Elio Motors

[John Luciano]

Would make a great winter computer and bad weather substitute for the motorcycles. Just what I need a 6 th registered vehicle ...

 

[RTwing]

Seems reverse trikes are the up and coming thing (rightly so) Elio will be in production within a few years, Polaris is releasing the Slingshot which is a new sport trike, VW is also releasing a reverse trike car and of course there is the Endeavor trikes which will be available in the same time frame.

Finally correct physics is replacing the old this is the way it has always been done architecture.

 

[Carbon_One]

I'm going to the Detroit Dream Cruise tomorrow and will get to check them out. My son is also interested in one as a commuter vehicle to work and back and the usual about town stuff.
Larry

 

[RTwing]

More updates - while we are doing a custom Yamaha Raider conversion for the show I am also putting the Valkyrie on display not in the booth but out on the floor with a sign pointing passerby's to our booth (38029) We are located in the adjoining booth with Elio motors.

I am sure both bikes will draw attention and with Elio right next to us we should get some impressive traffic.

I will also have a 120x86 inch full screen print background specially made for the show along with a photo album of all the recent conversions including the GL1800 trike (just turned 137k)

 

[Carbon_One]

Well its an interesting concept for sure. I didn't sit in it (line was too long to suit me) but with the one door there was plenty of room for the driver to get in and out. For the passenger it took a bit more effort, slide seat forward and tilt the back, then climb in. Plenty of passenger room once in thou.

Son intends on getting one once they're available. According to the sales person we talked to there's already 27k deposits on for them with a projected delivery around this time next year.

Maybe my winter time reverse tike?

Larry

 

[RTwing]

Here is where Elio will be at SEMA just in case you are able to attend

 

[RTwing]

We had the booth adjoining Elio at this years SEMA show. They were getting quite a bit of attention and had 6 staff members busy most of the time. I got to talk with the crew and we got along just fine, very nice friendly folks. Paul Elio was there quite a bit also.The car is narrow and very long and inside very much like the cockpit of an airplane. rear storage is small and it would be tough to put a set of golf clubs in there even with the rear seat down. Finish quality on the orange prototype was excellent and it seems first class in fit and finish.
Elio bought the old Hummer factory in Louisiana and plan to be in production in a year or so.

What was weird is here we are in Las Vegas at the wildest auto-show in the world. Many of the cars and trucks here have huge dual turbo engines and high tech everything yet the spectators at Elio were drooling over the 3 cylinder geo metro class engine (60hp 50lb torque). Not a knock on Elio it just struck me as strange is all that people would get so excited over a lawnmower engine.

We got some overflow from their booth and things were busy. So that was good and I am thankful for Elio bringing such positive attention to the correct way of doing three wheels. Being an engineer I have to give them a thumbs up on design and layout.
We talked a bit about user demographics and their main target is the 50+ age range where people are more concerned over price and low operating costs than performance. Just the exact opposite of the slingshot. I think the slingshot demographics would show an age group in the 18-34 range much like ours. And the slingshot is $26k not $6.8k.

Most people were suspicious about the $6800 price tag and how they could possibly do it (I can't figure it our either)
and the claims of 84mpg (also baffled here)
I asked about the price point but never got a real definitive answer. I suspect some limited but hefty government grant but can't say.
For me the price is the greatest mystery on the planet I can see how the 84mpg can be done under the right conditions but the price? I was going to put $100 down but I think I will wait and see what happens next year.