Seating For 3

[Rickb]

My take on Elio is that the vision came from the fact that 90% of cars on the road have a single driver occupant, so Elio is a single passenger vehicle that was thoughtfully designed with a fold up seat in the cargo storage compartment.........for that rare 2nd passenger. A three seater is a totally different vehicle and I don't see Elio catering to that demographic.

With that said here's a third seat option:

 

[Dustman]

My take on Elio is that the vision came from the fact that 90% of cars on the road have a single driver occupant, so Elio is a single passenger vehicle that was thoughtfully designed with a fold up seat in the cargo storage compartment.........for that rare 2nd passenger. A three seater is a totally different vehicle and I don't see Elio catering to that demographic.

With that said here's third seat option:
View attachment 1942

Well said!

 

[saint451]

NOPE!

 

[Jim H]

You seem to have misread the intent of my post. Read it again without the old man anger.

No anger, just curious how you think this can be accomplished. The Elio has been and continues to be 1 door, 2 people, 3 wheels. I just don' t understand why that is so difficult to grasp. If this isn't your concept then the Elio is the wrong vehicle for your needs.

 

[Snick]

No anger, just curious you think this can be accomplished. The Elio has been and continues to be 1 door, 2 people, 3 wheels. I just don' t understand why that is so difficult to grasp. If this isn't your concept then the Elio is the wrong vehicle for your needs.

You're still not reading it for what it actually says. I said, basically: "Maybe someday...as in generation 2 or 3 or..." Read the actual words I write, not what your brain puts there, lol.

Pssssst: I did not write anything like what you thought I wrote. Stop smoking ganja. Stop filtering and editorializing in your brain what I write and just read the actual words, lol.

Let me break it down for you in numbered items what I said:

1. While you COULD put 2 people in back of an Elio, it would be dangerous and not a great idea.

2. If what you MUST have is a 3 person Elio, then you wan the 2 people in front for safety purposes (basic dynamic stability of vehicle).

3. BUT, that's not terribly practical, because then the car gets even fatter than it already is....the Elio is BARELY holding onto the original design parameters and keeps getting fatter and heavier with each generation of test mule. Therefore, going to 3 person right now is totally impractical.

4. Maybe someday, like IF the freaking Elio even gets released and sells as a popular item AND the money is there to design a 3 person version, it might happen, if and ONLY IF the demographic is there to actually buy the darn thing. In my opinion, that is a pretty thin niche of an already thin niche. BUT, it IS ACTUALLY TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE to build a stable, 3 person Elio that gets 75mpg (average...meaning most of the time since you rarely haul people with you.....even a 3 person Elio is going to be used by a single person the majority of the time). For these outlined reasons, I predict it ain't going to happen until at least the 2nd or 3rd generation of Elio's is FOR SALE.

 

[Danno]

You're still not reading it for what it actually says. I said, basically: "Maybe someday...as in generation 2 or 3 or..." Read the actual words I write, not what your brain puts there, lol.

Pssssst: I did not write anything like what you thought I wrote. Stop smoking ganja. Stop filtering and editorializing in your brain what I write and just read the actual words, lol.

Let me break it down for you in numbered items what I said:

1. While you COULD put 2 people in back of an Elio, it would be dangerous and not a great idea.

2. If what you MUST have is a 3 person Elio, then you wan the 2 people in front for safety purposes (basic dynamic stability of vehicle).

3. BUT, that's not terribly practical, because then the car gets even fatter than it already is....the Elio is BARELY holding onto the original design parameters and keeps getting fatter and heavier with each generation of test mule. Therefore, going to 3 person right now is totally impractical.

4. Maybe someday, like IF the freaking Elio even gets released and sells as a popular item AND the money is there to design a 3 person version, it might happen, if and ONLY IF the demographic is there to actually buy the darn thing. In my opinion, that is a pretty thin niche of an already thin niche. BUT, it IS ACTUALLY TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE to build a stable, 3 person Elio that gets 75mpg (average...meaning most of the time since you rarely haul people with you.....even a 3 person Elio is going to be used by a single person the majority of the time). For these outlined reasons, I predict it ain't going to happen until at least the 2nd or 3rd generation of Elio's is FOR SALE.

I believe the point you are missing is even IF they build 2nd or 3rd generation cars, why would they go to the trouble of complete redesign, recertification, retooling, new sales pitch etc. etc. All this would do is make more headaches for them and hit a much smaller margin of people. Also it would drive the cost up to (which is one of Pauls issues with the current market of cars) what is currently out there today...and he has stated they are not wanting to compete or be a "primary" vehicle.
I have to agree...if you want, expect or think, dream or whatever you want to call it about three people, then this vehicle is not for you.

 

[goofyone]

1. While you COULD put 2 people in back of an Elio, it would be dangerous and not a great idea.

2. If what you MUST have is a 3 person Elio, then you wan the 2 people in front for safety purposes (basic dynamic stability of vehicle).

3. BUT, that's not terribly practical, because then the car gets even fatter than it already is....the Elio is BARELY holding onto the original design parameters and keeps getting fatter and heavier with each generation of test mule. Therefore, going to 3 person right now is totally impractical.

4. Maybe someday, like IF the freaking Elio even gets released and sells as a popular item AND the money is there to design a 3 person version, it might happen, if and ONLY IF the demographic is there to actually buy the darn thing. In my opinion, that is a pretty thin niche of an already thin niche. BUT, it IS ACTUALLY TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE to build a stable, 3 person Elio that gets 75mpg (average...meaning most of the time since you rarely haul people with you.....even a 3 person Elio is going to be used by a single person the majority of the time). For these outlined reasons, I predict it ain't going to happen until at least the 2nd or 3rd generation of Elio's is FOR SALE.

I pretty much agree with Snick's analysis of the situation.

I don't believe we will ever see three seats in this vehicle as it is intended to serve a very specific purpose as an economical, fuel efficient, commuter vehicle. In this vehicle even the second seat is really a convenience item, which adds the nice touches of more storage and limited passenger capability, as Elio Motors understands that many potential customers would balk at owning a single seat vehicle.

Something along the lines of what Snick wrote in #4 is what I could see happening in the future. After everything with this first model works out well I can foresee Elio Motors adding a second vehicle to their lineup which my guess is most likely to be a larger, more powerful, and much more expensive three wheel vehicle. In this second vehicle they could have the option of a layout as Snick has mentioned in item #2, two people in front and one person in back as from an engineering perspective this makes the most sense for a three seat three wheeled vehicle while keeping total vehicle size to a minimum. To make something like this work, without hurting sales of their first model too much, the second model would have to be quite distinct from the first model and my guess is that it would be performance oriented with a target base price of around $20K which would make it affordable but put it in a completely different market category from the first model.

 

[Mark Ambrose]

Amen brother. Removable is a good idea.

I agree also. With the rear seat removed you've got yourself quite a nice little cross country vehicle that could hold plenty of camping equipment. Ideas of dragging a trailer or a roof mounted baggage pod defeats the whole purpose of the designers striving for a low Cd aerodynamic design. Keep everything inside and you'll achieve your mileage. However there are some who will hack this design then complain they aren't getting the mileage that was advertised.

 

[Edward43]

I agree also. With the rear seat removed you've got yourself quite a nice little cross country vehicle that could hold plenty of camping equipment. Ideas of dragging a trailer or a roof mounted baggage pod defeats the whole purpose of the designers striving for a low Cd aerodynamic design. Keep everything inside and you'll achieve your mileage. However there are some who will hack this design then complain they aren't getting the mileage that was advertised.

The Magic does'nt happen until the consumer gets his/her hands on it. A lesson many Corporations do not learn until after the curtain falls. The Elio is the catalyst, (magic wand), if you will, the consumer becomes the Sorcerer. Thank you. Paul Elio for putting this opportunity out there. Keep it simple, magic happens very swiftly..

 

[Snick]

I believe the point you are missing is even IF they build 2nd or 3rd generation cars, why would they go to the trouble of complete redesign, recertification, retooling, new sales pitch etc. etc. All this would do is make more headaches for them and hit a much smaller margin of people. Also it would drive the cost up to (which is one of Pauls issues with the current market of cars) what is currently out there today...and he has stated they are not wanting to compete or be a "primary" vehicle.
I have to agree...if you want, expect or think, dream or whatever you want to call it about three people, then this vehicle is not for you.

That's pretty much exactly, EXACTLY what I said. How in heck did I miss the point that I MADE? Derderder???! READ the WORDS and stop editorializing in your brains, folks!!!