Arcus Velomobile, a company from Finland, based not far from Helsinki, has already produced a velomobile. The Arcus I. It was a glass fibre, quite huge open-side vehicle which was difficult to transport anywhere. So Arto decided to stop the production some time ago. His new project is more interesting to me. Also because it is based on the same idea I had several years ago which was a velomobile built around AZUB T-Tris trike and the shell was composed from carbon fibre struts, some aluminum construction and a fabric cover. The concept’s name was Dryve and we even have had a first prototype.

Arto’s idea is the same. Such velomobile will be light and easy to ship to any place in the world. That means that its cost will be significantly lower in case you live in a country where there is no velomobile producer. Unlike the Dryve, the Arcus II velomobile will be made out of aluminium tubes and Scotchlite reflective/black water repellent fabric. The first proto will be made to an ICE Sprint X Tour or the AZUB TRIcon 26. The idea is to make the frame easily adjustable, so it can be made higher / longer for taller riders or higher recumbent trikes. This all will be possible because of the stretchable fabric. The side fabric will be connected to the mudguards so it will move in and out when cornering. The front part will raise up so you can easily get in it. Instead of standard handlebars, Arto will use over seat steering similar to what you can find on SWB recumbents so there is more room inside the fairing. “To build wheel boxes makes the construction much more complex and I want to keep it as simple as possible.The plan is to use connectors between the tubes. With a CNC-machine or a 3D-printer for the metal they are quite easy to produce.” says  Arto Joutsimäki, CEO of Arcus Velomobile.

The calculated weight will be around 10 kg plus the trike, of course, and Arto hopes to keep the price between 1000 – 1500€. The prototype is now in production and the estimated release will happen sometime in Spring 2021. There are also some plans to make a bigger version with solar panels and a new trailer with solar panels and a one person tent in the same package, but these are just preliminary plans.

Fingers crossed! This is for sure an interesting project!

  • Arcus I
  • AZUB Dryve
  • AZUB Dryve – open cocpit