There has been a need for an Elio for decades. There should be a safe, practical, fairly and reasonably priced vehicle positioned between the "cheapest" car manufactured in the US and motorcycles. There's always been that gap. $13,039 for a "cheap" Chevy now, is too much for many consumers – just as $4,057 for a base Chevette was in 1980. If there had been an Elio in 1980, what would the Elio have cost? Like $2,500 or so? Think about that for a moment.
For many people – $7,400 is easier to cough up than $13,039. And $2,500 would have been easier to pay than $4,057 back in 1980.
…. and you drive twice as far on a dollar of gas – whether in 1980 or 2018.
For me, I can pay the price of the Spark just as fast as I could for the Elio. But why waste my money? I don't need the extra doors or wheel. Don't need the extra seating. Don't want to spend an additional $6,000 for a vehicle that gets 1/2 the mileage. That's not of value to me.
Go Elio!