Hello Elio

I have seen adds for this the last couple days.

Call me interested.

I don't know why but I like it.

Hello Ellio

They've been advertising the "Elio" on FB for a few years now. It looks like a cool idea that isn't ever going to actually arrive.

I wonder what happened to people's money who already put down deposits?

The website says that they have 54000+ "reservations". I wonder how many of those people realize the government legally classifies it as a motorcycle, therefore it's crash standards are lower and a motorcycle license may be needed to drive one.

I think I will fall in to that grey area where a car license will be accepted. Not sure on that. And besides look at trucks. For years they did not have to conform to car standards.

I still want to test drive it before spending the money.

I saw one at the Boeing museum of flight in Seattle during a special event. They rolled it off the trailer and rolled it back on. Hmmm wasn't impressed.

I need a box with wheels to move me to work and back, 280+ days a year. I hope this gets built & is FUN to drive.

I've been following them for years. Nothing seems to have been done, aside from marketing in a few years.
On the motorcycle tip; they've been able to get most states to waive motorcycle operated endorsement and helmet laws for these. I hope they are built.

Here's an interesting thread on the Elio:

smoke and mirrors

It seemed like a great idea and I was excited to see one, but there have been nothing but delays and excuses for more than 3 1/2 years.

The_Jed wrote: Here's an interesting thread on the Elio: smoke and mirrors It seemed like a great idea and I was excited to see one, but there have been nothing but delays and excuses for more than 3 1/2 years.

...and held deposits.

One of the most terminally stupid ideas this man has had is on Gen 1 introducing your own motor.

Ford, GM, Rotax, Honda all will sell you engines with the power output and economy he is looking for (if you need proof)

I want to build my own engine too. But if I am trying to get something off the ground like this, with all that is involved, he should have just bought the motor and saved the in-house one for gen 2. Not to mention it would be a comfort to would be customers to know their driveline is supported if this idea of a company doesn't pan out.

License wise it is state to state dependent. Some states you need a car license for a three wheeled vehicle, others a motorcycle, yet again others you need a three wheeler license.

Check with your state to see what applies to you.

Reminds me of Cannondale (bicycle company) deciding to build ATVs and dirt bikes, developing their own engine.

Still, a cool concept. I hope Elio makes it happen.

I hope it happens, too, but we must consider the possibility that a three-wheeled car is not fundamentally a good idea.

I understand the idea of wanting your own engine. you only need look at history to see what happened to companies that relied on other manufacturers for engines. The Sunbeam Tiger for one.. or the Pantera, or any number of Fiat powered cars.. once the engine goes out of production, you are screwed.

If I had been Elio, I would have secured licensing for a just out of production engine from somebody like Honda, Toyota, or the like and start production there.. saves a lot of engineering and R&D

As I've said before, I was very optimistic about this vehicle. Now, I'll believe it when I see it. That said, if it ever gets made, I'll be first inline after the 54k+ preorders get shipped.

I've thought the idea was cool from the start, but the "development" process in subsequent years has shown more signs of either incompetence or outright fraud. Hopefully it's neither of those, but the last couple years have done nothing for confidence with regards to these guys.

In reply to mad_machine:

If they had been serious, they would have gone after something like the Fiat twinair....but I am still convinced they were a vapor ware idea from the get go that was overly reliant upon massive unsecured federal loans to line their own pockets with and run.....just like Carbon Motors. Unfortunately for them, the Carbon fiasco kind of allowed the government to get smart for a change.

mad_machine wrote: I understand the idea of wanting your own engine. you only need look at history to see what happened to companies that relied on other manufacturers for engines. The Sunbeam Tiger for one.. or the Pantera, or any number of Fiat powered cars.. once the engine goes out of production, you are screwed.

Not always the case. Lotus has never made their own engine (all Toyota these days) and it hasn't hurt them. In fact they've modified the same chassis to take engines from different manufacturers (Rover & Honda in the S1 Elise). They've hardly ever been in good health as a business but they're still around.

Ariel uses Audi and Honda engines.

KTM uses an Audi engine in the X-bow.

BAC uses an Audi engine in the Mono.

Noble uses Ford engines in many of their cars, they've never made their own.

Radical used modded Suzuki engines until they started making their own a couple years ago.

Gumpert's cars are mostly aftermarket production parts and use (heavily modified) Audi engines. Again maybe not a good example, but they're still around, called Apollo now.

So clearly it's not a recipe for success, but it's not a death sentence either. These are all niche car manufacturers just like Elio would be.

In reply to mad_machine:

Rotax and Honda both are in the engine building and selling business, so are Ford and GM. I understand your fear of "out of production" but in reality, it isn't an issue. Hell, you can still buy a brand new off the line Ford V10.

When was the last time you saw one of those installed in a production vehicle?

There are a ton of engines that are available for this guy wanted to do. All that are still around and available. That is what I did in Louisiana, I was the engineer for a diesel engine distributor and after I left they picked up GM too. We sold Mitsubishi, Yanmar, FPT (Fiat Power Trane), Styer, and Hatz. There is no shortage of applicable engines.

The new John Deere UTV engine is designed and built by the scooter company Piaggio. All you have to do is call these companies up and say "I am interested in a power package with a volume of X per year. Who do I need to talk to."

You get a transfer/phone number/call back pretty quick.

Unless you are designing the package as a stressed member you just need an envelope and a performance/efficiency objective. It isn't the sixties anymore. This guy has options, he just chose to go another way.

GameboyRMH wrote: Lotus has never made their own engine (all Toyota these days) and it hasn't hurt them.

Lotus did make their own engine and even sold it to other car manufacturer(s). It was the Lotus 907 and they sold it to Jensen-Healey. They also developed their own head for the Ford Kent Block to make the Lotus Twin Cam.

RossD wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Lotus has never made their own engine (all Toyota these days) and it hasn't hurt them.

Lotus did make their own engine and even sold it to other car manufacturer(s). It was the Lotus 907 and they sold it to Jensen-Healey. They also developed their own head for the Ford Kent Block to make the Lotus Twin Cam.

To go along, buying a 1.0 l block from Ford would have been a good idea- very small package and it would be easy to bracket the power just for this car's needs.

The powertrain cost is most of the car, in development, by a huge margin. Especially for a simple vehicle like this.

GameboyRMH wrote: BAC uses an Audi engine in the Mono.

snicker sounds like something that I heard about in high school snicker

I have been following alone from the beginning and I am in the " I hope they make it so I can by one for commuting but will not give them any money up front" camp.

They had one on display at the NAIAS this year which I sat in and really liked it. Only time will tell.

RossD wrote: Lotus did make their own engine and even sold it to other car manufacturer(s). It was the Lotus 907 and they sold it to Jensen-Healey. They also developed their own head for the Ford Kent Block to make the Lotus Twin Cam.

Huh, I knew about the Lotus head for the Ford Kent but not the 907. Turns out they also made the V8 in the Esprit - I always thought that was a heavily modified production engine.

So you could say Lotus has stopped making their own engines.

I'm still waiting for my Mahindra pickup or ARO 4x4.

Meanwhile at the local Elio dealership....

And here's a shot of the 2016 Elios ready for delivery!

Here's the Elio press fleet lined up:

Investors and pre-order buyers need not worry, their money is being held safely in a secure location: