Earlier in the week, electric mobility company Arcimoto held a ribbon cutting ceremony at a new manufacturing facility in Eugene, Oregon, and officially revealed the D1 driverless delivery vehicle developed in collaboration with Faction Technology. Now a pedal-powered tilting e-trike has been added to the reveal roster.
The e-trike was announced as part of Arcimoto's move towards mass production of its Fun Utility Vehicle, Deliverator, Roadster, Rapid Responder and Flatbed tilting electric three wheelers at the new RAMP facility – which is reported to be five times larger than the company's existing operations base.
Codenamed the Mean Lean Machine, the e-trike will employ Arcimoto's patented tilting technology to lean into turns like a regular two-wheeled ebike, but should offer more stability and better traction.
"We started with the amazing three-wheel tilting technology developed by our Tilting Motor Works division and then packed the MLM with new cutting-edge electric vehicle features, including hub motors on all three corners and a pedal generator, in order to deliver a joyful experience unlike any other in the ebike category," said company founder and CEO, Mark Frohnmayer.
At this stage, details on those "cutting-edge electric vehicle features" are pretty thin, but we do know that Arcimoto is aiming for more than 200 miles (over 320 km) of per-charge range with the addition of auxiliary batteries, each of the wheels will benefit from its own electric hub motor and a rider's pedaling effort will feed a generator that in turn powers the ride via the onboard thumb throttle – no chain or belt drives here.
There's a spring shock to the rear, it looks like the main battery unit is attached to the front, the MLM will support fast charging and though the current product renders show seating for the rider only, plans call for the ability to carry a passenger too.
The company is also "thinking about this product as use as a fitness/exercise equipment" – which could see it set up in a spare room or den for indoor workouts while also topping up the onboard generator and batteries, "allowing you to use it as a stationary bike or like a Peloton that you can use to go get groceries."
That's about all the company is giving away for now, but we can expect more details – including pricing, battery options and accessories – to emerge closer to official product launch later this year. The MLM is up for pre-order now though, with potential buyers able to stump up a fully refundable deposit of US$100. While we wait, the video below shows the prototype in action.
Product page: Arcimoto MLM
