Elio Motors Has An Appeal, But It Runs on WHAT??
Here’s a terrific video promoting a fun little three-wheeler that looks extremely well-conceived in every way – except the drive train. You’re going to ask your customers to put gasoline – deathfuel — into that cute, futuristic little thing? Sure, it gets 84 MPG, but doesn’t it practically cry out for electric drive? Given its mileage with gas, it will run forever on a 10 kWh charge. Come on, guys; you gotta rethink this.
This Elio looks a lot like my Freeway Flyer that I purchased in 1980. It was powered by a Tecumseh garden tractor engine and driven by a snowmobile transmission. Lots of moving parts!
It got about 60 mpg even though it had an optimistic claim of 80-100 mpg.
Why am I mentioning this antique gas powered death trap? (I did roll it over after hitting some loose gravel). Well this Elio looks like some improvement over 1980 technology. Sure, an electric motor with Li ion batteries would be sweet but I bet these guys are trying to keep the price down. Maybe the next iteration will be an electric version if they can survive the lawsuits that come from a 3 wheel design.
With two wheels in front and only one wheel in back, I would expect very heavy oversteer to the point that it could leave the road back-end first if pushed too hard on corners.
Here is a link to the Freeway Flyer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Vehicles_Free-way
This vehicle illustrates the danger of being an early adopter. It can be a lot of fun but there are unforseen events that the drivers and designer miss.