Might actually buy a new car for myself

I'm 40 years old, I've owned 40+ cars. Most have been pretty dang cheap. I've never wanted to own a new car. I mean jeez, I could buy one new XX for 30K or a miata, tools, a truck, WRX, AND have money left over! But, the ELIO is interesting. It's in the start-up phaze, but the board is made up of folks that know the auto industry. It has a decent chance of actually happening.
It'd be a commuter car only, but it gets 85 mpg!! Plus, the 'passenger in the back' seating is pretty sweet. So, for $6800 what do you guys think? Watch the video, it hits all the important bullets.

I cleaned up my previous post to keep clutter down.

Really, a new car for you...then you will not have interest in this that is 30 minutes from me.
http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/3754248564.html
You were the first person I thought of.
In the pictures, you can not see the soot that would be near the exhaust.

The Elio is definitely interesting. I've read the articles and the website. Not really my cup of tea, but I hope they to well. Go for it!

Link fixed. Thanks. But yes, that VW is kinda interesting.
The Elio is interesting, very interesting.

Why did they include this shot when you can't fit them all into the car?

That's sweet! I'll take the blue one with a 5 spd! I'm very interested to see how this progresses!

jstein77 wrote: Why did they include this shot when you can't fit them all into the car?

+1. Doesn't work well for a family of 4

jstein77 wrote: Why did they include this shot when you can't fit them all into the car?

Because milf.

jstein77 wrote: Why did they include this shot when you can't fit them all into the car?

Well, if you have a family of four, then you have to buy two of them; Very clever marketing. I wonder if they give you a discount on the second one.

I figure that shot is the developer/owner/founder so this is a emotional play.
Also a picture that shows an approving wife and kids, "so go ahead and get one."

First off, this is not considered a "car" but a motorcycle and isn't held to the same safety standards. That being said, they seemed to take safety pretty seriously from their website: three airbags, ABS and a roll cage.

Second, handling may or may not be very good. From what I hear, tricycles like the CamAm have appalling handling but the CamAm does have a much higher center of gravity than the Elio. However, the same principles still apply, you can't leen like on a motorcycle and it lacks the overall stability of a car but I think it should be more stable than say a Reliant Robin because the two wheels are in the front rather than the rear.

I wonder if you can park in motorcycle parking areas with one of these.

This is very interesting. I have a 75mile round trip for work everyday this could be my new DD. I will have to keep an eye on this.

Paul B

Mmadness wrote: First off, this is not considered a "car" but a motorcycle and isn't held to the same safety standards. That being said, they seemed to take safety pretty seriously from their website: three airbags, ABS and a roll cage. Second, handling may or may not be very good. From what I hear, tricycles like the CamAm have appalling handling but the CamAm does have a much higher center of gravity than the Elio. However, the same principles still apply, you can't leen like on a motorcycle and it lacks the overall stability of a car but I think it should be more stable than say a Reliant Robin because the two wheels are in the front rather than the rear. I wonder if you can park in motorcycle parking areas with one of these.

Yeah, one issue with the motorcycle classification is AL (where it's built) requires a helmet and cycle endorsement on your license. Elio thinks they can get that handled though. AL already spent something like $150,000,000 to get Elio there. But, you can drive in HOV lanes! Here in MI, we don't have HOV lanes, but we don't require a helmet either. For lots of folks, this makes sense as a simple commuter. 85 mpg and less than $7K?

I dig it. If I were doing my old commute of 100+ miles a day still, I'd be ordering one.

If it actually hits at $6500 and is fun to drive, they will sell a million of them. It's hard to imagine them being able to sell for that given that is a relatively cheap motorcycle's price.

Besides the ugly styling and the extra seat it would be the perfect commuter for me.

Watching with interest.

I really like that it's American made!

Woah, the center-to-center track width is 66.8". Assuming a 6" wide wheel that would make it almost 73" wide from the outer edge of one wheel to the other. That's wider than my Lincoln!

Good for stability but surprisingly wide. No exterior trunk access?

Did anyone else watch the video and say, "Enough already, pop the damn hood!"?

Hmm, interesting.

I like the idea of it, to be sure, but im skeptical on the details they've provided since it sounds like they might not even know who will make the engine.

For example, knowing the MPG capabilities of my own 1.0L 2 seater tiny vehicle (insight), i have to wonder where the difference between my 50-60 mpg and this car's 84 is going to come from. Im not really convinced it has much of an aero or weight advantage. Either is possible, but i dont see any numbers. I'll be excited to learn what technology is used in the engine. My 15 y/o engine tech doesnt include direct injection or fully electrified accessories (water pump, ac comp) but it WILL run at 25:1 AFR. I think direct injection pressures might be able to push the lean running thing even farther.

Since they have already obviously built functional prototypes it would be nice to see them provide some energy requirements like kw/mi.

In general im totally onboard with the idea that a tiny 2 seater with a 1.0L engine DOES make a fantastic car for certain usage, and i absolutely encourage more people to get off their high horses of theoretical disdain and find out that they actually like it.

They'd better have the abs worked out real well. If you lock up a wheel tricycles turn into spinning tops.

I really like it and could see myself getting one. Of course I need many more details so I will be watching this with interest. Thanks for posting.

Vigo wrote: I like the idea of it, to be sure, but im skeptical on the details they've provided since it sounds like they might not even know who will make the engine.

According to the faq's:

Q. Who makes the engine/drive train/brakes etc.?

"This is the most popular question through the website by far! We are eager for you to meet all of our supplier partners and are planning an announcement this May. We will have a press conference/release announcing our partners and share that information through the website and Facebook."

'Ring time?

Google didn't return any engine info.

So who builds a 3 cylinder, 1 liter, 70 HP, fuel injected, DOHC gas powered, liquid cooled automotive engine?

Ford? They have some sort of 1.0l EcoBoost motor. But I don't know how much hp or anything.