Electric three-wheeled “fun utility vehicle” manufacturer Arcimoto and HULA Holdings recently announced that they were partnering on a new project to deliver a full-service charging station for EVs, dubbed the EV Oasis.
The first EV Oasis center is planned for the San Diego area of Southern California and will bring together 24 Level 2 charging stations with 10 DC fast charging stations to offer a reliable full-service charging experience for plug-in vehicle drivers. The charging stations will be paired with an experience center that will offer rental services for Arcimoto’s 3-wheeled fun utility vehicles.
The two companies see the rental center as the ideal forum for customers and potential customers to experience life in an electric vehicle — and better than that, on an extremely efficient, compact electric vehicle that makes driving not only more fun, but lower cost at the same time.
Inside the experience center, customers will be able to pick up a coffee and browse through a host of educational kiosks filled with information about electric vehicles, plug-in vehicle charging, and Arcimoto’s fun utility vehicles.
The vision for a welcoming plug-in vehicle charging center that brings some of the comforting amenities of a fueling station to the vehicle charging experience is nice and the fact that these two companies are looking to take that to the next level makes it that much better. It feels a lot like what Tesla did at its Kettleman City, California Supercharging station, which offers more than just a plug to drivers.
A cup of coffee is the logical extension; a selection of food, bathrooms, and a place to sit all seem like great things; and it’s really fun to see companies outside of Tesla’s walled garden actively building out these types of solutions.
The San Diego location is just the first of two planned stations, with the other being planned near Arcimoto’s factory in Eugene, Oregon. It’s not hard to imagine an EV Oasis in every town in America as the percentage of electrified cars on the road continues to scale in the coming years. Along those lines, HULA Holdings has put a deposit down on 100 of Arcimoto’s fully-electric fun utility vehicles as part of its rental operation.
“As a former San Diego County Planning Commissioner, I can attest that the San Diego region faces enormous challenges with issues like lowering transportation emissions, reducing congestion, and addressing the high cost of transportation and the scarcity of parking solutions in our coastal regions,” said HULA Holdings Co-Founder Peder Norby. “The Arcimoto FUV is the best ‘Tool in the Toolbox’ to address these issues with 1/10th the emissions, 1/3rd the parking space, 1/3rd the cost and 10x the fun of an average car.”
HULA Holdings sees the rental operation as just the start of tapping into the potential for the Arcimoto FUV and has already set its sights on using them for ridesharing, delivery, last-mile, and hospitality applications in the pilot location in San Diego.
“In this time of fundamental transportation disruption, we are excited to help define the future of the gas station in partnership with HULA Holdings,” said Arcimoto President and Founder Mark Frohnmayer. “We believe EV Oasis will be a fantastic way for San Diego drivers to see and experience the Fun Utility Vehicle, and we look forward to delivering the first FUV units to this fleet later this year.”
HULA Holdings owns and operates DC fast charging stations across Southern California and is eager to define the future of plug-in vehicle charging with these stations.
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