Elio Motors promises a weird $6,800 car
Thread Starter
Administrator
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 23,226
Likes: 9
From: Upstate NY
Vehicle: 2010 Genesis 2.0T
Elio Motors promises a weird $6,800 car
http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/26/auto...html?hpt=hp_t2
Video in the link....
Some time next year, a company called Elio Motors claims it will begin building a car in its Louisiana factory that will get 84 miles per gallon on the highway and that will sell for a base price of $6,800.
Yes, $6,800.
It won't be a tiny little deathtrap, either. It'll have a five-star crash safety rating. At least, that's what Elio is promising.
That sounds like the wish-list of someone with zero contact with reality, but Elio Motors executives insist it's possible thanks to the car's odd layout and the complete lack of any new technology. Yes, these folks actually brag that their car has nothing new on it.
Paul Elio, who founded Elio Motors from the crumbled remains of his auto parts design business, said this car isn't intended to replace the family car, and by the looks of it, clearly it's not.
"We want to be an 'and' not an 'or'" he said.
The Elio Motors car -- it has no model name and they plan to keep it that way -- is a three wheeler. There are two wheels out front, separated from the rest of the body, and one back wheel. The engine -- 3 cylinders producing 55 horsepower -- rides in the nose driving the front wheels.
The weird three-wheeled shape optimizes aerodynamics by cutting way down on frontal area and giving the car a nearly ideal "teardrop" body. Having only three wheels also allows the Elio car to be, in legal terms, a motorcycle.
Yes, $6,800.
It won't be a tiny little deathtrap, either. It'll have a five-star crash safety rating. At least, that's what Elio is promising.
That sounds like the wish-list of someone with zero contact with reality, but Elio Motors executives insist it's possible thanks to the car's odd layout and the complete lack of any new technology. Yes, these folks actually brag that their car has nothing new on it.
Paul Elio, who founded Elio Motors from the crumbled remains of his auto parts design business, said this car isn't intended to replace the family car, and by the looks of it, clearly it's not.
"We want to be an 'and' not an 'or'" he said.
The Elio Motors car -- it has no model name and they plan to keep it that way -- is a three wheeler. There are two wheels out front, separated from the rest of the body, and one back wheel. The engine -- 3 cylinders producing 55 horsepower -- rides in the nose driving the front wheels.
The weird three-wheeled shape optimizes aerodynamics by cutting way down on frontal area and giving the car a nearly ideal "teardrop" body. Having only three wheels also allows the Elio car to be, in legal terms, a motorcycle.
Video in the link....
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 615
Likes: 0
From: PacNW
Vehicle: 2013 BMW 128i
I heard about this a while ago, and this is always the only thing that I can think of....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,185
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, GA
Vehicle: MC + RD2 + AW11 + 944 = 4x Win
Thankfully its not going to have the rollover issues that the Reliants were known for, but it just reminds me of:
And all of the other cars that were supposed to "revolutionize" the industry.
To a lesser extent this one as well:
They promised a street legal, 4 seat config that would get around 100 mpg... 10+ years ago! They went broke trying to bring it to the US market because, like the Aptera, at every turn the NHTSA, EPA and every other government mongrel out there came at them with some load of BS, some new crap regulation that made it impossible to legalize. I had a huge interest in this one specifically at the time.
The only 3-wheeled cars that are anywhere near a success are the Campagna T-rex (as much as it can be considered a car) and the Morgan 3-wheeler/ss. And that's because their a.) a niche automobile b.) make no claims regarding economy
Mark my words, this will be regulated out of existence in very little time.
And all of the other cars that were supposed to "revolutionize" the industry.
To a lesser extent this one as well:
They promised a street legal, 4 seat config that would get around 100 mpg... 10+ years ago! They went broke trying to bring it to the US market because, like the Aptera, at every turn the NHTSA, EPA and every other government mongrel out there came at them with some load of BS, some new crap regulation that made it impossible to legalize. I had a huge interest in this one specifically at the time.
The only 3-wheeled cars that are anywhere near a success are the Campagna T-rex (as much as it can be considered a car) and the Morgan 3-wheeler/ss. And that's because their a.) a niche automobile b.) make no claims regarding economy
Mark my words, this will be regulated out of existence in very little time.
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,515
Likes: 2
From: Lacey, WA
Vehicle: Two Accents, Mini, Miata, Van, Outback, and a ZX-6
If it shows up and comes close to meeting the claims I'll go look at one. At that price point it may be worthwhile as a spare car, or commuter.