Options Pricing List

[Frim]

At the moment, everything is "subject to change". More options will be added to the configurator as time goes by, and price adjustments may occur depending on their cost calculations and supplier deals. For any option you would like to see, I would send them and email to accessories@eliomotors.com.

I want heated (leather?) seats and cruise control, and a cheaper automatic would be nice. The Aisin MC5 "automatic manual transmission" shouldn't be $1000 more than the BC5 manual transmission, so we have been speculating that they might be considering a more traditional torque-converter type (hence the higher price tag). Or at the very least, a double-clutch AMT instead of the single-clutch MC5. Who knows? We'll find out more as the Elio gets closer to production

Transmission is a concern of mine. I want an automatic, not a tricky shifter.

 

[Lil4X]

Looking for a backup camera? There are a lot of aftermarket "wireless" cameras out there, but they come with a hidden "feature" (in manufacturer-speak that's an unintended problem renamed). Most of these cameras are powered from the backup light wiring, so the camera only comes on when you select "reverse". Unless you wire your receiver into the same circuit, your monitor will be on all the time. Some camera kits even come with a cigarette lighter plug. Be ready to turn your monitor on and off when backing up.

Why? Isn't the monitor only receiving a signal from the camera? If it's off, what's the problem?

Ah, young Padawan, much to learn you have. Most inexpensive wireless security cameras still use the 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz frequencies common to household appliances like baby monitors and wireless handsets. So do most wireless backup cameras. You may have already figured out where this is going. If you drive down the street with your backup camera's monitor on, you're apt to start picking up signals from every wireless camera within about 50 to 75 yards. That means you are going to be receiving pictures from inside homes you pass by.

If that isn't creepy enough for you, consider the homeowner who needs to put on a robe before checking on the baby. Certainly you don't fry bacon in the nude, but the security camera in your kitchen will provide you with another good reason not to parade around the house less than fully dressed. What the manufacturers and sellers of these "wi-fi" cameras won't tell you is that your channel is not your own - you are broadcasting pictures to the entire neighborhood, so the "security" you thought you were purchasing, isn't. In fact it's gone over to the other side.

So when installing your wireless backup camera, be sure that your monitor is switched with the backup lights, not with the ignition. There are some things you just don't want to see.

If you are a homeowner with a wireless security system, look into some of the newer digital systems that at least provide a selection of channels or some rudimentary encoding to prevent you broadcasting details of your homelife to the neighborhood.

 

[Sethodine]

Looking for a backup camera? There are a lot of aftermarket "wireless" cameras out there, but they come with a hidden "feature" (in manufacturer-speak that's an unintended problem renamed). Most of these cameras are powered from the backup light wiring, so the camera only comes on when you select "reverse". Unless you wire your receiver into the same circuit, your monitor will be on all the time. Some camera kits even come with a cigarette lighter plug. Be ready to turn your monitor on and off when backing up.

Why? Isn't the monitor only receiving a signal from the camera? If it's off, what's the problem?

Ah, young Padawan, much to learn you have. Most inexpensive wireless security cameras still use the 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz frequencies common to household appliances like baby monitors and wireless handsets. So do most wireless backup cameras. You may have already figured out where this is going. If you drive down the street with your backup camera's monitor on, you're apt to start picking up signals from every wireless camera within about 50 to 75 yards. That means you are going to be receiving pictures from inside homes you pass by.

If that isn't creepy enough for you, consider the homeowner who needs to put on a robe before checking on the baby. Certainly you don't fry bacon in the nude, but the security camera in your kitchen will provide you with another good reason not to parade around the house less than fully dressed. What the manufacturers and sellers of these "wi-fi" cameras won't tell you is that your channel is not your own - you are broadcasting pictures to the entire neighborhood, so the "security" you thought you were purchasing, isn't. In fact it's gone over to the other side.

So when installing your wireless backup camera, be sure that your monitor is switched with the backup lights, not with the ignition. There are some things you just don't want to see.

If you are a homeowner with a wireless security system, look into some of the newer digital systems that at least provide a selection of channels or some rudimentary encoding to prevent you broadcasting details of your homelife to the neighborhood.

When I installed my backup camera the other day, I just wired it into a circuit that was powered whenever the car was ON (not accessory on, but full-on). But I mounted a 12v toggle switch into the dash between the 12v power and the camera/monitor power lines, so the backup camera only comes on when I press the switch (which also means I can use it when I'm not in Reverse).

It was a really easy install: I just found a blank spot on the dash were a switch for an option would go (in this case, it was were the "rear differential lock" would have been if I had a 4wd instead of 2wd). Right behind that blank was the unused socket for that option. I tested it to determine that it was Ignition-On Only, then looked it up in the car's wiring diagram to find the ground. Then I just hooked up my toggle switch!

 

[Coss]

I don't see an upgraded driver's seat on the option list, nor do I see cruise control...both are options I want...and also, I thought the auto tranny was an $800 upgrade?

You might want to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through it; we have discussed these items to a great extent all through this thread (and probably others) since the Configurator came out.
I will still refer back to the best description of the configurator you can read, penned by another member:

Myelio.me Is Up & Running <----link
By msmith5150
Remember folks, this configurator is like the "beta" stage, probably even "alpha" stage of a development cycle. Software companies do this all the time, especially game developers. There are several reasons to put this out. They want to keep interest going in new ways, they want to "use" us as free testers for the software and the website, and get an early gauge of interest in various items and options. Among other likely reasons.

The site and options and pricing will all change (probably many times) between now and when they call it officially released for use.

So just have fun with it, don't take things on it too seriously!

 

[Lil4X]

When I installed my backup camera the other day, I just wired it into a circuit that was powered whenever the car was ON (not accessory on, but full-on). But I mounted a 12v toggle switch into the dash between the 12v power and the camera/monitor power lines, so the backup camera only comes on when I press the switch (which also means I can use it when I'm not in Reverse).

It was a really easy install: I just found a blank spot on the dash were a switch for an option would go (in this case, it was were the "rear differential lock" would have been if I had a 4wd instead of 2wd). Right behind that blank was the unused socket for that option. I tested it to determine that it was Ignition-On Only, then looked it up in the car's wiring diagram to find the ground. Then I just hooked up my toggle switch!

The backup cam on my 2000 Lexus had a "service" mode you could hack that would leave the backup camera on screen (shared by the radio, climate controls, and several "trip" functions) allowing you to see the road moving away from you in the lower right corner of your vision. It was intended to allow a service tech to check out the operation of the camera without having to put the car into gear . . . but several of us on the Club Lexus forum discovered and passed around the series of ignition twists and climate-control button pushes that would activate the "full time" camera. Of course when you turned off the ignition, everything went back to "default" mode and the system worked as it was intended.

I only made it about two miles with the road spooling out behind me. Now I'm not prone to motion sickness, but the view through the windshield seemed to blend with the camera view, making everything coming and going a little queasy in between. OK, the hack worked . . . I tried it on my 2004 out of curiosity . . . yep, still there . . . and never tried it again.

 

[Coss]

The backup cam on my 2000 Lexus had a "service" mode you could hack that would leave the backup camera on screen (shared by the radio, climate controls, and several "trip" functions) allowing you to see the road moving away from you in the lower right corner of your vision. It was intended to allow a service tech to check out the operation of the camera without having to put the car into gear . . . but several of us on the Club Lexus forum discovered and passed around the series of ignition twists and climate-control button pushes that would activate the "full time" camera. Of course when you turned off the ignition, everything went back to "default" mode and the system worked as it was intended.

I only made it about two miles with the road spooling out behind me. Now I'm not prone to motion sickness, but the view through the windshield seemed to blend with the camera view, making everything coming and going a little queasy in between. OK, the hack worked . . . I tried it on my 2004 out of curiosity . . . yep, still there . . . and never tried it again.

By chance do you not look at your rear view mirror when driving? It's the same thing.
But I can see where the size / viewable area being larger and in a different sightline would be more eye catching.

 

[Sethodine]

By chance do you not look at your rear view mirror when driving? It's the same thing.
But I can see where the size / viewable area being larger and in a different sightline would be more eye catching.

It probably has more to do with the refresh rate of the monitor and the millisecond delay in camera-to-screen communication. We can't consciously detect those things, but our eyes and brain are able to "feel" them.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks for the info. No wireless security for me. No one needs to see me heading toward my hot tub, even by accident.

 

[Maurtis]

Thanks for the info. No wireless security for me. No one needs to see me heading toward my hot tub, even by accident.

Reminds me of a blind date I had once...

 

[Lil4X]

For me it was the video looking down at the road scrolling away, quite unlike the view in the mirrors.