Elio Motors, The Next Big Thing?!!...

[sendler]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Until it snows.

Can't drive the Elio in the snow either. The single rear wheel will be plowing through the slush between the two clean tracks. He should have learned from Aptera which was killed because it lacked the forth wheel.

[NeilBlanchard]

The Aptera failed because of several reasons - mainly incompetent leadership and a totally unnecessary redesign to get full roll down windows. It gained a LOT of weight, and the changed Cg was the last straw.

[Christopher Jordan]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

The Aptera failed because of several reasons - mainly incompetent leadership .

The Green Vehicles fiasco in Salinas began when Salinas promised a 3-wheel Triac factory. Salinas loaned Green Vehicles $100,000.00 and welcomed them into a former Firestone Tire warehouse. The one and only Triac drove to Santa Cruz, and yes- well done. Then in a few weeks that car, the owner/builder vanished, Firestone building remained empty. Something hit the fan.

China is building the Triac now I think. We are in luck! Alibaba has them and is doing business with the U.S.! ( however- no one in or near Salinas would feel very safe in a Triac. There may be a bounty on those things )

I bet they might have an Elio in future years .

[Michael Moore]

Isn't there a saying about if something seems too good to be true, that might actually be the case?

Excelsior-Henderson (Hanlon) was well capitalized and built a new state of the art plant and still went bust and they actually made close to a couple thousand vehicles

Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elio doesn't seem anywhere close to the level of "legitimate business" E-H was.

[freebeard]

Now, that right there is funny.

[Grant-53]

Sendler and I are used to snow around the Great Lakes. It's a matter of tires and ground clearance for traction and control. The wind chill is the limiting factor right now hence the body work and heater. A liquid cooled engine has an advantage by allowing for a heater core. It worked on the riding snow blowers.

[The Other Andy]

Originally Posted by diesel_john

There may be ATV drive trains big enough to power the Elio. Both gas and diesel. And they might not have a conflict of interest.

Do ATVs/UTVs face any restrictions regarding emissions? I also certainly doubt any of those engines are even remotely efficient.

[NeilBlanchard]

A local news report:

Pay a visit to Elio Motors factory, where life is returning

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by sendler

Can't drive the Elio in the snow either. The single rear wheel will be plowing through the slush between the two clean tracks. He should have learned from Aptera which was killed because it lacked the forth wheel.

Lets be frank, Aptera committed suicide the 4th wheel would have done nothing given the silliness in that rollout.

Next "can't" is a strong word, many people won't drive in slush but can't would indicate some other transportation means I have used in the past could not do so and clearly could, albeat likely not at the level of awesomeness some might want.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

"can't".

Can't is the correct word when considering taking the Elio on a snowy highway with 65 mph traffic in the slow lane. The single rear wheel will be plowing through the slush between the tracks and hunting back and forth like a constant lane change. It could have been just as aero with a beam axle in the rear and pod fairings. Which would also alleviate the hangup of forcing all of the prospective owners to get motorcycle licenses. But then it would have to be crash tested as a car.