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Elio Motors has locked in the base price of $7300 for non-refundable reservation holders for their 84mpg 3-wheel "autocycle". Reservations can be made for as little as $100 or as much as $1000 with higher values getting priority delivery when they go into production. The price is above the $6800 target that had been quoted for the last few years, but those who are willing to make a binding commitment to purchase a vehicle can sign an additional online form to knock their price back down to $7000. The locked-in prices will be available until they reach a total of 65,000 reservations (~57,000 have been made to date).
The startup car company is attempting to disrupt the auto industry by producing an efficient, affordable vehicle similar to what VW did with the $1699 Beetle in 1968, but at an even more affordable price (the Beetle cost $11,768 in 2016 dollars)
The vehicle itself, while technically a motorcycle under federal law, is controlled like a car with a steering wheel and pedals. Most states have enacted legislation exempting such vehicles from the extra license endorsements or helmet requirements that motorcycles and trikes normally need. Standard features of the base model include an enclosed cabin with A/C, heat, cruise control and power windows & door lock.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:21AM
It certainly handles more like a car than a motorcycle. Do you propose an entirely new licensing class?
I hope Elio succeeds; I've watched too many other three wheelers fail. I would like something cheaper and more efficient than a car but that is still usable on ice and snow.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:32AM
We already have that around here. It's a type 5 endorsement covering trikes and sidecars. It's simply not true to suggest that a 3 wheel vehicle handles more like a car than a motorcycle. They're completely different beasts.
Vehicles like this aren't currently covered, but they really should be.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:14AM
Reading the specs https://www.eliomotors.com/features/#details [eliomotors.com] ... reverse trike, front engine, front traction, 160 inch long (~400cm), 66 front wheels track (~167cm), 110 wheel base (~280cm), 55HP... really different than a car? Because it's bigger than some European/Japanese tiny cars (or compact family cars year ago). No weight info, but maybe lighter if it achieves the 100MPH (~160Km/h). Same parking space than small cars but only 2 person, just better fuel efficiency.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday August 17 2016, @03:19AM
It's different. Reverse trikes have been relatively common in the US for some time now. For example, the Piaggio MP3 has two in front and one in the back and those require a special endorsement.
The only reason why the car like ones don't require a special endorsement is that there's a cage surrounding the driver. Virtually every adult in the country knows how to ride a bike and as such can manage the leaning without being taught to do it on a bike. The reason the endorsement is required is that trikes don't handle the same way that vehicles on 2 or 4 wheels do.
(Score: 2) by fnj on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:21AM
Sorry, it's a FACT. A symmetrical 3-wheeler, especially one with the two wheels forward, does handle MUCH more like a car than a motorcycle or an oddball contraption like a motorcycle with a sidecar. The steering wheel and pedals are strong clues to the similarity. If you brake a motorcycle to a stop, it will fall over unless you prop it up with your foot. Not so this car (and not so, even a VW tricycle custom conversion, for that matter).
Yes, there are differences of degree. You have to be more aware of tipover potential when maneuvering this, compared to a car. But you don't need the dexterity of carefully balancing it on two wheels at all times, like a motorcycle.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday August 17 2016, @03:15AM
No, it's not a fact. If it were a fact, then smaller trikes wouldn't require a different license endorsement from cars and motorcycles. The only reason that they get an exception is that there's a crash cage to protect when people fuck it up. It's not because it more closely resembles a car. It's because the likely consequences to the driver are less.
Also, there's far more to operating a car than just the dexterity. Virtually every motorcyclist gets that down within a few months tops, most of it is knowing how to manage the vehicle on the roads in the conditions that are available. And whether you care to admit it or not, the reality is that a 3 wheel vehicle requires some education to know how to properly drive it. In addition to the normal drivers ed that it takes to drive a car.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Wednesday August 17 2016, @06:03AM
There's a big difference between small 3-wheelers and something like the Elio. With small vehicles, the CG is up high and the wheel base is small which is what makes them prone to roll-overs. The Elio has a low and forward located CG, with a wider stance compared to normal commuter cars to make up for the lack of a 4th wheel in back. On top of that, it's being put through the same tests 4-wheel passenger cars must go through even though it isn't technically required.
But if you want to see for yourself, look up Elio test drive videos on YouTube. There are several from various reviewers.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:49PM
Certainly a 3 wheel car would handle more like a 3 wheel ATV than anything else, if you're looking for an analogy. Those were banned in '88 in the USA, too many people getting killed.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:14PM
> a 3 wheel car would handle more like a 3 wheel ATV than anything else
Not in my direct experience. I spent a lot of time horsing the early 3 wheel ATVs around, they didn't have a differential between the two rear wheels, so to get them to turn there were two choices:
+ steer the front wheel while sitting normally, or leaning in (like motorcycle) and watch the front wheel scrub, and the vehicle only turns very slightly -- two rear wheels rotating at same speed are both stuck to the ground and resist turning the whole vehicle.
+ lean out to take load off the inside rear wheel (so it could slip over the ground easily), and steer, now it turns.
In other words, the driver had to begin to roll over the ATV to get it to turn. This balancing act didn't always work out...
Polaris Slingshot (similar track and wheelbase to Elio, but with many other differences) turns like a car, no weight shifting required from the driver.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:57PM
All the 3-wheel ATVs I've seen have had the single wheel up front, which *drastically* alters the dynamics in a turn, making it far more prone to rollovers than with two wheels up front. Basically, when turning left your momentum tries to keep you going in a straight line - forward-and-right from your curving path. With two wheels up front that shifts the load onto the right-front wheel. With only one wheel in the front, that shifts the load *away* from the only wheel into open space, relying entirely on the weight of the rear-left portion of the vehicle to keep it from rolling.
Lighter vehicles, or those otherwise capable of leaning, get around this by leaning into the turn - moving the center of gravity leftward, so that the rightward loading shift remains through the single wheel's contact point with the ground. But that's not an option with a vehicle much heavier than the rider, unless some mechanized leaning control is available.
Bikes are a bit different, since they are inherently unstable and the driver's lean can cause the entire bike to tip in the desired direction in preparation for a turn - something not possible in a more stable vehicle
(Score: 1) by Frost on Thursday August 18 2016, @06:32AM
Bikes are a bit different, since they are inherently unstable and the driver's lean can cause the entire bike to tip in the desired direction in preparation for a turn
That's not how a two-wheeler turns.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday August 18 2016, @01:12PM
Go ahead, try to make a tight turn on a bike without leaning into it...
No, you can't lean it all the way and then turn, any more than you can turn without leaning - it's a balancing act all the way through, but you have to understeer (or over-lean) as the turn tightens so that the bike continues to lean further, and then oversteer (or under-lean) as the turn loosens so that centripetal force pulls the bike upright again. On a heavy bike you can't take a turn like you can in a car, where you go directly from a straight path, to a fixed-curvature turn, and then back to a straight path with negligible transition time. If you're not already tipping over on a bike, you can't tighten your turn. And similarly, if you *are* already tipping over, you can't immediately straighten out.