What Would It Take To Go Electric Elio?

[Sethodine]

It also says 150 miles of range on the web site:

TECHNICAL FEATURES INCLUDE:​

• 150 Mile Range
• Elio Safety Management System that includes three airbags, unibody frame, Anti-Lock Braking System, and Electronic Stability Control
• Front Engine / Front-Wheel Drive
• Top speed over 100 MPH
• Tire Sizes: Front: 135/80 R15 / Rear: 175/65 R15 with Tire Deflation Detection System

Oh, that wasn't on the landing page when I checked, and I didn't dig deeper. Thanks!

 

[BaldGuy]

Happy days are here again. For me the decision on which to chose is simple.
If gas filler is on left, Gas, Else, electric.

 

[Go Time Racing LLC]

The cost to re-engineer the Elio to Electric is nearly as much as starting from scratch. Sorry friends... this car will never be built. Elio is dead. Paul is just trying to extend the gravy train a little longer.

 

[smithsonssg]

While our hearts don't want to say it our mind will. there will never be an ELIO. Pual and his crew heck of an idea group but no idea how to make it happen.
There will be SOLO's on the used market . And we will still be hoping for ELIO.

 

[JEBar]

While our hearts don't want to say it our mind will. there will never be an ELIO. Pual and his crew heck of an idea group but no idea how to make it happen.
There will be SOLO's on the used market . And we will still be hoping for ELIO.

for us who like the Elio concept, the very good news is - BEX is coming right along

 

[AriLea]

for us who like the Elio concept, the very good news is - BEX is coming right along

I should add this, a conversion of the Bex to electric, per this topic, is a bit easier than you would expect, because it's a standard tranny. Automatics (as would be in the most common Elio configuration) are not as easy to convert since they have sensory systems on the engine that interplay with the shifting. And the shifting required is much different, so it won't be tuned for the EV. Often many EV conversions have gone with a simple single gear ratio, even direct drive, and simply oversized the motor to deal with the low-end current/heat issues. For reverse they just run it all backward with a lower RPM limiter. The Veepster for example, just stuck the VW tranny in 3rd gear and left it there. If you wanted an EV Elio, order it as a manual from the start, or plan to replace the tranny in the conversion.

On this topic of conversion, considering one or multiple power sources, there is a comparison to make.
An ICE drive does not work well to have more than one engine. Forces start to work against each other and harmonics come into to play. Inefficiency is the least of the problems, breaking things both internal to the engines and peripheral come into play. Especially is bad around left vs right power for front wheel drive. It can force a vehicle off the road, or make the path of travel, 'the line', unpredictable.

This has not been the case with EV's. Hub motors at each wheel? Just generally balance the power and !No problemo!, except for the extra un-sprung weight. 4 inboard motors and shafted/CV's? No hay problemo también. (I'm just learning Spanish here!) Larger motor in front or back? No big deal, but your success may vary a little, depending the balancing I noted.

The main reason to reduce the number of motors? Cost and efficiency. A one single motor is usually more efficient than multiple. But a single motor is almost always cheaper. This just needs to be traded off with the extra tranny and gearing hardware involved.

But all this makes EV conversion a very flexible proposition. The primary challenge is where to put the batteries and support for all that extra weight. Often, more beefy springs are called for.