find those lower-trim Bolts, but even the top trim Bolt would net at $24,000. You get more range, more safety, more utility and a massive service network with the Bolt. Why I think Aptera is different is because of the self-charging feature. That feature solves a big problem for a huge population of potential consumers around the world - from a rural farmer in Botswana to a college kid in Boston. Self-charging adds tremendous value to some people - especially those with problematic access to charging and/or who cannot afford the energy expense of any type of vehicle, even an EV. In addition, that farmer can repair the Aptera himself or herself. So can the broke college kid. So there is more value still. And think of the various applications for public-sector and private sector fleet sales. Again, the Aptera would solve a lot of problems for those potential buyers. If Aptera can get the money it needs to begin mass-production, I have no doubt it will succeed, provided it can make a good gross profit on each unit delivered. But as an investor and former mortgage planner with banking experience, I see Aptera's window is closing. Capital is going to be in short supply if these pre-emptive lay-offs continue in America. The money supply will tighten more than it already has the past two years, because unemployed people will default on their various types of debt. Small companies struggling to stay afloat will be sinking left and right. You can expect to see start-ups of all kinds dying of thirst for capital. Let's all hope Aptera gets that CA loan, plus an idealistic, big investor or two to help float monthly operating expenses. More likely, I think Aptera will be purchased by a vulture investor while Aptera is gasping for air. What that investor does with Aptera once it acquires it is anybody's guess.

I rented an Arcimoto for a few hours in HI. There are a lot of big CONs: high $45/hr rental price, extremely heavy steering at low speeds, and the machine couldn't get into reverse on 2 occasions (needing full shut-down/start-up to reemedy), no doors on my model. On the flip side, was it fun? Yes. Would I buy one for $20K? No way. If it were $10-$12K, I would consider one.

Pretty sad news. I used some of the Tesla gains to support Arcimoto (and Aptera), hoping they would succeed and thus help spread the message of sustainability as well. I hope they make it somehow.

To be honest I never thought they'd survive. This type of vehicle might work in a retirement community somewhere in Europe but 99.999% of Americans wouldn't consider something like this even if it cost a few hundred dollars. I'm not surprised.

A dream scenario is where Aptera succeeds in revolutionizing the auto industry and buys Arcimoto in the name of right sizing mobility for the masses.

I was seriously considering one of these - even test drove one here in Hawaii. But the range at speed was too short (surprised they didn't implement more streamlining, especially on the wheels, to increase this) - and then they removed the option to get California Doors. Still think it's a great if more niche idea, but it's overpriced.

A couple of items on the FUV. The original price point when they started reservations was to be under 12K. They were never producing more than a couple a day, and that was recently, before that a couple a week. Their sales were limited at first to 3 states (CA/WA/OR) and even until now had only added a handful of others. The 19K base model lacks a lot if the things people consider essential, so a lightly spec'd out model runs over 22K. The range is the no go factor for me and many. As for those who think the speed and size are bad for them, check our Nikki's video when she took it for a weekend on a Transport Evolved video, the main problem there is the associated loss of range at speed, it's a good cruiser ar speed though.

They should streamline their vehicles down to like two, and make sure they have DC fast charging. I think this is nearly the only thing slowing them down. There are advantages of the FUV. You can get out of the vehicle far more easily. (No doors.) It does make a nicer tourism vehicle than an Aptera if you're making lots of stops.

Where can I find the Broad of Acrimoto and who is the major shareholder for Acrimoto?

The 'Roadster' model looks very much like a Can-Am Spyder.

I like Arcimoto. I think their downfall is manufacturing expense and complexity. They are practically making these one at a time by hand. They should have done what Aptera has been doing, getting Sandy Munro in early to consult prior to production; simplifying design; simplifying production processes; and starting production at scale. If Arcimoto could have quickly met all of their initial demand at the height of their popularity, they could have established cash flow momentum to minimize burning up all their investor's money.

The Nimbus at it's advertised price is interesting, I like these types of vehicles, but I doubt that the final price will be anywhere close to that.

Not shocked. I was never interested. If they can't sell their EV profitably for $18k, I must wonder about an Aptera at $26k.

RIP….I test drove it last September at Fully Charged. It was less than enjoyable to ride, I found the steering awkward and the suspension jostled your body over every bump. For an electric vehicle I also found it sluggish. Most vehicles in the market have a purpose that you shop for. I found nothing appealing about the vehicle…glorified golf cart, nothing that I can think of that it did well.

I hate to see a company really struggle let alone fail. I hope they can find a solution that allows them to get their feet back underneath then and succeed.

That's tough. The valuation is down over 95%

I really think they should have try harder with the emergency vehicle . Every Beach community has motorcycle. But I have no idea how much money would cost to advertise to those.

Everything looks good on paper, including Aptera, I used to argue with engineers about designs where I worked for over 30 years sometimes they would cave in other times they wouldn't and we'd have the same problems. I think Aptera will go down the same road as Arcimoto mainly because they have NO working model and just promises and simulations I hope I'm wrong but I emailed them twice asking if they used a Gama for real world testing, my Dad was a test driver for Ford and he often came home with a model 2 years newer than the current year and he would drive it through Death Valley up to Alaska My first email went unanswered and the second one they said to wait for the webinar, okay I'll wait but I told them since they didn't answer my first email I could only assume they were not test driving anything. Another big issue is whether they have really solved the issue of cooling the batteries, when you put Vinyl over the skin I don't see how they can be body cooled and lithium Ion is old tech batteries. I'm sure many have questions

All this could happen to Aptera. It did once before. It almost happened to Tesla.

I liked the product, but you want to keep it simple in the beginning. Its utility is past a golf cart, so it could have replaced some old trucks, too.

Golf cart competitor, calling for first responders to use them, or door dash, uber eats, and pizza deliver folks, that was a smaller market, in a recession, they will be toast. The Aptera, is a much more compelling product, with many features which make it stand out. Sad to see a company fail, but the only thing that they made which was at all of interest to me, was the "lean machine," a tilting bike with an electric motor. Being a start-up during a contraction in the economy is extremely difficult. Capital disappears very quickly, as risk takers lick their wounds, and are reluctant to try to figure out the next best thing. But, as Barney Baruch said, " the best time to buy your straw hats is in the fall, when nobody wants them!" From the long lens of looking at different types of advancements, the postponement of good ideas, seems to be rare, as good ideas always garner a following. Aptera has an incredible following. As fans, wanting this to happen, we preach to those who will listen. The money will come, as the fundamentals are strong enough to overcome the contraction of the economy. Looking at a fallen corporation, trying to be an innovator, makes it clear that the risks of failure are still real. Steve Fambro, and Chris Anthony can taste victory as they are that close. the planning that has gone into the details of this venture, make it clear to me, that they will make this happen.

Living any where it rains allot or its 90f + all the time it just doesn't work for those weather conditions.

I test drove one in Eugene , it's a great vehicle and a lot of fun. But we live in the PNW ( rain)..........I don't know DOORS !!!

Tesla cheaper prices is going to test their competitors?

They should focused on 1-3 models, a cash cow, and got good making that.

Sad to hear this news. I liked the concept of their vehicle, and kicked around the idea of buying one. 😥

Gee I was thinking about investing another thousand before tomorrows conference call, now I'm a little nervous .

What they really need to do with these small BEV is make them Vehicle to Home back up power sources as well. It costs over $10,000 to get a Power Wall installed, giving you 13.5kwh of backup power. If the small BEV with 10-25kwh of capacity could also be used as backup power source for your home it would significantly add to their utility and value. I will not buy a BEV without the capability unless they are much more cost competitive with Hybrid vehicles. At 19.2kwh the Arcimoto would make a compelling combination of backup power supply and commuter vehicle.

Is it road and highway legal. May be rideshare like uber buys it and targets clusters in large cities with gps locking. Moves around in just the fenced neighborhood.

Not enough demand for efficiencies of scale, so inevitably expensive. For purposes of comparison, I'd like to know how many reservations Arcimoto had when they were at the stage Aptera is at now.

Re: Aptera Viability. What are Aptera’s projected margins over its first two years & going forward? More reason for Aptera’s updated goal of high initial production volumes. I.e., First principles based planning, design, & execution, per Tesla. Very doubtful of Arcimoto, mostly from lack of comfort from weather not justifying the cost.

I think its more of a toy then a car and most people need a car that can make a good road trip

There absolutely is a market for the FUV, just not at this price. The Citroën Ami sells like hot cakes, but it's less than 10k...

They were kind of a niche product, now there are plenty of electric vehicles, I would if wanted choose the nimbus as well looks good for climates and nobody can steal it easily, and the price most of all.

In many states the Arcimoto requires a motorcycle license, so the vacation rental option is very limited. So many of these 3-wheel ev's are just pipe dreams. Even the Aptera is going to be priced out of it's value in the mid $30K range base price. It appears that most of these companies will go the way of Nikola and be exposed as stock scams.

Watching videos last summer of reviewers excitement over Arcimoto it seemed to be a slam dunk but after driving one in San Diego last fall I was not impressed. It is not the answer to urban transport but would appeal to a niche market. I too am sorry if they go under and agree with your assessment.

Wow I'm about to lose a grip of cash!!! Oh well that's the start up risk game!! Some lose some win!!

That's very sad😭😭 to hear, I thought it was a nice little E Bike,kinda pricey but nice,to bad they couldn't put then in some types of rental services, for older people that don't need a car all the time ,I loved the (Nimbus) it's totally enclosed, just right for small trips around town, for shopping, and things.I'M A ELDERLY PERSON NOW AMD THAT LIKE JUST RIGHT FOR ME.

I thought Aricimoto was a great idea as it can fit into many niches from golf cart communities to commuters, but it is over priced right now. They talked about being able to get down to around $12,000 with scale, so it is interesting that they are losing money at the higher prices. I personally thought the Deliverator was a genius idea and if I was a millionaire, I would buy the whole company if it was only $6 million and focus on the Deliverator because there are millions of pizza and sandwich and other deliveries happening that are in inefficient vehicles. Just an example, O'Reilly's could switch from Rangers to Mavericks and save a lot of money, but switching to a Deliverator would save so much more since most of their parts don't need a pickup truck size. One of my beefs with Arcimoto was the 100 mile range limitation and no DCFC of any kind and I am about to have the same beef with Aptera on not including DCFC For a city car or golf cart replacement I now like Squad from the Netherlands. I think it goes 28mph for up to 60 mile range for $6800 and has a solar roof good for up to 20 miles of charge. They also have a 4 passenger version that costs more

stupid high prices for a dinky little vehicle I wouldn't dare put on a street with pickups, or drive in the rain and snow, drive when the wind is howling. yeah man hardly a commuter or something you would drop $17k on to run short errands. Here in Texas people have Bad Boy Buggies for neighborhood vehicles/toys.

Wow.

I liked the idea of the original product until the usable range was disclosed. 150 miles including highway would have been great, but 80 or less ruled it out. The failure to bring anything to market and expanding it to fire response and deliverator, leaning trikes all too precious $, time, and energy away from building the original version which I thought was a big mistake. I'm hoping Aptera gets their product up and built before they run out of money as well.

Your numbers are off on the stock value. they did a 20 for 1 reverse split recently and the high value did not take that into consideration. The highest price at the actual rate was about $32 per share pre reverse split. (A stock holder.)

What happened to the Domino's deal? Or was it Pizza Hut?

Aptera is clearly on a different path than Arcimoto. Biased here obviously, but yes I agree with you Steve, Aptera’s more like a 2 seater car. Plus it’s got over 40K reservations already.

No federal tax credit did em in. Hopefully Aptera’s finances are in better order.

dont know about arcimoto but theres a perception of vehicles that is a first world problem: the idea that there is a, "right" size vehicle. the public at large has spoken and there really isnt a general and sustainable desire for itty-bitty efficient cars... and lest one thinks that i dont know what im talking about i happily owned a 2018 electric smart car which i LOVED but was unable to keep once the lease was up. it was, "right" for us as it spent the night parked next to our f150 armored farm truck, which was 'right' for about half of our mobility needs. out of the hyper dense urbanized jungle most families own more than one vehicle. the idea that there is a universally idealized size for a personal transportation rig is demonstrably incorrect. i do look forward to getting my aptera early as i am an early backer. i think the solar aspect of it will be a game changer... not its size.

Even though Aptera's vehicle is dramatically better than any of those from Arcimoto, I'm afraid Aptera is on the same path if they don't get their factory funded pretty soon. I still don't understand Aptera's refusal to hand-build a few while waiting on that factory. After all, their vehicle was designed to be relatively easy to hand-build. Hopefully that's because a funding-deal is pending ... but we won't know for a few more months.

I'm not shocked. Was really excited when they bought Tilting Motor Works. But then equally dismayed to discover they had no plans to integrate that tech into their FUVs. Bummer. Wondering if they'll now sell off TMW.

I never thought that it would survive at the price they were needing to charge. It is a fun vehicle but has no large enough market to make it viable. Perhaps Aptera could take over their facility for a second location but I know they aren't ready to do that.

I agree that Nimbus is better, for all the reasons, you have discuss in prior videos, but AFAIK, Nimbus is no where close to where the FUV with respect the maturity of having a factory. Supposedly the NimBus, is being built somewhere in Asia, but we have not seen pictures/videos of the factory. Also with the downward pressure of Tesla price reduction and the IRA, the “affordability” of these right sized mobility products, is going out to the windows. This dynamic will also affect Aptera, regardless of their lead of efficiency.

I liked Arcimoto, but it was a tough sell at those prices, with that limited market. It has a similar problem to the Smart car. I wasn't really thinking of the Nimbus, which is even more limited, but at a better price. I was thinking about the Chevy Bolt, which after the rebates costs around $20K. The Bolt is also a valid threat to the Aptera, but the Aptera offers features and capabilities that put it in another class of EV. The Arcimoto would likely struggle in a good economy, but in a sketchy one...😞

I have never seen an aperta on the road. small case. Smells like a major scam. I just bought a Arcimoto and invested 5k. This is the future solution.

I wasn't even aware of them until last night, I hope Aptera learns from their experience. "The top-spec “Evergreen Edition” has a 20kWh battery pack that develops 81 horsepower - enough to get to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 75mph. That 20kWh will get you 100 “city” miles of range on a charge. On the highway, you won’t fare so well, with 66 miles of range at 55mph, and 32 miles at 70mph.

They merge with Solo IMO

The Arcimoto is a less-complete vehicle than Elio for much more money.

Aptera could be on next line for trouble

Sad news indeed.

I saw it coming when they bought the rights to build the Lean Machine, total distraction

When you can get a Honda Navi that get's 80mpg for $2k?

Toasted 🤷‍♂️

I’ve lost $200-300k. 750 shares

Hot in summer. Cold in winter. Wet in the rain. Slow and with short range. Motorcycles/scotters have that market covered for less money and more zip. Fully enclosed it could find a spot in the market, but it would be too costly as it is presently manufactured.

This company was puzzling. There are lots of videos of people driving these and loving them and they look really cool. That blue one they show in this video looks awesome. I see multiple places rented them. So it was always puzzling that they sold so very few of them. I think their price of $18,000+ was just insanely too high for a tiny 3 wheel EV without doors. Considering you can get a Radpower EV bicycle for less than $2,000, i don’t understand the pricing of the FUV. Someone looking for a traditional, fully enclosed 4 wheel car with many more features probably would not consider one and they are too expensive for someone looking for an e-bike. Perhaps there would be a market for them if they were able to get the price down to under $10,000 per vehicle?

IMHO this is why Arcimoto failed... Small battery, weak onboard charger (slow even for L2), no DC fast charging. Go search RU-vid for road trip review. I don't think FUV will survive. ***Sad*** I love the concept though.

Well yeah, they laid off their last engineer over two weeks ago.

If Arcimoto did EUC's instead it would've probably gone much better. I'm still flabbergasted that we still have no western manufacturer of that brilliant method of transportation whose tech was invented in the west for Christ sake, instead they're all (except Aptera) wasting resources on a slim chance of success and bloat car market. For EUC's you can go pretty much everywhere, with all these cars or "cars" we're limited to the road, one is taking up almost as many resources as a normal EV, the other can almost run on farts; it's a no brainer.

I use a FUV for my twenty mile, one way commute. The vehicle kicks ass and delivers as advertised. Truth is they are building and delivering more vehicles now than ever with around five hundred currently in the wild. No where near the level of engineering of a Aptera, but they are in the current market making a case for right sized mobility. I live in San Diego so I don't need climate control or windows, but I'm rocking an EV autocycle today while I await the opportunity to beta test a Launch Edition.

Diluted shares? Nah, you're deluded if you buy the shares at this point.

lol buy low sell high?

Definitely sad news. The price seems to have been a significant issue but if we can remove our bias towards Aptera and look at Aptera objectively, what issues do we see and why would they file for bankruptcy a year after launch? I know this is very difficult for us to do as we are VERY passionate about Aptera. None of us really have a say in the future of Aptera unless you are sitting on millions of dollars or within Aptera Motors and have influence over decisions that are made. One of my wife's big concerns is that we purchase an Aptera and the company fails in the next 5 years. I can't imagine buying many replacement parts from Pep Boys if Aptera fails. (At one point Pep Boys seemed to be considered or mentioned as a place to be able to service your vehicle, which is why I called them out.) Assuming Aptera has or gets the funding by March 2023 to go into production, the biggest obstacle that I see is out of their control and that is the economy. If by June the US fails to raise the debt ceiling, Aptera will not be the only company in a heap of trouble if we and the world sink into a deep recession or depression. If we look at the average age of who views this channel or more importantly who has a reservation, they are approaching retirement or are there. If we are in a deep recession, that retirement money is going to evaporate. The Debt Ceiling is on money the US has already spent or committed to. It is not on future commitments. If you feel that a handful of Congressional representatives should hold the Debt Ceiling hostage, then by all means, contact your representatives and let them know. If on the other hand you think future spending should be done wisely and that is for future budget negotiations, not the Debt Ceiling, then contact your representatives and let them know where you stand. Regardless of your view, there is way more at stake than the future of Aptera as America runs out of money today (1/19/23) and must use "extraordinary measures" to pay its bills. Personally, I think Aptera is on a good track to be successful and be around for the long haul, if we don't drop into a deep recession. Of course I realize that I am extremely biased. I do hope that Aptera does not get in over their head on things. Not all of those reservations will result in a purchased vehicle and they don't have to be made in 1 year, as much as we would all like to get our vehicle yesterday.

Arcimoto is just not a good every day vehicle for the average person for the price. You don't get much for your money. It is more like a substitute for a golf cart or the like with the same usage as such.

I don't think that company is going to make it. There are better trikes out there at a cheaper price. They made a mistake on a raising the prices and using the investors' money I'm building more of those junk. The nimbus also are raising their prices before they even start selling them.

This is something Polaris maybe would have made had they wanted a tiny startup to play with but even they don't have the funds for such a thing. Not even Toyota is building their version of this. What a waste of money, worse than Elio.

Maybe Aptera can buy some of their assets for cheap after they go under…

Where is Sandy Munro and his team when you really need him.. He needs to get his arse over to them and sort out these issues. I for one will of lost all respect if he doesn't sort it out. He is a very opinionated engineer and here is his chance to prove himself..

Right idea, wrong price point. I think there would be a market for a vehicle like this for $10K or less. They should have look to manufacture in Asia at a way lower cost. There are European variants (manufactured in Asia) that sell for around 10K and are perfect for pottering around town.

I blame environmentalists for Acrimoto's failure, it was designed and built for them and they won't buy them!

Stamp Arcimoto as "Tango Uniform"