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

[seifrob]

Originally Posted by Ecky

The Insight is 16 years old now and gets 100mpg at 50mph, and about 70mpg at 65mph (with the A/C off). If the Elio has a similarly efficient engine, is half as wide, has one fewer wheel, and weighs 2/3 as much, I can see it reaching an 82 rating on the highway.

If. Most difficult word. So short, and so often fraught with disappointment and frustration. (Haviland Tuf)

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Ecky

The Insight is 16 years old now and gets 100mpg at 50mph, and about 70mpg at 65mph (with the A/C off). If the Elio has a similarly efficient engine, is half as wide, has one fewer wheel, and weighs 2/3 as much, I can see it reaching an 82 rating on the highway.

A 2001 Insight at best is rated at 60mpg highway, I know all cars can get better but the rating is what an honest company would use in advertising. My Hemi Aspen gets "up to" 82 mpg. So the Elio will get 40% better then a first gen Insight? Frontal area is not 1/2 as much and I bet the CDa is actually worse.

[Ecky]

Cd might be worse but I highly doubt CdA is worse. 40% better than the G1 Insight is possible with some caveats, e.g. the new EPA testing is down with power accessories running and I find A/C to be worth 15-25mpg depending on the speed I'm traveling. If the Elio has a much smaller A/C compressor, that alone could partly make up for it.

I assume it's expected to ship with a CVT? The G1's CVT version got lower economy than the manual in part because the CVT's gearing wasn't nearly as tall, being one of the very early CVT designs. Modern CVTs are much better in this regard, having a far wider range of ratios.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Cd might be worse but I highly doubt CdA is worse. 40% better than the G1 Insight is possible with some caveats, e.g. the new EPA testing is down with power accessories running and I find A/C to be worth 15-25mpg depending on the speed I'm traveling. If the Elio has a much smaller A/C compressor, that alone could partly make up for it.

I assume it's expected to ship with a CVT? The G1's CVT version got lower economy than the manual in part because the CVT's gearing wasn't nearly as tall, being one of the very early CVT designs. Modern CVTs are much better in this regard, having a far wider range of ratios.

But it has zero benifit from electric assist the Insight has. Run the EPA highway cycle (which includes little high speed and has stops) on a G1 with the battery disconnected and it would be probably not even 50mpg. Elio should be happy to get a 50 EPA highway rating.

[Ecky]

In a G1, fuel economy is essentially the same with IMA enabled or disabled, you just end up with a slower 0-60 time. Plenty of people over on IC run theirs with the IMA disabled and have reported this, and you can ask forum member "Cowmeat" about his experience with driving with his IMA disabled, he'll tell you the same. Even in city driving there's not a lot of difference so long as you're not revving the motor up to make up for the lower acceleration, you only really see a difference from the lack of auto-stop. And, for what it's worth, the Elio's reported 0-60 time is about the same as the Insight's as measured by Car and Driver, with the Insight weighing in at ~50% heavier, and a similar engine + electric assist.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Success!

Still maintaining 70+ mpg 700+ mile tanks even after losing the IMA functions! I have driven Ron Burgundy over 18,000 miles in less than 17 months, and filled up 29 times for a total of 542.91, or a little under 3 cents a mile.

Oh, and my tag is working well! People take one glance at it and they can't get around me fast enough! No more tailgaters for me

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-31253-24.html

Originally Posted by cowmeat

I'm learning to drive the Insight a lot more efficiently after losing the IMA functions.

This tank put me back to the mpg I was pulling with full assist, and other than the speedier take-offs I used to get with the battery functioning, I haven't really missed it.

I'm starting to think my grid charger is what killed it, rather than the discharger. My son grid charged his using the same grid charger this weekend and he's already having issues.

[Hersbird]

It wouldn't be the same on the EPA cycle, they require what amounts to repeated almost full throttle 0-40 runs at the end of the "high speed" highway test. I suspect they are specifically placed there to help hybrids get better numbers as the battery would be fullying charged at that point. And yet still the Insight gets 60mpg.

[SentraSE-R]

Well, three years and nine months later, the Elio is still vaporware. I told you so.

[Ecky]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/17/...led-prototype/

Elio unveils its latest 84 mpg three-wheeled prototype



As Elio works it's way toward manufacturing, it's been progressively updating its pre-production car. Today at the LA Auto Show it unveiled the E1C engineering vehicle. This latest version of the gas-powered, 84-mile-per-gallon car is about 80 percent production ready and focuses on safety, interior and a ride that won't rattle your teeth out of your skull.

The most important of these updates is how the company is making the Elio safer. It now uses a unibody frame and has front and side airbags. That should be good news for anyone who's interested in this three-wheeled vehicle, but is concerned about what happens when the car is involved in a collision.


Beyond keeping the passengers safer, the suspension has been updated which is good news for potential drivers and the vehicle as a whole since being jumbled about has a tendency to wear out a car's hardware. Plus, not feeling like you're driving a formula one car on city streets makes it easier to see the new traditional dials on the dash and cleaner looking interior.

All that adds up to a car that's looking more and more like it's going to be something we'll eventually see on the road. Elio still doesn't have a hard launch date, but it's aiming for the fourth quarter of 2017. Before then, though, in the first quarter of the year, it hopes to build 100 production vehicles for testing that will be used to determine if any last-minute changes are necessary.

Until then, anyone who wants a three-wheeled fix will need to drive the overly aggressive Polaris Slingshot or the comically unstable Reliant Robin.

[Frank Lee]

Softer springs and shocks? Ooooh, the rocket science! I'm impressed!

[Ecky]

Just throwing it up here because it was in my news feed.