How About A Different Green Alternative Hybrid - Return To The Roots

[Snick]

Take any motor today that would fit in the Elio. Now turn it into a 12 in. ruler. Take the 6 in. out of the middle and that's all the motor required to run an Elio. The rest would waste. When a car company designs a new motor, it is normally designed to cover the requirements of several car's in it's inventory and the conditions under which those car's would operate. At least half, if not more of this motor would be an add cost and weight. JMO

EM's motor is designed to get the Elio to 100 mph and 60 in under 10 sec. Nothing more, nothing less.

Actually the Mercedes Benz SmartForTwo diesel in Canada uses an 800cc, 3 cylinder, direct-injected turbodiesel putting out 54bhp. It is perfect for the Elio.

Except for cost. It would probably raise the price of the Elio to $8000.

 

[Craig]

Actually the Mercedes Benz SmartForTwo diesel in Canada uses an 800cc, 3 cylinder, direct-injected turbodiesel putting out 54bhp. It is perfect for the Elio.

Except for cost. It would probably raise the price of the Elio to $8000.

Except for the cost and the fact that it is diesel.

 

[Lil4X]

Yes, there's that - and the fact that the high compression of a diesel engine means a lot more vibration thanks to the stress levels in the engine being higher. And it's nosier. Neither of these are much concern in a conventional car or truck because you have a lot of mass working for you, and the budget for a lot of sound suppression too. At the Elio's price, it would be difficult to justify a smoker motor, and even raising the option price by several thousand dollars wouldn't fix all the negatives, at which point it begins to slip into the more conventional 4-wheel market.

While a diesel would probably return better mileage, I'll bet the highly-engineered IMG engine will be at least price-competitive on fuel, considering the premium these days for diesel over RUL.

 

[Snick]

These are 35 year old misconceptions of diesels. Modern Tdi's are indistinguishable in running, vibration, and smoke level from the very best gassers. You probably pulled up to a Mercedes, Volkswagen, or Jeep diesel within the last day and never even knew it.

 

[goofyone]

These are 35 year old misconceptions of diesels. Modern Tdi's are indistinguishable in running, vibration, and smoke level from the very best gassers. You probably pulled up to a Mercedes, Volkswagen, or Jeep diesel within the last day and never even knew it.

This is very true. In my travels I have rented quite a few diesels and the only time I really noticed any difference was some extra vibration from a cold start especially on cooler days but even then it was not a big deal deal.

 

[ArthurKent]

Turns out that very fine particulates are worse than the large heavy particulates from past diesels.

 

[ArthurKent]

The motor's design was driven by mileage considerations, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[NSTG8R]

Okay. Not suggesting that EM should tack from their original design...Stay on task, and get that baby on the road ASAP Please! That said, just reading all the negative remarks about the 0 - 60 time, and 'general' lack of HP for some folks, got me thinking. I'm not a big fan of 'dead weight' and 'free-loaders' (oops, gave away my political leanings), so I say, "Why does this rear wheel get a free ride while the front ones do all the work?". Here's my mildly uninformed suggestion. How about, maybe an aftermarket kit (as stated above, no delays to the original vehicle design PLEASE!), that converts the rear wheel to electric (via a hub motor and smallish battery pack fwd of the rear wheel). It's not intended to actually drive the vehicle, rather give the little 3-banger a boost under load (i.e. - accelerating from a stop, getting on the highway, lessening the load on the engine on hills, etc...). I haven't really dug into the subject too deep, but I'm pretty sure it could also be used for regenerative braking, and recharging it's little battery pack while it helps slow the Elio down. In my mind (it's a scary place to be sure), it would have to boost the "projected" 84 mpg. Could be wrong, and wouldn't be offended by anyone that 'knows' about this stuff telling me so. So am I crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I don't think you're crazy at all, I have the exact same idea.

 

[NSTG8R]

Thanks Josh! I think maybe it's because ALL the vehicles I own are either all-wheel or four-wheel drive (Suby SVX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford F250 4x4). Guess I've got a year or so to research the subject. We might be onto something here!