Nathan Fillion plugs small electric vehicle startup

Star of ABC's 'Castle' takes the Arcimoto Pulse for a test-drive.

Thu, Aug 26 2010 at 3:29 PM EST

Photo: ZUMA Press

When you have more than 600,000 followers on Twitter, dropping a mention about an awesome electric car you just spied can have unintended consequences.

In the case of Arcimoto, makers of three-wheeled electric vehicles, their web server promptly crashed after Nathan Fillion, star of "Castle" and "Firefly" tweeted the following:

“I found it! I found my spaceship! It’s real and I’m getting it! http://arcimoto.com"

Boom.

But small startups relish opportunities like this one — and Arcimoto took full advantage of the free press by inviting Fillion and fellow "Castle" castmate Jon Huertas to test drive the "spaceship".

Arcimoto's prototype, known as the Pulse, is officially classified as a motorcycle and can travel about 40 miles at speeds up to 65 mph. The company claims that recharge times with the lead-acid batteries are about six hours.

“It’s the excitement of a motorcycle without that ‘Oh God, I’m going to die’ feeling,” Fillion told the NY Times. “This is bigger than it looks, and it has a stable platform.”

Apparently, Fillion and Huertas were in the market for an "enclosed motorcycle" green vehicle they could drive to the set of "Castle" when they stumbled upon the Pulse.

Arcimoto expects the vehicle to go on sale sometime in early 2011 with a retail price of $17,500. No doubt, we'll hear Fillion scream with excitement through the Twitterverse when his arrives.