SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and EUGENE, Ore. --(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today, Faction Technology, Inc., a self-driving technology provider for affordable driverless fleets, and Arcimoto, Inc. (NASDAQ: FUV), the leading North American manufacturer of ultra-efficient and affordable electric vehicles, announced an expanded relationship to scale driverless vehicle fleets.
The combination of Faction's DriveLink® and TeleAssist® technologies allows Arcimoto platform vehicles to integrate driverless capabilities with the ability for remote human teleoperation. This driverless vehicle system is designed to maintain the core strengths of the Arcimoto platform, including a top speed of 75 mph and a range of just over 100 miles. Faction’s technology can be applied to any variant of the Arcimoto vehicle, providing a customizable and versatile solution for fleet customers in the logistics and transportation sectors. By integrating their respective technologies, Arcimoto and Faction aim to offer a highly efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective solution for urban mobility, while also reducing carbon emissions.
"Developing a scalable driverless vehicle system requires a fundamental reimagining of the engineering design, starting from the chassis up. Partnering with Arcimoto allows us to accelerate the deployment of driverless fleets, far surpassing the capabilities of legacy vehicle designs," stated Ain McKendrick, CEO of Faction. “The Arcimoto vehicle platform has been thoughtfully designed with scalability in mind, making it an ideal platform for the integration of self-driving technology. The collaborative efforts of our engineering teams have resulted in a plan for the mass production of scalable driverless vehicles with minimal configuration changes to the Arcimoto production line.”
Faction and Arcimoto have identified fleet customers in the logistics and transportation sectors as their primary target market for their driverless electric vehicle solution. Both companies share the belief that right-sizing these vehicles will provide a significant boost in efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and offer cost savings over existing urban mobility offerings. The combination of Faction's self-driving technology with Arcimoto's ultra-efficient and affordable electric vehicles offers a highly scalable solution that can be quickly deployed to meet increasing demand for efficient transportation.
Chris Dawson, Arcimoto CEO said, “Our shared mission to deploy ultra-efficient electric vehicles at scale is now further strengthened by incorporating Faction's advanced technology into our platform. Combining Arcimoto's robust engineering capabilities with Faction's self-driving technology enables us to provide highly customizable, sustainable, and cost-effective transportation solutions to commercial customers. This milestone in our partnership marks a significant step forward in our goal to revolutionize the urban mobility landscape, and we are excited to see the results of our continued collaboration."
In addition to the expanded commercial development relationship, Arcimoto and Faction have announced an investment agreement that allows the companies to take an equity stake in each other. Under the agreement, Arcimoto will make a strategic investment in Faction and Faction will receive an equity stake in Arcimoto. The partnership aims to leverage the strengths of each company to drive innovation and growth in the electric vehicle and driverless technology space, with a focus on being the most eco-friendly and socially responsible solutions for mobility. The investment agreement is expected to benefit both companies as they continue to pursue their shared vision of a more sustainable future.
Read the full press release here.
