Last year, Arcimoto launched a new version of its three-wheeled electric trike aimed at local and last mile delivery businesses called the Deliverator. Now the company has teamed up with Carry It Forward to field test the vehicle in Eugene, Oregon.
The third vehicle to be built on the Arcimoto Platform, coming after the Fun Utility Vehicle and the Rapid Responder, the Deliverator can manage a top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h) and has a per charge city range of 100 miles (160 km). Though there's a windshield and roof cover to protect the driver from the elements, there are no doors. But this will allow for quick ingress/egress, which is handy for package delivery.
In place of the passenger seat, there's a cargo pod – which looks a good deal more streamlined than the boxy version we saw last year. In all, the vehicle offers over 15 cubic feet of cargo storage space. Access to the storage bay is via a hinged side door.
"We completed our first pilot Deliverator vehicle just as the Coronavirus crisis exploded," said company founder and CEO, Mark Frohnmayer. "Right before our planned launch, Carry It Forward reached out to Arcimoto to see if we could help in any way to expand their delivery capacity for emergency supplies to the unhoused. I can’t think of a more important mission, nor a better way to begin testing the Deliverator in the field, than helping Carry It Forward to serve the most vulnerable members of our community."
Non-profit Carry It Forward will use the vehicle to transport critical emergency supplies to unhoused communities in Eugene and Springfield.
"We are incredibly grateful to use the first Deliverator pilot vehicle for this mission that we so believe in, as we all join together in the Eugene community to flatten the curve for our most vulnerable neighbors, and to do so without burning an ounce of carbon," Carry It Forward's Arwen Maas-Despian said.
The Deliverator is expected to go into production some time in late 2020. The video below has more.
Source: Arcimoto
Meanwhile the buggy looks pretty good, like a mini-van/existing version of the Elio.
Cost is the killer for a lot of very interesting projects.
-Maybe this is an "Ideal" Pizza delivery vehicle.
Idea of Price??
-Economics absolutely matter, if customers can't afford it, it will not sell.
(Businesses don't buy uneconomical transport "solutions" - well the ones who don't want to go bankrupt don't.)