Elio motors 3 wheel car vs Nissan leaf?

[evboy]

There is a 3 wheel car that is going into production in dec 2014 for 6800.00. it gets 84mpg highway and 49 in the city. do you think this will hurt leaf sales or electric cars in general. The car looks fun. it's made mostly for 1 person. although, there is a second seat behind the driver, if you like the coffin feel while you ride. I might postpone my leaf purchase for this. my thinking is the depreciation , if the car isnt a lemon, will be tiny compared to a regular car. here is the link.

http://www.eliomotors.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 2011 leaf or this car new.

 

[palmermd]

I'm on the waiting list for this car. It seems pretty cool for $7k. I'm not sure they are going to be able to hit this price target, but time will tell.

 

[evboy]

pal, i was looking at the reservation for 1000, but there is no wording on if the 1000 is still non refundable, if they dont sell it for 6800. what if the price goes to 7800 and i dont want it anymore. will the deposit still be non refundable.

 

[palmermd]

They have refundable and non-refundable deposits. If you look at the deposit page, the "All in" options are non refundable. The "I want in" are refundable. All in options are upgrade-able, want in are not.

I put in an all in $100, and it things look like they are going to produce the car at all and the pricing still looks good, I'm hoping that I can still upgrade my deposit to get moved up the line. If everything goes south, its only $100. You will have to decide for yourself how much risk you are willing to take in order to get put closer to the front of the line.

$1000
SHIRT, BUMPER STICKER $1500 Final Sale Deduction

$500
SHIRT, BUMPER STICKER $750 Final Sale Deduction

$250
SHIRT, BUMPER STICKER, $375 Final Sale Deduction

$100
SHIRT, BUMPER STICKER, $150 Final Sale Deduction

$1000 Refundable!

$500 Refundable!

$250 Refundable!

$100 Refundable!

 

[KillaWhat]

Looks cute, but apples and oranges.

it's a 2 (?) seat enclosed motorcycle vs. a 5 passenger actual car.

I'd have one if I had a 65 mile one way commute with no charging at the other end, or lived in New mexico where its 100 miles to go the food store.

Again, this little thing is cool, and it has a place, but It's not the same as a car.

 

[evboy]

what are the odds this thing is a scam to get money and then go bk.

 

[apvbguy]

There is a 3 wheel car that is going into production in dec 2014 for 6800.00. it gets 84mpg highway and 49 in the city. do you think this will hurt leaf sales or electric cars in general. The car looks fun. it's made mostly for 1 person. although, there is a second seat behind the driver, if you like the coffin feel while you ride. I might postpone my leaf purchase for this. my thinking is the depreciation , if the car isnt a lemon, will be tiny compared to a regular car. here is the link.

http://www.eliomotors.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it is a very interesting entry into the EV game, I'd be wary of being in a small vehicle like that on high speed busy roads with a lot of much large vehicles however if the intended usage is local, around towns in less congested places this car could become a viable alternative to the leaf.

2011 leaf or this car new.

I wouldn't touch an '11 LEAF.

 

[palmermd]

it is a very interesting entry into the EV game, I'd be wary of being in a small vehicle like that on high speed busy roads with a lot of much large vehicles however if the intended usage is local, around towns in less congested places this car could become a viable alternative to the leaf.

I wouldn't touch an '11 LEAF.

Hey now, I own an 11 Leaf and its a good car. And Elio is not an EV; it is an enclosed motorcycle.

what are the odds this thing is a scam to get money and then go bk.

I'd say 50/50 at this point, but its pure speculation. It's why I've not committed too much, and even the refundable ones might be at risk. Just ask some of the folks who had Aptera deposits and waited to long to get out.

 

[joewaters]

A coworker/friend told me of Elio a few months ago. He felt convinced that they were for real. My impression after reading through all I could find on the Elio is that he's overly optimistic on efficiency considering that the (current) drivetrain is taken from a Geo Metro. If any of you remembers fondly the Metro, my apologies. I consider them trash. My singular experience,a '98 Chevy Metro, was of lots of repairs stemming from low quality ingredients. My fuel economy was in the 30's on a very light car with an automatic trans. I can't see aero and weight improvements bringing mileage into the 80s. If it gets past the startup stage, with gas below $3, there won't be a very large market for it. Remember the Corbin Sparrow, Aptera, etc...

 

[EVDRIVER]

I wonder if any of the clowns from Aptera team two are there. Aptera could have been amazing if not for the fools that came to run it into the ground.

 

[LeftieBiker]

My understanding of the Geo Metro (not having owned one) is that it could indeed get high MPG, but that the three cylinder engine design tended to result in early failures due to excessive vibration. I'm not clear on whether the failures were actually of the *engine* or were of things like motor mounts and adjacent components. So this "car" will either vibrate like mad or will have a more robust engine mounting system than the car...

 

[apvbguy]

Hey now, I own an 11 Leaf and its a good car.

nobody said that it isn't a good car however it isn't a car that many would consider buying in 2014

 

[LeftieBiker]

BTW, I object to calling vehicles like this "motorcycles." The habit originated with Motor Vehicle regulations that refer to them as such, but when the DMV gets to define experimental vehicles, something has gone wrong. "Trikes" is accurate if misleading. "Tadpoles" is better, but sounds weird. Any suggestions?

 

[joewaters]

Not that Aptera guys wouldn't relocate, but the Elio will be, if it happens, built in Louisiana. And it looks like a brick compared to the Aptera. The drivetrain / suspension are completely different in design also.

 

[evboy]

joe, the elio will not have a geo metro engine. thats just the engine they put in while the real one is still being developed. they are showing off the body more than the engine around the US. here is video of the real engine . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZS1YWPpIE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[evboy]

i dont know why you would call it a enclosed motorcycle. its not. it has 3 airbags and a front that is as large as a regular car. i call it a 3 wheeled car. it looks alot safer than the smartcar. i dont care what that cage is made of.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The motorcycle designation is from insurance and DMV regs. I think this would be a good platform for an EV later on: that big nose could hold a lot of battery capacity, with a geared or hubmotor in the rear. Heck, they could make it 3 wheel drive, if they used hubmotors...

 

[Klayfish]

Call it covered motorcycle, 3 wheeled car, tadpole, whatever you want. It's definitely got my interest. I've been following the Elio story since I first heard about it early this past summer. I'm highly intruiged. Haven't put a deposit down yet, but am so very tempted. Production will be starting not all that far from when my LEAF lease expires. That should give it enough time to hit the market and for the first owners to see if it falls apart in a few months or seems to have quality. If, and I'd say it's a huge IF, they can bring it to market with the price they quote, the safety they tout and good build quality, I'm all over it. I've always wanted something similar in concept to a motorcycle (I love the Can-Am Spyder), but have always been too afraid of something with no seatbelts and no crash structure at all.

 

[joewaters]

joe, the elio will not have a geo metro engine. thats just the engine they put in while the real one is still being developed. they are showing off the body more than the engine around the US. here is video of the real engine . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZS1YWPpIE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I accept the correction, but now am even more leary of the Elio. You can take a 'proven' powertrain and slap it into a system inexpensively and reach a $6800 price point if you have contracts with mfr to provide it at a given price. If you are reinventing the wheel, or in this case the Geo, you have no assurance of pricing until you have the drivetrain proven out in manufacture and performance.
The fuel efficiency still bothers me, too. A CanAm Spyder is what I see as an open cockpit reference for practical purposes, though I accept not 100% alike. I know, from experience, that adding aerodynamics reduces drag and improves efficiency up to the point of where the added weight of such items detracts from efficiency. I can't see taking a 24.5 mpg average Spyder to over 80 by adding aerodynamic shell and lowering the frontal area. Issues like rolling resistance, weight and drivetrain efficiency are all variables that have to be weighed against safety and performance to get the recipe right. I just can't see the numbers coming in that low. And if they do get the 80s efficiency, I would wager that it looks and performs a lot like the Corbin Sparrow. But the price will still be above $10000.

 

[RonDawg]

do you think this will hurt leaf sales or electric cars in general.

I doubt it would hurt Leaf sales. Cheaper EVs like the Smart Electric Drive and the Chevy Spark EV certainly have not outsold the Leaf, though availability (or lack thereof) could be part of the reason.