I had to face this issue very directly when I built my first 3 wheeler. At my university(WWU), in the research area(VRI), we had a visit from the President of the SAE(Society of Automotive Engineers). My single seat 'Taddy' sat about 5ft from him in a public meeting at the fab shop. He asked for questions. I asked, "Would a car like my three wheeler have a chance in the open market place?" This was 1982, just after the close of the Opec Gas Crisis. He said, "NO", period. (I was mortified, but silently rebellious)
After that, I'd looked at the issue from all angles with-in marketing and business management. When you look at the Elio from the idea of the only car you could own, it's a non starter for most people, unless you are single and some other special circumstances.
However, that being said;
Probably the greatest invention of EM is the one idea, "Driving the Elio, will save you more money than the cost of the car.". This means that owning an Elio would in effect be helping to pay for both cars, for those who are driving some minimum monthly mileage. For all other attempts at this kind of car in America, this has never been true for a Freeway ready, all weather vehicle, having excellent safety, and not requiring special skills. Period.
Motorcycles have been good at some parts of that, but they don't usually reach that MPG and all weather safety level.
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