Full Catalog 3 Wheelers Thread

[Coss]

Stumbled on some interesting videos about the FVT Ale:

http://www.fuelvaporcar.com

The second link refers to a Discovery Canada program covering the Ale team's entry own the X Price X Car competition - unfortunately I can't find that anywhere online.

The third link is their web site - unfortunately both from that site and from googling one gets the impression the project stalled as there seems quite a bit of old info but nothing recent...

That is a very cool concept AutoCycle.!

 

[Marching Chief]

Thanks for the history lesson. I became aware of Elio a month ago on FACEBOOK. Is there other media spreading the word?

 

[WilliamH]

Thanks for the history lesson. I became aware of Elio a month ago on FACEBOOK. Is there other media spreading the word?

Add to your list ---> eliomotors.com <---.
The official site.

 

[bunchathrees]

Stumbled on some interesting videos about the FVT Ale:

http://www.fuelvaporcar.com

The second link refers to a Discovery Canada program covering the Ale team's entry own the X Price X Car competition - unfortunately I can't find that anywhere online.

The third link is their web site - unfortunately both from that site and from googling one gets the impression the project stalled as there seems quite a bit of old info but nothing recent...

I just ping'd FVT. I am curious if the ale' follow-on (the eVaro) is still an active development. They competed for the automotive X prize in 2010. All quiet since then.


EDIT: "We stopped development of the eVaro in 2010. Our focus now is heavy industrial and commercial vehicles. Todd Pratt"

 

[AriLea]

You are welcome. Yep, haven't even exhausted the classics yet, which I'm loosely saying is anything pre-1980. But we maybe getting close. And I will move onward after that.

There are some types, as a category, that for myself I will not post more of (maybe), but feel welcome for anything you find interesting.
Very glad David B is doing so, having the story back ground to go with it, very cool indeed.
My own previous interest was for inspiration to research design and not history. But history is definitely in scope for the purposes of this thread.

One requirement for my own design work, it must represent a 'useable' and realistic engineered vehicle. Not all conceptual automotive 'art work', sticks to that. You often get the unusable windshield, impossible seating, dysfunctional entry path or non-dimensional engine. Illegal headlights are frequent.

I think I want to 'rant' on one engineering point. If the purpose of a vehicle is to 'make sense', you design to purpose. And you use a design for what it is best at. Sociable seating vs Tandem falls into scope when you discuss three wheelers for commuting.

Specific to commuter vehicles for freeway use,
Except for the purpose of reducing frontal area with tandem seating, there is very little use from an engineering standpoint to use a three wheeler. True it's slightly cheaper, and slightly lighter. But this makes a significant difference only if the vehicle is light with few occupants, up to 3. But Tandem only works well for 1 or two. And one is inherently tandem. Using seating for 3, the vehicle becomes heavier or longer or wider, often all three.

If a design is not 1 seat or tandem, the choice for three wheels is most likely not a logical engineering one. In older eras, or when you are stuck to low production methods, the cost and weight of a fourth wheel is much more significant. But this is the modern manufacturing times, the extra wheel itself can be engineered as less impact, with big benefits elsewhere. This is of course, always a choice of trade-offs.

Yet the combination of few occupants, fewer parts(&wheels), less weight, less cost, less aerodynamic penalties, smaller vehicle, in a high production volume, all that combine to make the perfect storm of very economic commuter product. This isn't just opinion. It's engineering reality.

 

[BearLakeSteve]

I saw this beauty in Custer, SD. Stallion trike base price about 33k.

 

[Coss]

View attachment 10828I saw this beauty in Custer, SD. Stallion trike base price about 33k.

You like that? I see it as ok; but it's built for a single rider (no room for a passenger) and it is too ...... bulbous around the front wheel.
The idea is good, but it needs some refining.

 

[AriLea]

View attachment 10828I saw this beauty in Custer, SD. Stallion trike base price about 33k.

Pretty, but extremely expensive for what you get, of course. And what you get is a delta trike with everything that comes with that.
I won't get back into that unless poked in the side about it. Except to continue the prior idea, i.e what IS it best at, engineering wise?

 

[BearLakeSteve]

You like that? I see it as ok; but it's built for a single rider (no room for a passenger) and it is too ...... bulbous around the front wheel.
The idea is good, but it needs some refining.

This one is a two seater. I like the look and the 2.4 liter power, just not 33k worth of like. Much rather buy 4 Elios or better yet 3 fully loaded Elios.

 

[Coss]

This one is a two seater. I like the look and the 2.4 liter power, just not 33k worth of like. Much rather buy 4 Elios or better yet 3 fully loaded Elios.

I had to enlarge it to 350% to see the "front" seat (if you can call it that) it reminded me of a steno office chair.
The passenger must have to have a leg on either side of the driver to be able to sit back there.
Yes, it would be good at speed, but just not long distance.