# Does Anybody Know Anything About Elio Motors New 3 Wheeled Car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223 "2015-08-18T22:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/1 "2015-08-18T22:47:26Z")
A link– > **[Elio Motors - The Ultimate Electric Vehicle Commuter](https://www.eliomotors.com/)** > > Elio Motors provides personal transportation alternatives that are fun to drive and built in the USA. Say goodbye to ordinary and say hello to Elio. Get updates now! > [@](#): > > Say hello to Elio. The ultra-high-mileage, sleek two-seater for an incredibly affordable base price. 84 MPG, $6,800 base. [http://www.eliomotors.com/features/#the-4-musts](http://www.eliomotors.com/features/#the-4-musts) It seems like there is no car, yet. It **also seems** like this would be IDEAL CAR FOR ME, if it pans out! Input from Dopers who know? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/2 "2015-08-18T23:17:19Z")
> **[Elio Motors, can they do it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712643)** > > I love this car, or some may still prefer to call it a motorcycle. It’s basically an enclosed motorcycle, but has two wheels up front for balance, and one wheel in back. Others have tried the enclosed motorcycle approach too, some using just two... > **[What are your thoughts about the Elio?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=757810)** > > I hope I’m not repeating what someone else might have already (recently) asked about this car, but in any case please feel free to checkout the link and then return and share your thoughts. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool for it costing so... I have more to say but I’m on the phone now. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/3 "2015-08-18T23:38:02Z")
We’ve had threads on it before, not sure when it gets released to the public. They’ve pushed back the release date at least once. With gas prices hovering at $2-3, I’m not sure how big the market will be vs. a $4/gallon gas scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/4 "2015-08-18T23:59:21Z")
IIRC there are still a few regulatory hiccups. They’ve been having to work things through state-by-state. If you can find one at a show, I recommend having a seat. I found it surprisingly roomy. It certainly isn’t a car for everyone. It isn’t for me, now, but it might be as my living situation changes over the next year or two. I just looked into their situation, which has been another hurdle. It looks like they still don’t have that DOE loan. I don’t know if it got rejected or if it’s still bouncing around in DC. I’d forgotten about Reg A+. I need to look into that some more; it may make for some nice investment opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/5 "2015-08-19T00:12:48Z")
[According to Wiki:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elio_Motors) > [@](#): > > Elio Motors did release a video of a working 3-cylinder engine on Youtube on March 6, 2015, but has not provided any revealed specifics on when the test was run, resulting performance data, or the current status of the motor and the overall IAV development project. I will note that their website has a nice map showing all their _projected_ dealerships. They may not have a plant or a car yet, but they’ve got balls. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/6 "2015-08-19T00:48:58Z")
There is one other implication of registering it as a motorcycle instead of a car. Car makers are only allowed to advertise the EPA MPG rating, whereas motorcycle companies can claim basically whatever they want. I have a feeling they’re only confident trotting around that 84 MPG number because they don’t think they’re ever going to have to report an actual EPA rating. One of the side effects of measuring fuel economy in distance per volume instead of volume per distance is that it tends to exaggerate differences on the higher end. As their enthusiastic previous owners will tell you, cars like the Honda CRX or original Insight or 3 cylinder Geo Metro could get 70’s and 80’s MPGs under certain circumstances, but in the current EPA cycle they’re only rated in the high 40’s to low 50’s. My hunch is that if the Elio has to undergo EPA fuel economy testing, it’ll probably wind up around there in the low-to-mid 50’s. Pretty good, but probably not good enough to get large numbers of people out of their hybrids especially if they have to go through the hassle of getting a motorcycle/trike endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/7 "2015-08-19T00:54:38Z")
At least it is projected to have two wheels in front, not in the back. Someday this might make it more stable than a Reliant Robin. Lifesaving documentary: [Rolling a Reliant Robin | Top Gear | BBC - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8) ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/8 "2015-08-19T01:51:11Z")
Factory being leased to a textile manufacturer [http://gas2.org/2015/07/15/fishy-investors-new-tenants-bad-news-for-elio-motors/](http://gas2.org/2015/07/15/fishy-investors-new-tenants-bad-news-for-elio-motors/) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/9 "2015-08-19T14:21:48Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Factory being leased to a textile manufacturer > > [http://gas2.org/2015/07/15/fishy-investors-new-tenants-bad-news-for-elio-motors/](http://gas2.org/2015/07/15/fishy-investors-new-tenants-bad-news-for-elio-motors/) Maybe they’re making the material for the seat covers? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/10 "2015-08-19T15:44:17Z")
[We covered quite a bit of Elio Motors here,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712643) with most of us being skeptical of them ever making it, but with us hoping they could pull it off. And I agree with others, even less of a chance of them pulling it off now due to the lower gas prices. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/11 "2015-08-19T15:55:43Z")
This is a year old, but the points still seem to be valid, for the most part: > **[Six Things That Could Kill Elio Motors Before It Even Launches](https://jalopnik.com/six-things-that-could-kill-elio-motors-before-it-even-l-1646776191)** > > Elio Motors’ first car is gearing up to be the most drastic change in the industry since the invention of the cupholder. Here are the figures: 84 MPG, 5-star crash test rating, 3 wheels, 2 seats, and a reported price of $6,800. Sound too good to be... ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/12 "2015-08-19T16:17:49Z")
This sort of “reverse trike” seems to be trendy right now, but yeah, Elio doesn’t seem to have it together as a company. They seem to have attended the Elon Musk school of “keep promising your product is coming out _really soon now_” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/13 "2015-08-19T20:08:07Z")
I’ve wanted one since I first saw one, but have been unwilling to obligate with a deposit. Well, for my birthday, my wife and kids “bought in” for me. So, I’m in it until I get mine! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/14 "2015-08-19T20:44:39Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I’ve wanted one since I first saw one, but have been unwilling to obligate with a deposit. > > Well, for my birthday, my wife and kids “bought in” for me. > > So, I’m in it until I get mine! Oh, dear. How much was the “deposit”? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/15 "2015-08-19T20:52:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Oh, dear. > How much was the “deposit”? He had more kids before the buy-in. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/16 "2015-08-19T21:58:23Z")
Hmmm…I’m hoping they pull this off, because I’d buy one in a heartbeat. White. Add a rear spoiler. Paint it up with Rebel Alliance Insignia. Stop next to Cops, blow horn twice, roll down the window, & ask for directions to the Death Star. 🆒:D:p ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/17 "2015-08-19T23:34:30Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > This sort of “reverse trike” seems to be trendy right now, but yeah, Elio doesn’t seem to have it together as a company. Well, it’s not that they’re ‘trendy’ so much as it is that physics dictates that a ‘forward trike’, i.e. a kid’s tricycle, is inherently unstable. They cannot counter-steer before turning therefore when they turn they flip over. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/18 "2015-08-20T00:41:05Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > They seem to have attended the Elon Musk school of “keep promising your product is coming out _really soon now_” 😛 OTOH, I see one of several local Teslas nearly every day. It’s a real product around Chicago. > [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Well, it’s not that they’re ‘trendy’ so much as it is that physics dictates that a ‘forward trike’, i.e. a kid’s tricycle, is inherently unstable. They cannot counter-steer before turning therefore when they turn they flip over. Indeed. See the Reliant Robin documentary I linked. Though it did keep running. That Elio is going with a bespoke engine is nuts. An 883 Sportster engine is just shy of the 55hp he wants, and is already EPA approved for a motorcycle. US Highland has a US-built, 50hp thumper that would fit anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/19 "2015-08-20T12:10:52Z")
I think he’s loaded his design down with a bunch of poison pills, so that as he approaches the go-live date (assuming he gets enough money to launch), he’ll be able to drop back a few yards and punt multiple times… “Well, it’d get 84 mpg if we could get our engine running… it’d be legal to drive with a car license if it satisfied car crash safety tests… it’d be under (whatever weight) if it didn’t have to have a catalytic converter…” and next thing you know, it’s overbudget, overweight, underperformance and unsafe at any speed. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223/20 "2015-08-20T12:36:47Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Well, it’s not that they’re ‘trendy’ so much as it is that physics dictates that a ‘forward trike’, i.e. a kid’s tricycle, is inherently unstable. They cannot counter-steer before turning therefore when they turn they flip over. But the Elio has two wheels up front and one in the back, creating greater stability forward-moving cornering. I had a friend that used to refer to counter-steering as “fake left, go right”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-anything-about-elio-motors-new-3-wheeled-car/728223.md?page=2)