-
Welcome to Elio Owners! Join today, registration is easy!
You can register using your Google, Facebook, or Twitter account, just click here.
Electric Elio?
- Thread starter nimblemotors
- Start date
Dude! You're not getting old; you are old
(Wait, so am I)
yep, for me its a been there, done that type thing
I'm old and have always enjoyed smooth quiet rides..............and fast.
When I was doing my long distance driving trips for work (200 to 500 miles one way) I had the Dodge Magnum.
Best highway car I have ever owned. One problem I had at speed (60 to 90) was it didn't feel like it was moving, it was like I was sitting still and the scenery was just moving towards me; like watching a movie. Long wheel base, heavy (4,000lbs empty) super quiet and big comfy leather seats and 27mpg it had the V6 hemi the 3.5 Like I told Jim; I'm old too
West coast and central states have a lot of long open roads; I don't think any electric would ever compare; electrics are good for city/short hop trips.
Thomas Malkin
Elio Aficionado
VERY rounded, I was just shooting numbers from memory. I agree, the Elio could weigh more, but maybe not much more than the stock with a large rear seat passenger?
Last edited:
Thomas Malkin
Elio Aficionado
Well, a Nissan Leaf replacement power pack (with a core trade in) is about 5500 bucks. (I don't know what the all-new cost is). That's for a pack moving a car that weighs from 3,256 to 3,340 lbs. The Elio weighs a third of that. I doubt if that pack could fit in an Elio, so shrink it down to about third of Leaf size for around a hundred miles range. That would bring it in the $2000 cost at current prices. The cost of the engine, oil pan, pumps, etc. can be removed, and the cost of the electric motor added. The cost to build an Elio is about half the sell price, so the cost of the Elio at $4000 would be reduced by engine removal for a thousand (?) dollar savings and increased by a $2000 dollar battery and a, what, $2000 motor (for best in class). Keep in mind that when Tesla's battery gigafactory goes online, they project to reduce, eventually, the cost of the battery pack by half, so that battery will eventually cost $1000... this is well within comfort range of the price for a base Elio. I doubt much the car would cost more than ten or eleven thousand. Add to that, the batteries will last for many years, and the motor will probably not see old age for a decade or two - no maintenance involved, either. The e-Elio could run for as long as you cared to own it, and the motor and battery replacement costs will keep dropping - and the batteries will see tremendous range improvement very soon as well. A hundred mile, 1200 lb Elio could get a new superbattery in three, four years for about 3 grand that would double the range, or even more. And the pack could be bigger; I'm going here with keeping the car as close to original weight as possible and still have the ability to get places. Double that pack (one under the hood, one under the front seat? and maybe we could get a 200 mile Elio now and a 400 mile Elio later. Depends on what you might be willing to spend.
I asked the rep at an Elio showing about e-Elios, and he said they were very interested. They've nothing against it. But, just not right now.
But keeping it gas powered gets it out the door now, and the electric option could someday be an option (for Tesla mini-pack and micromotor, check box "E"). There's no hurry, and the Elio is fine as-is for what it is intended for.
Thomas Malkin
Elio Aficionado
When I was doing my long distance driving trips for work (200 to 500 miles one way) I had the Dodge Magnum.
Best highway car I have ever owned. One problem I had at speed (60 to 90) was it didn't feel like it was moving, it was like I was sitting still and the scenery was just moving towards me; like watching a movie. Long wheel base, heavy (4,000lbs empty) super quiet and big comfy leather seats and 27mpg it had the V6 hemi the 3.5 Like I told Jim; I'm old too
West coast and central states have a lot of long open roads; I don't think any electric would ever compare; electrics are good for city/short hop trips.
The Tesla seems to be the best highway car ever made. Dunno, never been in one. But the owners are nuts about it.
Feast your eyes on the Zombie, if you want to see what a monster electric car can do:
(The Verge)
"But somewhere in a Texas garage sits a strange car that’s even quicker: a 1968 Mustang fastback known as the Zombie 222, and it’s entirely electric.
Tapping an array of giant motors, controllers, and batteries — cast in a fluorescent green with blue LEDs for effect — the Zombie 222 produces over 800 horsepower and a mind-numbing 1,800 pounds of torque. Those numbers translate into a 0–60 time of just 2.4 seconds, a remarkable eighth-mile time of 6.8 seconds at 101 mph and an estimated quarter-mile time of 10.7 seconds at 125 mph."
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/1/8320189/zombie-222-electric-car-1968-mustang-texas-mile
Last edited by a moderator:
Never said it was the "Best Highway car"; said the Magnum was the best highway car "I ever owned".
I've never owned a Tesla so I can give a personal testimony on one.
But when I had traveled 470 miles; I can pull into a gas station, refill the tank and be back on the road in 15 minutes; that's one area the electrics can't touch with unless you can do fully charged battery swaps.
How long does it take to recharge a Tesla after the battery is drained?
Yes, you were being humorous, but for those who didn't get that... There are exceptionally few cases where an electric version is the same weight, virtually all are more. Even to come in close requires the more expensive batteries, and less range than the Petrol version.
Genrally the electric drive itself is maybe about half the weight of the ICE for the same countinuous HP, but when you add the E-pack it goes way over weight if you maintain any kind of range.
Lead acid are much cheaper, but about , what a quarter of the power density of Li-Ion? Since you are carrying more weight you lose more than say the expected 75% range compared to Lithium-Ion. ( you'll have to look the actual numbers up )
There is one possible benefit, the EDrive and batteries do not need to lumped in one spot, you can distribute some of that around the car.
Jeff Verhasselt
New Member
I like all of the responses to the EV Elio. I am not apposed to gas engines, but I think the future is in electric engines. I was thinking about PV along with EV, and making the roof structure a thin membrane of solar panels, this will charge the batteries. What are your thoughts on this?
My house is solar powered and I love it.
My house is solar powered and I love it.