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posted by janrinok on Tuesday August 16 2016, @11:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the can-I-touch-one-yet? dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:57PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:57PM (#389107)

    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

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  • (Score: 1) by Frost on Thursday August 18 2016, @06:32AM

    by Frost (3313) on Thursday August 18 2016, @06:32AM (#389503)

    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

      by Immerman (3985) on Thursday August 18 2016, @01:12PM (#389569)

      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.