Boston Test Drive Saturday April 6

[AnimalCage]

Just got the email, signed up for a 1:00 pm test drive! Still got open slots for anyone close by.

[gregbinahurry]

Nice.  Wish they would come to Iowa.

[AnimalCage]

If anyone has any questions for me to ask, or specific items to look for on the test drive, let me know. I should be there by noon. I will definitely ask about the power steering.

[AnimalCage]

An interesting and eye-opening afternoon. My wife and I drove to Boston to meet with the Arcimoto reps and look at the FUV. The invitation email said "test drive", so I was very excited. As my wife and I walked out of the parking garage, I saw a gentleman standing on the street who resembled Mark Frohnmayer. I walked up to him and said, "Hey, you look like you're from Oregon." He said, "Well, I am from Oregon." First impression of Mark is that he is highly approachable. Easy demeanor, will chat about anything of interest. Another couple joined us, and we spoke about all things Arcimoto and Boston weather until Jeremy picked up Mark to bring him to the truck where the other FUV was being stored.

They returned with Blue and Orange. First impressions are a funny thing. Looking at them, they looked small. Sitting in them, they didn't feel small. Well, the back seat felt a little small, but once you're in it, its comfortable. And I'm six foot, 250 lbs, so there's that. Gave Blue a once over, then Mark invited me to the back seat. He drove down the road a piece, then we switched, and I took the long way back. Wasn't really a "long" way. Maybe five minutes. But enough to gauge the driving experience, as far as city streets would let us.

Blue was comfortable, well behaved, poised. There really was nothing too remarkable about it. It felt good, and accelerated well. Torque was instant-on, but not drag-strip fast. Plenty of power to handle city streets. The regen brake worked, but wouldn't stop the FUV. I needed the foot brake for that. Being a motorcycle rider, I'm used to using a foot brake in combo with the right hand brake. At one stoplight, I rolled backwards a bit. Had to apply the footbrake. Mark used the term "hill stop", and said they were working on making adjustments to the regen brake. I asked Mark if he had taken an FUV up to max speed. He said he had done 75 mph in Blue. And then the ride was over, far too soon.

We hung around and chatted with the few others who were taking test rides. Jeremy said R&D were mostly focused on doors. Mark added they will probably be car door style. They are definitely looking at offering different style doors: half doors, full doors, soft-shell, etc. A small glovebox for registration and insurance is under consideration. Lots of inquiries about cup holders. They are a maybe, possibly, we'll see. I noticed the rubber rain gutters. Mark ran the windshield wiper with washer fluid on Blue.

I spent some time sitting in Orange, trying to observe as much as I could. Visibility is fantastic. I spoke with Mark about other vehicles and their huge A-pillars. The FUV is a joy to sit in. Driving it, I never noticed the A-pillars, which means they are done right. If I notice it, it's probably an issue. I spoke with Jeremy about Blue's regen braking. I noticed Orange's regen brake lever is a two-finger lever (index and middle). I felt the position of it was too far back. Of course, I'm accustomed to a motorcycle's full-hand brake lever. I also mentioned Blue's regen braking. Jeremy said Orange had much more sensitive regen braking, and the suspension was stiffer than Blue. He offered a test drive in Orange so I could compare. After thinking about it for a half-millisecond, I agreed.

If Blue is poised, Orange is edgy. When it wants to go, it goes now, and when it wants to stop, it stops now. What it doesn't want to do is steer in a parking lot. It does require throttle balanced with steering to turn it. And the regen braking was tight and touchy. Stopped on a dime, as in throw you forward if you squeeze too hard, and definitely had the hill stop capability. Jeremy was explaining that Orange was set up for a more sporty feel. Yeah, I felt it. Again, the test drive was short, and on city streets, so not a lot of opportunity to experiment.

I'm not saying Orange is bad. I'm saying Orange takes more getting used to. Every stick shift I've ever driven had a different feel to the clutch. Not good or bad, just had to get used to it. The same with Orange. A few more minutes in the seat and I would have felt quite at home. I avoided most of the pot holes, but purposely hit a few to gauge the FUV's reaction. Its not a luxury vehicle like the Yukon that I drove there. You feel the bumps, you know they're there, but it isn't uncomfortable and didn't make me nervous. Its just the style of vehicle.

All in all, a very exciting experience. They are definitely working on dialing in the final parameters for steering and braking. Get this thing on the road, then worry about doors, glove boxes, and cup holders. They are also working on new, more efficient motors, and still looking at reducing the weight wherever possible. They are doing all they can to hit the 130-mile range mark. I am still looking for real-world highway range numbers.

Last thought: Arcimoto needs to decide who their target audience is. They have been hearing from many different types of drivers, and some very vocal groups. Everyone wants the FUV to perform how they choose. Understood, but how far can an FUV be adjusted to suit everyone? Driving Orange required effort and learning. Driving Blue was effortless. If the target audience is bikers, push it towards the sport end of the performance spectrum. If the target audience is business commuters and city dwellers, a more relaxed driving experience would be advantageous. If I were the latter, and drove Orange for the first time, I might think the FUV wasn't for me. If you only get one chance to make a first impression, Blue is the impression I would want to give. Or, at least, between Orange and Blue, heavily slanted towards Blue.

Thanks to Mark and Jeremy for coming to Boston, and the A-Team in general for delivering on a vision a lot of us share: reducing and reversing the wanton and reckless damage we have done to our planet.

---

After I returned with Blue, Mark was gracious to take my wife for a drive. She will eventually be driving it herself, but today was a bad shoulder day, and she didn't feel comfortable driving. These are her impressions, paraphrased by yours truly:

My wife is a big girl, and the back seat had just enough room for her. Because of her shoulder, I had to help her with the seatbelts. They were at max length. She didn't feel constricted, but very secure. As they drove off, her first impression was feeling very secure. (I will upload the video of them leaving the parking lot.) She very much enjoyed the 3+2 seatbelts, and never had a feeling of falling sideways. Aside from the driver headrest being directly in front, visibility was excellent all around. The clear glass roof helped with the feeling of being open, being free. Having a propensity towards motion sickness, she is very sensitive to how a vehicle behaves. She said there was not any whipping around, no leaning on corners (like in the back seat of a car), and not once felt the resemblance of motion that would lead to a wave of nausea. The open air feeling was just a fantastic experience. A solid, secure, comfortable, fun ride.

She enjoyed engaging Mark in conversation during the ride, suggesting they look at Martha's Vineyard as a landing spot for a rental fleet. Mark and Jeremy were both easy to converse with, passionate about their product, informative, knowledgeable, and approachable.

"I can see us having a lot of fun with an FUV".

[Buzzard Bait]

AnimalCage, thank you for the very interesting and insightful test drive review. Especially your description of the differences between Blue and Orange in handling and performance.

[Kepesk]

I love that they're letting people test the signature series vehicles; I'm quite jealous. I may have to see if I can get in on that when they get back in town.

[PAX]

AC- thanks for great write up..   Interesting that Blue and Orange felt so much different.  I can see the regen braking issue on Blue but that should be easily adjustable with the motor controller- On my e-truck I can adjust a number of things and the amount of re-gen braking is one of them-  but  I would have thought that was the purpose of the lever- brake as needed is the way I want it. Although there are some limits-   sudden need to brake quickly. 
As far as steering - what do you think the difference between the two is- it has to be more than a stiffer suspension-  Your description of Blue is almost exactly what I was thinking it would be like. Your Orange description  is a little bit like the review we saw from NY. 
I assume power steering in both- could be set up differently maybe. 

Thanks again

[AnimalCage]

I don't know the differences between the setups, only that they are still experimenting with different settings. Things like suspension and steering will be factory set. A mechanic may be able to alter some settings, but for most of us, it is how the factory sets it up.

[SparkE]

FANTASTIC write-up - thank YOU!

A few things occurred to me... (and I hope that you will pass them on to the company if you agree)

"offering different style doors" : I hope that they offer "soft sided" canvas/plastic 'wraps' that can be zippered or clicked on in 30 seconds for those zones with heat but sometimes 'quickly' wet (FL, MI, HI, GA, ...) Heck, drivers in many parts of OR and WA would probably like such a thing for the summer months!

"glovebox" - I have nothing against gloveboxes HOWEVER it seems a marketing opportunity. I have been to sports venues where they offer clear plastic pouches for seat tickets (so you don't have to stop to pull out your box seat tickets when coming back with two beers or the hot dog and they want to check that you paid for those expensive seats). IF there is no glovebox (heck, even if there is!) it seems a great marketing gimmick to offer a quality small pouch that hangs around the neck with each SRK sold. It holds your registration and insurance card(s) and has 'Arcimoto' embossed on it. It lives near the door you walk out of when heading to the FUV and is picked up on the way out.

"who is the customer". Excellent point. Since so much is done in software these days, I *hope* that 'sport' vs. 'ease' (and other things, like regen) will be selectable. I had a friend who worked on car software TWENTY YEARS AGO that changed the behavior of the vehicle based on which key was being used: radio station presets, drive 'sportiness', mirror and seat settings, softness of suspension, cornering, etc. One would hope that such things ARE parametizable in the SRK and that they would have the intelligence to sense which key is being used so as to determine the 'defaults' for each driver. Also, for those things that are mechanical settings - it would be nice if they could be set / requested / ordered from the factory if they are simply settings (or different shock absorbers, for example).

[Tightapex]

Thanks for the great impressions, AnimalCage.  I was curious if the two vehicles had been tuned differently and that appears to be the case.  I've often wondered if Arcimoto will offer a "performance" version of the FUV, similar to how many carmakers offer a performance variant of the same car.  Granted, I'm sure they have their hands full nailing down the options and accessories that add functionality, but it's interesting to get a window into product development.  I like the comment about the half doors.  That could be a fun way to preserve the open-air experience but offer a modicum of protection from the elements, or even minor side impacts.  The FUV won't offer multi-airbag levels of safety, but even a hinging side bar could help a little.  The soft doors sound cool too.... go from open to closed to open regardless of whether you're home or not.