Financing Elio Motors Development And Production

[raybonz]

Ethanol as produced in the USA is a waste of money.. Brazil is smart producing ethanol using sugar cane.. Corn is only used here because the lobbyists in Washington have paid off the crooked politicians to use corn.. I have read that switchgrass is a much better crop to grow to produce ethanol.. Ethanol also reduces MPG compared to running regular gasoline with no additives.. Thank your government when you pay more for any corn product that you consume too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_economy

Ray

 

[zelio]

Well, if Ms. Z is going to stay the course I will too. I talked to a couple who were driving those motorcycle three wheelers with FWD (like the Elio configuration) and they reported gas mileage was only in the mid to high 30 MPG range, very disappointed they were.
My wife is going all in at the $100.00 backet, we have to get a divorce because Elio won't let but one vehicle be reserved per household.

I sure hope you are kidding about the divorce. I definitely don't want to be blamed for that. Can't she simply use a different address? As for my confidence level, it has gone from 15 out of 10 to 20 out of 10 so you know I am one very crazy Elio Addict. LOL :-) Z

 

[zelio]

Ethanol as produced in the USA is a waste of money.. Brazil is smart producing ethanol using sugar cane.. Corn is only used here because the lobbyists in Washington have paid off the crooked politicians to use corn.. I have read that switchgrass is a much better crop to grow to produce ethanol.. Ethanol also reduces MPG compared to running regular gasoline with no additives.. Thank your government when you pay more for any corn product that you consume too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_economy

Ray

Just to add a little fuel to the discussion (pun very much intended), most of the corn in this country is genetically modified so we are better off not eating it anyway. I don't know what switchgrass is but I have also read and heard that hemp is an excellent source for ethanol and the seeds of hemp are delicious and very good for you. :-) Z

 

[H2odog]

Not to throw too much cold water on the subject but we must remember when the government squashed the 100 mpg carburetor. I don't think we can count on much help from Washington. We have to remember government is big business and big business is government.

It wasn't the government that killed the 100mpg carb it was big oil buying the patent and burying it. And Ty if you are reading this, that technological bit was well before your diapers were dry all day.

 

[Ty]

Ty, it's long since buried in another thread, but the invention is real and it works and a company bought the rights to produce it, then found a major drawback that made it unsellable. Basically that after using the fumes to power the car, it reduced the remaining gasoline to a hydrocarbon sludge.

Well, that could make sense where it wasn't necessarily killed because of phenomenal mileage but rather some other technical hurdle. That would be similar to Cower's cam... He figured that after the power stroke, and then the exhaust stroke, they would go into a second "power" stroke but instead of injecting fuel, it would inject water which, using the waste heat generated by the fueled power stroke, would flash to steam (water flashes to steam at a 1,600 to 1 ratio). It then goes into another exhaust stroke but this one sends the steam along another path. Here is a link. http://www.damninteresting.com/the-six-stroke-engine/

Anyway, they must have run into some trouble with heat expansion or something because two power strokes where one is "free" would be fabulous. He said that this method reduces/eliminates the need for a radiator and cooling system.

Another case where the cons outweigh the pros.

 

[goofyone]

Over the last several decades we have fully replaced carburetors with fuel injection in production vehicles which can control the mixture of air and fuel in ways many times more precisely than a carb ever could and as a result we have seen some great increases in fuel economy however we still can not do 100 MPG in a production automobile. The fact of the matter is that if highly sensitive computer controlled fuel injection systems can't reach 100 MPG in a production vehicle then it was never possible to do so with a carburetor.

 

[Ty]

Over the last several decades we have fully replaced carburetors with fuel injection in production vehicles which can control the mixture of air and fuel in ways many times more precisely than a carb ever could and as a result we have seen some great increases in fuel economy however we still can not do 100 MPG in a production automobile. The fact of the matter is that if highly sensitive computer controlled fuel injection systems can't reach 100 MPG in a production vehicle then it was never possible to do so with a carburetor.

I agree. I'll give a little leeway though because our current systems are designed for mileage while being clean. It may be possible to design something fantastic that basically kills itself doing it. Now, I know that there is only so much energy per give mass of gasoline and that is why I don't buy into those crazy theories. Crower realized that so much of an engine's output was heat and that if we could harness that heat, engine's would be more efficient. His design uses the heat from normal combustion to have a second pier stroke using that heated cylinder to flash water to steam, driving the piston back down for that power while cooling the cylinder. He also said that thermal expansion was a problem...

 

[goofyone]

I agree. I'll give a little leeway though because our current systems are designed for mileage while being clean. It may be possible to design something fantastic that basically kills itself doing it. Now, I know that there is only so much energy per give mass of gasoline and that is why I don't buy into those crazy theories. Crower realized that so much of an engine's output was heat and that if we could harness that heat, engine's would be more efficient. His design uses the heat from normal combustion to have a second pier stroke using that heated cylinder to flash water to steam, driving the piston back down for that power while cooling the cylinder. He also said that thermal expansion was a problem...

This is why I made sure to state 'production vehicle'. There have actually been various demonstrations over the years of some cool technologies trying to assist the process in various ways but none of them have been practical for production for various reasons. Most of them, such as the steam stroke process you mentioned, involve additional cycles or special additives so they are not simple bolt in replacements such as the mythical 100 MPG carb.

 

[PhilGoings]

By what ever means I am sure Paul will make it happen. Don't forget if you aim high and fall a little short you still have something better than most.

 

[DBN477]

Over the last several decades we have fully replaced carburetors with fuel injection in production vehicles which can control the mixture of air and fuel in ways many times more precisely than a carb ever could and as a result we have seen some great increases in fuel economy however we still can not do 100 MPG in a production automobile. The fact of the matter is that if highly sensitive computer controlled fuel injection systems can't reach 100 MPG in a production vehicle then it was never possible to do so with a carburetor.

Yeah I'm sure Charles Pogue got paid $100k a year to work in a plant because his carburator did not work. How about Smokey Yunick? Was he wrong too? Tom Ogle, all those guys were wrong? That 376 mpg Opel entered into a Shell oil contest. Never happened? Wonder how much that Opel weighed.