Posted on 02/05/2014 6:06:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Paul Elio wanted to bring affordable transportation to drivers and create jobs for American workers. The company is planning to release vehicles for sale in the first quarter of 2015. The car is planned to use 95% American parts and American labor, vitally important to Paul.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
The company says that the vehicle will cost $6800, achieve an 84 miles per gallon fuel economy, and they anticipate a five star NHTSA safety rating. The eight gallon tank will theoretically allow a driver to go 672 miles on a tank of gas. Top speed of the Elio is said to be over 100 miles per hour.
http://www.eliomotors.com
Vehicles will be built in the abandoned Shreveport Louisiana assembly plant. Elio will sell the vehicles themselves at specialized retail centers in the top sixty markets across the United States. Eight different colors are all hip, now and named things like Licorice, Sour Apple and Rocket Silver.
Elios come with standard equipment - a reinforced roll cage and airbags for safety, radio, air conditioning and power windows for comfort. Most of the components of the Elio are already in production, allowing the vehicle to keep a low cost and hopefully low insurance premiums. Because most of the components can be purchased at a corner auto parts store the carmaker is expecting low maintenance costs.
The small front mounted engine in the Elio is 70 horsepower, 1.0 litre, three cylinder device that resembles a Geo Metro more than a standard Chevrolet or Ford offering. Two seats are available in tandem configuration, or the driver can go solo and stow gear on the fold-down second seat.
The Elio is incredible because of its massive ambition. It's hard to think of another automaker starting out like this on such a large scale with such a radical product. Massive marketing campaigns aren't hitting venues like the Superbowl but the vehicle was featured last month at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, and the Sundance Film Festival.
Even with heavy funding in place, a location secured to build the product, and suppliers on board for production there is a heavy question in the air of whether or not the Elio can become a fully realized product. Obtaining a five star crash rating will go a long way toward winning consumer confidence and once production begins it will be exciting to see how popular the vehicle is with American consumers.
I know, hence my “complete lineup” comment. They can have the cheap commuter car, and the flagship performance car, and even (with the Spyder) a no-frills sports car a la the MG.
They also build a 3 wheel enclosed vehicle like the Elio. The kid that owned the one we looked at said it was pretty expensive so I looked up the price online. Its around $60,000. The bikes are $20,000 plus.
Crash survivability for one is a problem. And being able to see over or around larger vehicles in traffic is a safety issue, as well as visibility to other drivers when entering traffic.
To me the economics don’t work.
I can’t see how the cost numbers make any sense at all.
Looks like they took a Can-Am and put an enclosure around it.
The Can-Am Spiders are amazingly agile and fun to drive.
If they get a 5 star rating and keep the price low this could actually be a hit.
Millennial Harley
For starving girls seeking to make a difference
Ah, I stand corrected. I didn’t realize they made an enclosed vehicle.
At $60k, that’s insane. You have quite a choice in vehicles if you’re spending that sort of money.
Yeh for $60,000 you could get a Mercedes or a Beemer etc.
For $6,800 I might be willing to spin the wheel. :-)
I had an 87 Plymouth Colt...great gas mileage and still miss that car.
Even though I bought an electric car and partook in the $7500 tax credit, I have to bust on the economics of this.
If the gov’t bought each of these and gave it to everyone who bought an electric car for when they needed to drive long range, we’d have saved $700 over what we spent per vehicle.
I’d like to see what they look like embedded in the front grill of a Kenworth before I buy one.......
The same could be said for any moped, motorcycle, small car or scooter.
We already know what they look like........
Wheel base, front wheel separation, seating height and overall height are similar to a Honda Civic. In addition, they can take advantage of some of the engineering used to make Indy cars safe. Maybe it’s light enough that it form the beginning of a flying car kit.
I kinda like it! But where do I put my Tele, pedal steel, and Twin Reverb?
I'd buy one precisely for my daily solo commute. The cost to operate would be great for me. I have a "real" car that we can take for family trips etc.
From an engineering perspective, a tube-shaped, 3-wheeled, one or two-seater is a no brainer. The drag coefficient is reduced enormously, as the frontal area is halved.
The difficulty is finding a market. Personally, I would love a three-wheeler as our third car and commuter vehicle.
Indy cars have the safety due to carbon fiber chassis.
Doesn’t a replacement Indycar tub cost > $200 grand?
I had a ‘91 Colt. That was a good car for my family when we were young and poor.
Will the company get”Tuckered?”
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