LAST UPDATE: 11/15/09 - DATE VIEWED:
09/07/2010
SUBTITLE: More buzz??? EV's should be on the street BUZZING!
BASIC INFO:
Two Oregon companies will enter the high-stakes world of electric car manufacturing this month and further boost the states effort to become the Detroit of electric car manufacturing.
Eugene-based Arcimoto Inc., led by entrepreneur Mark Frohnmayer, son of former state attorney general and University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, will turn Pioneer Courthouse Square into a showroom for its three-wheeled all-electric Arcimoto Pulse on Sept. 23.
Last week, Tinitron Inc., a developer of electric transformer and power systems technology, unveiled its three-wheeled hybrid-electric Neutron3 during a ground-breaking ceremony for its new 25,000-square-foot Hillsboro headquarters.
Several other companies have also announced ambitious plans in Oregon, where officials have been fighting to make electric autos one of the states biggest growth engines.
Portland-based Porteon Electric Vehicles Inc. needs to raise $15 million to start a local assembly line. State officials also continue recruiting Think, a Norwegian electric car-maker that in April toured Freightliners Swan Island plant.
Nissan is among the major auto manufacturers that have announced plans to use Oregon as a test market for electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, Swiss battery-maker ReVolt Technology LLC also announced it chose Portland as its U.S. headquarters to develop its rechargeable zinc battery technology for electric vehicles.
But theres a bumpy road ahead for startups such as Arcimoto and Tinitron.
The auto industrys heavyweights, including General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing affordable electric cars and can easily squeeze smaller competitors.
Sales of electric cars have also failed to live up to some expectations. Eco-motion, Portlands only electric car dealership, closed this year.
Auto analysts, however, say nows a great time for new brands to enter the market, thanks to the struggles of stalwarts like Ford and General Motors.
We are now at a point very similar to where we were 104 years ago where the entire automotive industry is being redeveloped, said Brett Smith, director of the automotive analyst group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Strategies vary
Arcimoto and Tinitron plan to offer three-wheeled, two-seat vehicles at under $20,000 apiece, much cheaper than the price tag slapped on the full-size electric cars made by competitors. Both companies also have executives with successful track records.
Arcimoto is Frohnmayers latest venture following GarageGames.com Inc., his Eugene-based company that built technology for independent game developers. Frohnmayer sold the company for $50 million in 2007 to New York-based interactive media firm IAC.
Two-year-old Arcimoto has 14 employees and has been financed with a little more than $1 million in angel investment. The money was used develop three prototypes, the latest of which will be used to help generate $500 pre-orders from customers.
The Arcimoto Pulse has a 50-mile range and can be charged in as little as six hours using a standard electric outlet. The company wants to sell the cars in Oregon and Washington before expanding into California.
It plans an initial production run of 300 vehicles, which it hopes to deliver to customers by fall 2010.
To do so, the company needs between $7.5 million and $10 million in financing from institutional investors funds that would help Arcimoto break even, get through two years of production, and develop a second model, said CEO Erik Stafl.
The company wants to ramp up to 30 employees once production begins and tap into the manufacturing expertise in Lane Countys dwindling recreational vehicle industry
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