Elio motors. 3 wheeler car that promises 84 mpg and $6800

[mindless1]

A soccer mom driving a Cadillac Escalade is going to plow right over you. Crash test ratings on very light cars mean little to nothing in the real world two vehicle frontal collisions.

 

[Kaido]

A soccer mom driving a Cadillac Escalade is going to plow right over you. Crash test ratings on very light cars mean little to nothing in the real world two vehicle frontal collisions.

tbh, that's the main reason I haven't put my money down for an Elio. Love the concept, but physics is physics...just because you get 5-stars in your class doesn't mean you're going to survive IRL. And I know plenty of people will argue that life is for the living, motorcycles are fine, etc., but I'd rather stack the odds in my favor on the slim chance that something terrible does eventually happen.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

A soccer mom driving a Cadillac Escalade is going to plow right over you. Crash test ratings on very light cars mean little to nothing in the real world two vehicle frontal collisions.

Nothing like living your life in fear - If a Escalade hits you at 50+mph in pretty much any compact, sub-compact or micro car you are done. Luckily thats a very rare occurrence.

The Elio might not be right for you much like the Spark, Smart, Mini, Fiesta, IQ, Yaris, or Mirage. It makes perfect sense for our household as I have a long commute each day in urban traffic where a HOV sticker would helpful, 70+ mpg would be cheap, and anew car with a new warranty for under $8K.

Not sure I would want to drive an Elio on 2-lane backroads with a plethora of Escalades and Ram trucks but I'll take my chances in Silicon Valley traffic. Plenty of people ride motorcycles or bicycle on these back roads and they live to tell their tales.

I'm hoping to jump in the front of the line by putting down a $1,000 deposit once the 100 vehicle prototype testing is done and production starts to ramp.

 

[mindless1]

Nothing like living your life in fear - If a Escalade hits you at 50+mph in pretty much any compact, sub-compact or micro car you are done. Luckily thats a very rare occurrence.

Yes, which is all the more reason to avoid the lightest of them, not to think that somehow justifies putting yourself at even higher risk. It is rare because there aren't many of them on the road, relatively speaking. Side, corner, flip, etc are still devastating to a Tiny Car's occupants. They only fare well against themselves, their own mass. It is not only not rare, but expected that a tiny car will collide with a much more massive one.

Years ago this wasn't as much of a concern to me, but along came the cell phone and fancy anti-ergonomic vehicle controls that cause more distractions than aids to actual driving.

 

[Squisher]

I see why it's so cheap. That is one full featured assembly factory that any auto manufacturer would be proud of. They'll likely be spitting them out every minute. Can't decide if I'd want to work there or not. I like working on complex manufacturing systems and it looks like everything is so streamlined there.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Yes, which is all the more reason to avoid the lightest of them, not to think that somehow justifies putting yourself at even higher risk. It is rare because there aren't many of them on the road, relatively speaking. Side, corner, flip, etc are still devastating to a Tiny Car's occupants. They only fare well against themselves, their own mass. It is not only not rare, but expected that a tiny car will collide with a much more massive one.

Years ago this wasn't as much of a concern to me, but along came the cell phone and fancy anti-ergonomic vehicle controls that cause more distractions than aids to actual driving.

Ah yes - So few lightweight cars are sold each and every year because we all need tanks.......

Stupid Mazda making the Miata even lighter - no one in their right mind would drive one of those 2,300lb cars. About 10,000 will be sold this year in the US. All of those drivers can expect to die. Fools all of them!

And fuck those Harley motorcycle riders - 250,000 were sold in the USA last year. Are any of those folks still alive? No fuckin way they can share the road with 3-ton SUV's that are looking to mow them down.

The Honda Fit weighs in at a paltry 2,500lbs - death chambers I tell ya! What were the 50,000 idiots who bought one last year thinking! All of them must be suicidal!

 

[mindless1]

Ah yes - So few lightweight cars are sold each and every year because we all need tanks.......
.

Yes, those are examples of people who either choose economy over safety or just ignore safety altogether. It is your right to do so, but it is your choice to be more vulnerable to a collision.

if you want to risk your life driving then okay but it is EXTREMELY disrespectful of other human lives if you have passengers.

When we all drive light weight vehicles, that won't be so much an issue, but for now, it is.

 

[Yuriman]

Is it not arguably just as responsible to add one more dangerously heavy vehicle to the road, for all of those with lighter cars? Sure, you're protecting your own passengers more, at the expensive of everyone else, and contributing to weight creep.

 

[mindless1]

^ I agree, and feel people should have to pass a higher standard of vehicle licensing and license revocation to drive such vehicles, at size and weight limits below traditional CDL levels, BUT in the end it is far easier to control what you do than what someone else does.

If you can't force everyone else to downsize then you can at least mitigate your own risk, which doesn't necessarily mean driving a tank but at least something closer to parity with the average vehicles.

 

[agent00f]

It looks top heavy. If this thing has good handling, I'd get it in a heart beat.

Oh, and I'll be frank. they need to offer a sport package. I want this but I'd rather spend an extra $2K to get a nasty engine in it.

It would likely have better handling if it had two wheels in the back, but it's so light that it'll have a massive built-in advantage. I suspect with the manual it'll be pretty fun to drive. Costs a lot less than the KTM crossbow or polaris slingshots anyway.

 

[mindless1]

Doesn't look top heavy at all to me, considering how far out they extended the front wheels, though I do wonder if at speed the rear end is going to slide out with a gust of wind, especially on wet/ice/snow, but at least it's FWD to help retain control.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Saw these yesterday:
http://gas2.org/2016/10/07/sondors-electric-car-everything-elio-not/

And:
http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/201...-fundedbyme-build-production-ready-prototype/

 

[Yuriman]

Sondors promising an all-aluminum electric car for $10,000, with lithium batteries that provide 50, 100 and 200 mile range options. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[shabby]

Sondors promising an all-aluminum electric car for $10,000, with lithium batteries that provide 50, 100 and 200 mile range options. I'll believe it when I see it.

I'll bet the fine print says batteries not included.

 

[Mandres]

I'll say it again since they seem to be starting a push for new $1,000 "reservation" slots.

Guys please do not put any $ down in advance for an Elio car. It's not real, pure marketing fiction. It's fine to be a dreamer and come up with cool vehicle ideas but the minute you start taking people's money while ignoring economic/business reality means that you've gone from dreamer to crook.

They will never put a road-legal vehicle on American streets for $7,000. Anyone with any sense of the US auto industry's economics and regulatory framework knows how ridiculous that number is, and certainly Elio know it too this far into the game. A Polaris (one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, with all of the scale advantages that brings) slingshot is $20k. A base model John Deere tractor is $12-15k. But somehow this garage operation has figured the magic formula to sell at less than half the cost of the giants, while manufacturing domestically? Bullshit. It's a scam. Even if it started out as an honest venture by this point they know they'll never deliver a single vehicle. Don't be a fucking sucker.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm largely with you in that I'm highly skeptical that a startup can hit those prices without economies of scale, however Nissan's Versa is advertised as "starting at $11,990", and it weighs almost exactly twice as much and is nearly twice as large as current Elio prototypes. I wonder how cheap Nissan (or any other major manufacturer) could build an Elio, especially if you leave dealer markups out of the equation as Tesla is doing.

 

[agent00f]

I'll say it again since they seem to be starting a push for new $1,000 "reservation" slots.

Guys please do not put any $ down in advance for an Elio car. It's not real, pure marketing fiction. It's fine to be a dreamer and come up with cool vehicle ideas but the minute you start taking people's money while ignoring economic/business reality means that you've gone from dreamer to crook.

They will never put a road-legal vehicle on American streets for $7,000. Anyone with any sense of the US auto industry's economics and regulatory framework knows how ridiculous that number is, and certainly Elio know it too this far into the game. A Polaris (one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, with all of the scale advantages that brings) slingshot is $20k. A base model John Deere tractor is $12-15k. But somehow this garage operation has figured the magic formula to sell at less than half the cost of the giants, while manufacturing domestically? Bullshit. It's a scam. Even if it started out as an honest venture by this point they know they'll never deliver a single vehicle. Don't be a fucking sucker.

You do raise a valid point but this thing is closer to a motorcycle than a car. The polaris is relatively performance oriented by comparison.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

It's not real, pure marketing fiction.

They will never put a road-legal vehicle on American streets for $7,000.

Elio seems to understand how to get cheap pricing from suppliers and how to build a car cheap. He is reducing the design cost by going parts bin from the suppliers requiring less engineering work up front, very low tooling costs, and buying parts with a low failure rate as they have already been proven in other automobiles. Elio thinks he can reduce cost by keeping the UAW and expensive Union contract jobs out of his assembly line process as well. he also wants to use as few parts as possible to make assembly quick and easy. Also, lets not forget his marketing budget will be drastically smaller. Toyota is usually the #1 spender on advertising in the US and marketing dollars per car sold has to be greater than $1,000.

Chevy will sell me a Spark with an Auto trans & AC for $10,888 right now on there 20% discount. That car has significantly more parts than an Elio.

70mpg and $8K with an auto trans, HOV sticker, and AC and I'll be a buyer.

 

[Mandres]

70mpg and $8K with an auto trans, HOV sticker, and AC and I'll be a buyer.

So would I. I'd be first in line. But it's not real, and anyone who puts cash down up front will lose it in the eventual ch. 7 along with all the "unaccredited" investors who were willing to bear more risk than even the junk bonds market.

Do not put $ into this company AT.

 

[Yuriman]

Funny thing, 100k miles ago I bought a $4000 car with A/C that I've averaged 75mpg in, and has needed only about $100 in maintenance other than oil changes and tires. I also tow with it and move large pieces of furniture in the hatch. I wouldn't tow in the automatic version of it, but it exists.

Given all the interest in the Elio, why isn't the Honda Insight more popular?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

So would I. I'd be first in line.

Do not put $ into this company AT.

I agree - I have put no money in but will be first in line come next spring if those prototypes are launched and the $250 million he needs is given by investors or the Govt. I trust Elio more than Solyndra which was given some $800 million by the Feds.

I'd rather have my taxpayer dollars support this than a lot of the other boondoggles the Govt supports. Helps us achieve lower emissions and does not require rare earth minerals to be mined in dictator led countries.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

70mpg and $8K with an auto trans, HOV sticker, and AC and I'll be a buyer.

0-60 in 2.9 seconds, 220mph top speed, 30mpg, Honda/Toyota reliability and under $25,000 I'll be a buyer. My wishlist is about as realistic as yours.

Elio is not meeting its target and its not going to get close. Anyone can write out pie-in-the-sky goals and publish them, that's the easy part.

 

[smackababy]

Do they even have a working prototype yet? One with their actual engine?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Do they even have a working prototype yet? One with their actual engine?

http://gas2.org/2015/01/15/elio-motors-shows-off-engine-realsies/

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...ors-supplier-linamar-team-up-to-build-engines

http://blog.caranddriver.com/elio-motors-the-single-doored-84-mpg-three-wheeler-that-could/

 

[agent00f]

Funny thing, 100k miles ago I bought a $4000 car with A/C that I've averaged 75mpg in, and has needed only about $100 in maintenance other than oil changes and tires. I also tow with it and move large pieces of furniture in the hatch. I wouldn't tow in the automatic version of it, but it exists.

Given all the interest in the Elio, why isn't the Honda Insight more popular?

You can't compared new & used cars.