Where Did 84 Mpg Come From?

[Lil4X]

But the present tax on motor gasoline does that already. The weight of your vehicle is going to be reflected in fuel consumption, and if you pay with every fill-up, the cost is evenly distributed. If you look at this as a "use tax", it's totally fair. Choose to drive a smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle and you will pay proportionately less than if you drive a V8 behemoth. Even if you are driving an electric, you are still paying for annual registration, so no one gets out of paying their "use" tax. Whether I purchase 5 gallons per week (for my Elio) or 50 (for one of my former K-20 Suburbans) I'm going to pay either $1.92 or $19.20 with every fill-up for a week of use of the roads here in Texas. I'm currently paying 38.4¢ per gallon in taxes, about half of that, 18¢/gallon goes to the federal government.

 

[Snick]

But the present tax on motor gasoline does that already. The weight of your vehicle is going to be reflected in fuel consumption, and if you pay with every fill-up, the cost is evenly distributed. If you look at this as a "use tax", it's totally fair. Choose to drive a smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle and you will pay proportionately less than if you drive a V8 behemoth. Even if you are driving an electric, you are still paying for annual registration, so no one gets out of paying their "use" tax. Whether I purchase 5 gallons per week (for my Elio) or 50 (for one of my former K-20 Suburbans) I'm going to pay either $1.92 or $19.20 with every fill-up for the use of the roads here in Texas. I'm currently paying 38.4¢ per gallon in taxes, about half of that, 18¢/gallon goes to the federal government.

Electric vehicles pay no fuel tax--so people perceive that as unfair if they are driving 20,000 miles a year for "free" and clogging up the commutes.

Road damage is related to the 4th power of vehicle weight, if a quick google scan is reliable, so maybe it should be miles*tons^4 tax and apply to commercial vehicles as well.

 

[Lil4X]

People often say that electric vehicles are pollution-free too, but while all of the chemical uglies are not exiting their exhaust pipe, there's a power plant a few miles (or several states) away that is. It's called displacing the problem rather than solving it. The same applies to fuel taxes. You're still paying excise or utility taxes on electric consumption, plus, running that 220vac charger for several hours daily year round is going to cost a good deal of money. In the energy business, nothing's free. Depending on the type of meter at your home, whether you are buying electricity at off-peak hours, or face a constant rate - or whether you are being charged at various levels of demand, you could be paying more than you think to fuel an electric vehicle.

The often-overlooked downside of electrics is still based on range and that, I'm convinced is why there are very, very few of them on the road. If I have an 80 mile range and I've just driven 34 miles, can I get home? The advertising would have you believe you can, but in practical use, ambient temperature, the age of the battery, and the speed at which you drive all play into that important equation. Now, if you drive only 10-20 miles on your daily commute, you're golden. But if you drive somewhere for lunch, do some shopping on the way, or turn around after you've arrived home and take the family out for dinner, you could find yourself in trouble.

EV's right now are horribly expensive, and hybrids exact a huge price for their technology. Either take YEARS to pay off the difference between them and a regular IC engined family hauler - and inject a good deal of budgetary surprise when the battery, or part of it, suddenly fails. To a Tesla customer, that may not be a deal-breaker, after all, what's a few thou here and there - your private jet is going to cost a lot more for its annual service. But to those of us in the trenches, several grand to resurrect that EV in the driveway that's suddenly gone from fun to fixture when the battery quit, it can be a serious problem.

That's why I think EM has the solution here. It's a 2-seat tandem reverse trike with a relatively conventional gasoline IC engine that will serve about 90% of my monthly needs. I don't intend to haul the monthly groceries, a dozen sacks of fertilizer, or a couple panels of drywall in it and, except for some day trips or maybe a weekend tour, I won't be taking it on an extended vacation in it. What the Elio does, at it's price point, is enable me to still purchase a moderately priced family vehicle that won't be heavily used and won't contribute a great deal to our family fuel consumption. I want an Elio, my wife wants one of her own, even our daughter wants one. My son's still on the fence about buying a car at all, preferring instead to invest in computers and iPhones . . . but he'll come around. We all do.

 

[Cali Chris]

Electric vehicles pay no fuel tax--so people perceive that as unfair if they are driving 20,000 miles a year for "free" and clogging up the commutes.

Road damage is related to the 4th power of vehicle weight, if a quick google scan is reliable, so maybe it should be miles*tons^4 tax and apply to commercial vehicles as well.

Just to playing the devils advocate here? Don't they pay taxes on the electricity they use to charge their car? Maybe the allocation of those funds need to be looked at?


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[KN16]

Maybe they should just stop flushing good money down the "green" toilet and fix the @#$% roads.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/smith...aid-bills-and-broken-promises/article/2548035

 

[Rickb]

Once Elio gets some vehicles on the road and proves to be a well received 'driving platform' by the general driving public..............I look forward to an electric Elio model that will get 675e MPG. The new Energy2 technology making batteries more affordable with 3x the range (500-600 miles) will be in vehicles soon. No more range anxiety preventing people from going electric. Once you go electric you never go back.
Some may even do electric conversions soon after Elio hits the roads.

 

[Dennis Cray]

yeah it bugs me that Paul Elio is stuck on 84mpg. If i knew why it might help me appreciate that number. if it is as assininie as three times the average car...well why three? get my drift?
He already screwed with the cool factor by taking the Prowler wheel covers off, or at least that is the reason i am getting for the modification... he also is stuck on $6800. Engineers? well they have their flaws too. Why create a number whether theoretical or not, and then believe you can match that number in the real world? And the price tag number is even more questionable...is it some Chinese Magic Price Point for Motor powered Rickshaws? Come on man. Artificially fabricated numbers? At the expense of what? all the other performance variables and style?
Personally I'd pay more money to have a 70/70/7000 that looked cool..yeah 70 hp 70mpg $7000. And it'd be easier to remember and market..."Lucky "7's"... and it could be called "The 7" and the "7" badge could be easily worked into the fuselage on one side.

Like your idea the sevens are catchy, like the idea of a little more power. 7 UP

 

[jetpack54]

People often say that electric vehicles are pollution-free too, but while all of the chemical uglies are not exiting their exhaust pipe, there's a power plant a few miles (or several states) away that is. It's called displacing the problem rather than solving it. The same applies to fuel taxes. You're still paying excise or utility taxes on electric consumption, plus, running that 220vac charger for several hours daily year round is going to cost a good deal of money. In the energy business, nothing's free. Depending on the type of meter at your home, whether you are buying electricity at off-peak hours, or face a constant rate - or whether you are being charged at various levels of demand, you could be paying more than you think to fuel an electric vehicle.

The often-overlooked downside of electrics is still based on range and that, I'm convinced is why there are very, very few of them on the road. If I have an 80 mile range and I've just driven 34 miles, can I get home? The advertising would have you believe you can, but in practical use, ambient temperature, the age of the battery, and the speed at which you drive all play into that important equation. Now, if you drive only 10-20 miles on your daily commute, you're golden. But if you drive somewhere for lunch, do some shopping on the way, or turn around after you've arrived home and take the family out for dinner, you could find yourself in trouble.

EV's right now are horribly expensive, and hybrids exact a huge price for their technology. Either take YEARS to pay off the difference between them and a regular IC engined family hauler - and inject a good deal of budgetary surprise when the battery, or part of it, suddenly fails. To a Tesla customer, that may not be a deal-breaker, after all, what's a few thou here and there - your private jet is going to cost a lot more for its annual service. But to those of us in the trenches, several grand to resurrect that EV in the driveway that's suddenly gone from fun to fixture when the battery quit, it can be a serious problem.

That's why I think EM has the solution here. It's a 2-seat tandem reverse trike with a relatively conventional gasoline IC engine that will serve about 90% of my monthly needs. I don't intend to haul the monthly groceries, a dozen sacks of fertilizer, or a couple panels of drywall in it and, except for some day trips or maybe a weekend tour, I won't be taking it on an extended vacation in it. What the Elio does, at it's price point, is enable me to still purchase a moderately priced family vehicle that won't be heavily used and won't contribute a great deal to our family fuel consumption. I want an Elio, my wife wants one of her own, even our daughter wants one. My son's still on the fence about buying a car at all, preferring instead to invest in computers and iPhones . . . but he'll come around. We all do.

You work for EM aren't you? Seriously speaking, you summed up everything why this reverse trike is primed for today's needs with the raising cost of commodities! Very well thought out.

 

[Ty]

People often say that electric vehicles are pollution-free too, but while all of the chemical uglies are not exiting their exhaust pipe, there's a power plant a few miles (or several states) away that is. It's called displacing the problem rather than solving it. The same applies to fuel taxes. You're still paying excise or utility taxes on electric consumption, plus, running that 220vac charger for several hours daily year round is going to cost a good deal of money. In the energy business, nothing's free. Depending on the type of meter at your home, whether you are buying electricity at off-peak hours, or face a constant rate - or whether you are being charged at various levels of demand, you could be paying more than you think to fuel an electric vehicle.

The often-overlooked downside of electrics is still based on range and that, I'm convinced is why there are very, very few of them on the road. If I have an 80 mile range and I've just driven 34 miles, can I get home? The advertising would have you believe you can, but in practical use, ambient temperature, the age of the battery, and the speed at which you drive all play into that important equation. Now, if you drive only 10-20 miles on your daily commute, you're golden. But if you drive somewhere for lunch, do some shopping on the way, or turn around after you've arrived home and take the family out for dinner, you could find yourself in trouble.

EV's right now are horribly expensive, and hybrids exact a huge price for their technology. Either take YEARS to pay off the difference between them and a regular IC engined family hauler - and inject a good deal of budgetary surprise when the battery, or part of it, suddenly fails. To a Tesla customer, that may not be a deal-breaker, after all, what's a few thou here and there - your private jet is going to cost a lot more for its annual service. But to those of us in the trenches, several grand to resurrect that EV in the driveway that's suddenly gone from fun to fixture when the battery quit, it can be a serious problem.

That's why I think EM has the solution here. It's a 2-seat tandem reverse trike with a relatively conventional gasoline IC engine that will serve about 90% of my monthly needs. I don't intend to haul the monthly groceries, a dozen sacks of fertilizer, or a couple panels of drywall in it and, except for some day trips or maybe a weekend tour, I won't be taking it on an extended vacation in it. What the Elio does, at it's price point, is enable me to still purchase a moderately priced family vehicle that won't be heavily used and won't contribute a great deal to our family fuel consumption. I want an Elio, my wife wants one of her own, even our daughter wants one. My son's still on the fence about buying a car at all, preferring instead to invest in computers and iPhones . . . but he'll come around. We all do.

Z, power plants are more pollution friendly than almost all gas burning cars. But, rather than have someone start a flame war, let me start off with the point I'd like to make. Yes, power plants pollute. No, they aren't perfect. However, there are other ways to produce electricity that (once constructed - solar panels, for instance) do not produce much pollution or if they do, they pollute very little. Now, look at electric vehicles that are powered by polluting plants as an interim solution. A gas burning engine will always have tailpipe emissions that directly affect the people around. At least power plants remove that pollution from human ingestion and eventually, that same plug-in car could be getting its power from a pollution free source. That will never be the case with gas burners (unless someone develops a magic gas!)

Okay. That's my 2 1/2 cents worth. (I'm not convinced that electrics are worth the battery disposal, replacement, etc. So, I'm all for an efficient gasser!)

 

[zelio]

Z, power plants are more pollution friendly than almost all gas burning cars. But, rather than have someone start a flame war, let me start off with the point I'd like to make. Yes, power plants pollute. No, they aren't perfect. However, there are other ways to produce electricity that (once constructed - solar panels, for instance) do not produce much pollution or if they do, they pollute very little. Now, look at electric vehicles that are powered by polluting plants as an interim solution. A gas burning engine will always have tailpipe emissions that directly affect the people around. At least power plants remove that pollution from human ingestion and eventually, that same plug-in car could be getting its power from a pollution free source. That will never be the case with gas burners (unless someone develops a magic gas!)

Okay. That's my 2 1/2 cents worth. (I'm not convinced that electrics are worth the battery disposal, replacement, etc. So, I'm all for an efficient gasser!)

Ty, I think your computer thinks I am the only one you reply to. LOL :-) Z