zelio
Elio Addict
Hi Goofyone, in the second paragraph, next to the last line you say "Even if the NHTSA does officially give Elio Motors the crash test rating." . . . Is that supposed to be "doesn't"? :-) ZAs this vehicle will officially be classified by the NHTSA as a motorcycle no crash testing is required prior to production.
For the entire auto industry the results from a certified independent crash facility is what serves as proof of meeting government crash test standards unless the vehicle is chosen for verification and directly tested by the government. We do not know if the NHTSA will test the Elio at all as they do not test motorcycles however Elio Motors has said that they will conduct this testing themselves. Elio Motors will crash test 5-10 of the 25 E-series pre-production models as the rest are destined to serve as test beds to ensure all systems are fully programmed and everything is properly tested before production begins. Even if the NHTSA does officially give Elio Motors the crash test rating with the test documentation EM will be able to legally claim that the vehicle 'meets the NHTSA crash test standards'.
The IIHS is a private group controlled by the insurance industry which works independently of the government and auto manufacturers so they very well could choose to test this vehicle if the insurance companies want them to. To maintain their independent status the IIHS methodology is to purchase random vehicles at retail and test them. This could happen any time after the Elio vehicles are available for retail sale.