Elio Motors death bet. PLACE YOUR BETS

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Will Elios motor produce or its all vaporware and they implode.

  • YES Elio Motors will be a success and everyone wins.

  • NO, They will never survive and most likely deposits lost.

Results are only viewable after voting.
Hugo Drax

Hugo Drax

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2011
5,647
47
91
The whole thing seems suspect, I do not see them producing anything and tens out thousands of people will end up losing their deposits, The CEO of course has no skin in the game will walk away unscathed.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,568
29,179
146
Hugo Drax said:
you will when its on the news and 40K+ people lose their deposits.
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40k people losing deposits? for what? Was this some kind of Kickstarter for a car company? Sounds like a lot of dumb people losing poker money, if that's the case.



...Or do you mean some venture capitalists with their own money, and dumbass hedge fund managers betting the money of their ~39,900 investors?
 
C

cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
problem is that its not priced for a niche product, which it is very clearly. Margins must be based on mass production, and in that scenario it will fail horribly.

That being said, as a commuter, I'd be interested in a test drive.
 
Jaepheth

Jaepheth

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2006
2,572
25
91
I'd be very interested in buying a 3 wheel commuter vehicle...

but I don't like the look of the Elio; I may consider buying one if I can also get a decent looking body kit.

I was keen on the Persu, but sadly it seems to be vaporware at this point.
 
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C

cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
Dr. Detroit

Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
8,153
619
126
If they make it I will buy one. Perfect car to commute in low speed traffic here in Silicon Valley. Access to the HOV lane as well.

I don't have a whole lot of faith in them - why I have not put down a deposit.
 
T

thedarkwolf

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
9,000
110
106
also keep in mind that Top Gear did the piece on the Reliant for comedy.

"Clarkson rolled the Robin at least six times due to the odd-sized wheels and the weights which were attached to the car to allow filming, before having front support wheels mounted for safety.[7] The following two episodes featured racing driver The Stig and Ken Block on their Test Track in Robin, which neither of them could finish a clean lap, and rolled over like Clarkson. The Reliant Robins in these episodes were fitted with bigger wheels on the passenger side and front to make the car unstable; the overall intention was to exaggerate the car's tendency to roll for comedic effect."
 
mmntech

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,504
12
0
thedarkwolf said:
also keep in mind that Top Gear did the piece on the Reliant for comedy.
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It's unfair to compare the Elio to the Reliant Robin.

The Robin has a fairly high centre of gravity, making it prone to rolling in a turn. Modern three-wheeled vehicles wither incorporate a leaning body, or lower centre of gravity. Cars like the Elio, T-Rex, and Morgan Three-Wheeler are built low to the ground, while the Carver uses the leaning body.

The fatal flaw with three-wheelers is the motorcycle license requirement. Which is stupid. You'll find very few commuters going out of their way to get their "M" for a daily driver.
 
GagHalfrunt

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,297
2,000
126
cbrunny said:
Like that motorcycle thing

http://can-am.brp.com/spyder/

I see these things all the time. They seem pretty safe, relatively speaking.
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Relative to what, having a piano dropped on your head? Other than the fact that they won't tip over as easily they're not any safer than a motorcycle. If you get into a collision with a real car, a truck, a bus, an SUV or a light pole you will lose. And that's going to be the problem with the Elio too. Too fragile to be taken seriously by car drivers, too stupid to appeal to motorcycle riders. Who is their target buyer?
 
Jaepheth

Jaepheth

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2006
2,572
25
91
mmntech said:
It's unfair to compare the Elio to the Reliant Robin.

The Robin has a fairly high centre of gravity, making it prone to rolling in a turn. Modern three-wheeled vehicles wither incorporate a leaning body, or lower centre of gravity. Cars like the Elio, T-Rex, and Morgan Three-Wheeler are built low to the ground, while the Carver uses the leaning body.

The fatal flaw with three-wheelers is the motorcycle license requirement. Which is stupid. You'll find very few commuters going out of their way to get their "M" for a daily driver.
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I seem to recall that completely enclosed 3 wheel vehicles can be driven with a regular driver's license in many states. I would hope that if any company actually starts producing commuter vehicles then that would become the norm.
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,145
10
81
Looks great. I would consider it if cheap; enough.

this is not the vehicle that was on top gear. this is more like the spyder motorcycle. they are safer to drive.
 
Drako

Drako

Lifer
Jun 9, 2007
10,706
161
106
I saw a Polaris Slingshot on the way to work this morning. I never got the appeal of the 3 wheeler.
 
D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,073
5,554
146
I hope they can be successful, I really think they could have a Tesla like impact. Of course they're not for everyone, but I think they'd be great for a lot of people. Plenty of people have long commutes that this would be great for (where they could have this and also afford another vehicle for other uses for when they need more room, more comfort, etc). I also think it'd make for a great first car for teenagers (cheap, not terribly fast, economic, room for 2, and it'll teach them that if they want a nice car then they should work to earn it).

There's also a little electric kit car that is really interesting too. I always forget the name, but it's very narrow and also not real long (it's like half a Smart car), but it has a full race spec roll cage, and because of the heavy batteries being on the bottom it actually has a really low center of gravity (it also weighs a lot, it's like 3000lbs). But you could actually feasibly do lane splitting like motorcycles in it (not sure if it's legal to do it in that though). I forget how much it costs though (I believe the kit is reasonably cheap like ~10k, but you have to either source your own electric motor to put in it, or I believe they'll sell you a finished car for like ~30k?).

Newell Steamer said:
Seems pretty impractical.

And, might as well buy a Cooper or Fiat.
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Those cost like 3-4 times the price and have much worse fuel economy (for how small those cars are they really are not that fuel efficient, same as the Smart cars. Sure they should be nicer cars but they're quite different.

Yes this is basically a single person vehicle (where you could squeeze in a second in a pinch), and this is largely a commuter vehicle enabling both a cheap price and should hopefully be very cheap to run/maintain.
 
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darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,073
5,554
146
Also, yeah this is waaaay different than the Reliant Robin so making that comparison is just stupid and makes you look like a dumbass.

Jaepheth said:
I seem to recall that completely enclosed 3 wheel vehicles can be driven with a regular driver's license in many states. I would hope that if any company actually starts producing commuter vehicles then that would become the norm.
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Yeah it's fine in some states, but others require motorcycle license and I believe a helmet, they've been working to get exemptions. I'm hoping they can, although if they can just get it in major market states they could still find success.
 
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