Posted on 02/05/2014 6:06:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Paul Elio wanted to bring affordable transportation to drivers and create jobs for American workers. The company is planning to release vehicles for sale in the first quarter of 2015. The car is planned to use 95% American parts and American labor, vitally important to Paul.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
The company says that the vehicle will cost $6800, achieve an 84 miles per gallon fuel economy, and they anticipate a five star NHTSA safety rating. The eight gallon tank will theoretically allow a driver to go 672 miles on a tank of gas. Top speed of the Elio is said to be over 100 miles per hour.
http://www.eliomotors.com
Vehicles will be built in the abandoned Shreveport Louisiana assembly plant. Elio will sell the vehicles themselves at specialized retail centers in the top sixty markets across the United States. Eight different colors are all hip, now and named things like Licorice, Sour Apple and Rocket Silver.
Elios come with standard equipment - a reinforced roll cage and airbags for safety, radio, air conditioning and power windows for comfort. Most of the components of the Elio are already in production, allowing the vehicle to keep a low cost and hopefully low insurance premiums. Because most of the components can be purchased at a corner auto parts store the carmaker is expecting low maintenance costs.
The small front mounted engine in the Elio is 70 horsepower, 1.0 litre, three cylinder device that resembles a Geo Metro more than a standard Chevrolet or Ford offering. Two seats are available in tandem configuration, or the driver can go solo and stow gear on the fold-down second seat.
The Elio is incredible because of its massive ambition. It's hard to think of another automaker starting out like this on such a large scale with such a radical product. Massive marketing campaigns aren't hitting venues like the Superbowl but the vehicle was featured last month at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, and the Sundance Film Festival.
Even with heavy funding in place, a location secured to build the product, and suppliers on board for production there is a heavy question in the air of whether or not the Elio can become a fully realized product. Obtaining a five star crash rating will go a long way toward winning consumer confidence and once production begins it will be exciting to see how popular the vehicle is with American consumers.
I doubt if the big boys are worried at this stage. If they become successful, anything is likely to happen, especially in Mr. Obama’s AmeriKKKa.
You’d be well advised not to drive any vehicle head-on into a semi.
the semi was parked
Is it safe to drive into parked semis?
NO car, and its front occupants would fair any better that the one in your picture ..
a car whose weight is a sled of batteries under the occupants is just waiting to get peeled.
having a big engine in front helps take a lot of that force.
I keep hearing about these things, and people keep posting links to FR about it, but have they actually gotten any vehicles to market? Are they selling at the difficult-to-believe price cited?
I hate to be a wet blanket, but they remind me of nothing so much as the Dale. Look it up if you’re unfamiliar. You can’t buy a decent off-road utility vehicle with a two-stroke engine for that.
Count me dubious.
Elio Motors 3-Wheeled Car Delayed Until September 2015
Elio Motors‘ 3-wheeled car was originally scheduled for a March 2015 release and it has now been pushed back to September 2015.
ElioMotors 300x104 Elio Motors 3 Wheeled Car Delayed Until September 2015Elio Motors will use an old General Motors (GM) assembly plant in Shreveport, Louisiana to make the vehicle. The 3-wheeled car will be released in the fall due to a funding delay that occurred last year.
Stuart Lichter is leasing the Shreveport plant to Elio Motors and he was set to invest $7.5 million on the company. The Caddo Commission approved of the move in August but it was delayed until December and the carmaker was unable to begin production until the money was received.
http://investorplace.com/2014/06/elio-motors-3-wheeled-car-gm-stock/#.U5ifzRUo6cw
This will sell like hot cakes.
I had a Chevy Chevette. I bought it for $600 dollars, replaced the front brakes, starter (I had to push start it for a week before I could afford the starter), and the clutch linkage pin (10 miles to the autoparts store stuck in second gear for a $1.50 piece), and drove it for 2 years. I then sold it for $800 dollars. I hated that car a lot, but it was the most economical vehicle I have ever owned by a long shot.
Any new vehicle classified as a motorcycle you can take a motorcycle exam on. I see this as a big problem. There is a whole new crop of can-am spyder riders who have never been on a real motorcycle. Bad things are going to happen when they decide to give up their training wheels.
*snickering!*
'34 Morgan SuperSport
I remember seeing those in England years ago. Scary, not very stable.
My brother put in some sort of deposit...supposedly they start production in July of 2015.
you have to bet that the Morgan would sell for a tad over tha 8K mark..
Thank you.
Both of BMW’s i series cars are carbon fiber (i3 around $45,000, i8 about $135,000) and the new Alfa Romeo 4C (about $55,000) is also carbon fiber.
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