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

[JSH]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Don't know. That was $12.9K. That's what? A quarter of a Harley?

The FUV is for cagers. The Roadster would be a closer match.

Elio original claimed their trike would cost $6,800 back in 2010.

At the time you could buy a Harley Sportster Iron 883 for $7,999



A Honda Shadow for $7,799



Even a SH150 scooter was $4,499

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Have we discussed what kind of motorcycle you could buy for what they originally claimed they would charge?

The CRF300L is $5,500, 23 horsepower, 90 MPH, and might be capable of 75 MPG, at least that's what they're getting on Fuelly.

https://www.fuelly.com/motorcycle/honda/crf300l



I'd much rather have one of these and thousands left over in my pocket than an Elio.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

The problem is you can't build a $10,000 "car" even if it only got 30 mpg and couldn't exceed 55 mph.

I dunno - Chevy still advertises the base Spark in Canada at $10k (plus shipping, plus tax). A couple of years ago, Nissan was still offering a $10k Micra, and I see them everywhere (since discontinued). At the time, Mitsubishi even reluctantly priced the base Mirage at $10k to compete.

The big automakers could sell $10k cars in the States if they wanted to. But they're in business to make as much profit as possible and absent some production or labour cost miracle, it's hard to get blood from a $10k stone.

The $10k price war in Canada was probably about growing market share?

[Xist]

Meanwhile, they want to sell $50,000 20 MPG trucks that rarely transport more than 1-2 people and a small amount of cargo, which would probably fit in a $10-15k vehicle just fine.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Meanwhile, they want to sell $50,000 20 MPG trucks that rarely transport more than 1-2 people and a small amount of cargo, which would probably fit in a $10-15k vehicle just fine.

Hardly anything in life is about need.

Once you get sufficient calories to maintain body weight and are reasonably protected from the elements; everything else is extravagance.

90% of humanity has existed without automobiles, as an example. They had lower impact to nature because they had less access to energy and therefore reduced means to change the environment. They died early and often.

[Xist]

Ah, the good old days!

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Ah, the good old days!

I don't actually think we're much happier, if at all. Fewer suicides in places where living is more difficult. Perhaps it's easier to be grateful when the odds of making it to the next day aren't so great, yet you make it.

Even so, practically nobody chooses to go backwards. We could be living in tipis and cutting things with sharp stones, but few decide to live that way. Once someone accepts one convenience, it's difficult to decide where to draw the line.

Robot vacuums now have the option to automatically empty the dirt bin. At some point we're going to invent a way for that dirt bin to be emptied automatically.

I mentioned it before, but the first episode of Jetsons is about how inconvenient it was to push so many buttons to make it through living in modernity, so they bought Rosey to help out. Now only if there was a way to automatically tell a robot what to do...

[RedDevil]

When it seems too good to be true, it usually isn't true.
Had he priced it at twice the price then there might have been a financial perspective, but at the proposed price (cheaper than a motorbike of equal power) there never was a chance it would work out. Production just can't be that cheap.

[Xist]

Emptying the dirt bin is probably the easy part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQN-l_7QT8

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Emptying the dirt bin is probably the easy part.

Ours is connected to the central vac. Open the flap and it starts the vacuum in the basement utility room. Close the flap and it turns it off. Central vac is nice, but I don't think I'd build one these days considering robot vacs are getting close to where they need to be.

I've got my eye on a stupid expensive one that vacs and mops all in a single mission. When the price is right I'll give it a whirl. Would be nice to have something that can clean the floors daily. I live with 2 girls that have to share some of what they're eating with the ground as a breadcrumb trail.