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

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Also again Subaru built a standard trike out a very inefficient 60's micro car which was dimensionally bigger than the Elio and managed 100 mpg
With effort any of their claims could be true.

No way under the current EPA standard testing and that is what ever other manufacturer must use in the USA, I guess except Elio. My Hemi Aspen gets "up to 84mpg", hell it gets "up to" infinite MPG.

[Grant-53]

I do not doubt ecomodders will tweak their Elios to get 100+ mpg.

[Frank Lee]

I doubt Ecomodders will get the chance.

[freebeard]

There may not be much low-hanging fruit, short of an EV conversion.

Maybe a unicorn mural on the side?

[Xist]

I think the only highly-efficient "production" cars have been the Gen1 Insight and the XL1.

Everyone else makes compromises.

Was Vskid the first one to say

It's interesting that the same company put out two vehicles that look so similar, but are so different. A shame they couldn't decide whether to make it fast or efficient, and settled on neither. I bet it would sell much better if they would pick one.

?
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post508800

It seems like Elio is doing much compromising and settling. I hope the trike makes it to production and Ecomodders are able to purchase them. Their work looks good, they just move far too slowly for me to have much confidence--just fast enough for us to hold out hope.

EPA? What do Ecomodders do to EPA ratings?

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Xist

EPA? What do Ecomodders do to EPA ratings?

The same thing regular people do, just in the other direction.

[The Other Andy]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

Kinda quiet this week except for a factory tour.
http://go.eliomotors.com/e1t/c/*VTKD...9ZLcvf8T_2dw11

I love the random Chevy Colorado body parts sitting around.

Knowing nothing about the car building process, I really don't have much else to contribute. When do they start actually running a few cars down the assembly line?

[Grant-53]

A diesel engine swap would yield the biggest gain since the aero package is pretty good.

[Bill the Engineer]

There is now a Polaris Sligshot driving around in Central Ohio. It looks like a 3-wheeled dune buggy, so I doubt i'd ever see one on the road in bad weather. I was most surprised by the toothed belt drive on the rear wheel. I'm amazed that open sprocket meets safety regulations.
That being said, it beat Elio to market by a mile. However, I don't think Elio and Polaris are going for the same market at all.






Bill the Engineer

[Grant-53]

The Slingshots are high end motorcycles at nearly $20K. The guard on the belt is just enough to keep fingers and clothes from catching. It is similar to the other belt driven motorcycles. A roof and heater core could be fitted if there is a demand but the tires would have to be changed as well.