Where Did 84 Mpg Come From?

[ross]

If that does happen and Ford, Chevy, Honda etc... etc... decide to make their own version I would still stick with Elio because that would just prove, by virtue of having NO new technology in the Elio, that the big corporations could have had this concept on the road YEARS if not DECADES ago. WHY has it taken so long? How many gazillion barrels of oil could this hyper-efficient concept have saved in the time they spent selling us 3000 lb. boxes for 20K plus and acting like 30mpg is GREAT mileage, and anything better has to cost 50K? Enough hyper-efficients on the road might have changed the course of world events by effecting the demand for oil worldwide. Why should any late-comers get a dime of the market share when they've been holding out on us for ages in order to maximize access to our pockets.

I don't think this can be done by Ford or Chevy. Large corporations are run by boards of directors with the stockholders interests in mind, not the customers. This endeavor is one man's vision, and I think Paul is focused on the parameters he set out, I.E. $6,800, 84 mpg, American made, 5 star safety rating. I don't think it could be achieved by a large corporation, as some engineer or designer would want to change something and they would lose sight of the original goal. Case in point as has been pointed out here before, look at what became of the Pontiac Fiero. The old simple VW beetle that anyone could easily maintain with it's torsion bar suspension and simple Solex 1 barrel carb, morphed into the Super beetle with it's horrible macpherson strut suspension and complicated fuel injection that was awful to sort out. This could only be done by the little guy. As Paul pointed out in one of his interviews, look around your average car, there's probably 3, 4, or 5 thousand dollars worth of features you don't want or need, but you have to buy as part of the package. I don't think a large automobile manufacturer would look at a $6,800 vehicle as being very profitable and would add to it until the whole concept was ruined.

 

[EZ]

what if it only gets 25 MPG ? but the price was still $6800, would your still buy it ??

what if it creeps up to $7500. ??

reality check …

if you only use this to drive to work (18 miles) every day, and it gets 18 MPG, but it allowed you to use the HOV lane (avoid the delays)

is THAT worth spending $3.50 on gas each way ( VS $1.00)

what is the REAL REASON for the attraction to this three wheeled vehicle ??

if it comes down to 25 MPG will 35,000 can cell and walk away ??

if it becomes $7500.00 will 35,000 people walk away ??????

what I do NOT understand, Paul Elio says this is an "AND" car ! You still keep your SUV for weekend trips, this is just to commute to work, yes ??

SO WHO THE F CARES WHAT THE MILEAGE IS IF THE AVERAGE PERSON COMMUTES 18 MILES TO WORK ???

if gas is $3.50 per gallon, what difference does it REALLY MAKE ?

the cost of two beers at night ?

the cost of a pint of ice cream ?

pack of cigarettes ???

who REALLY CARES ???

is it just the "FUN FACTOR " ???

is it the "THREE WHEELS" ???

the "one door" ??

is it the "NEW CAR" THING ??

With SOOOOOO many used cars available, for LESS than the $6800., why the attraction ??

silly ….

just a cool fun new silly toy !!

my 1990 Audi has 50,000 miles in PERFECT condition ! book value $1500.00 !!

I WANT BRIGHT YELLOW !!

 

[ross]

what if it only gets 25 MPG ? but the price was still $6800, would your still buy it ??

what if it creeps up to $7500. ??

reality check …

if you only use this to drive to work (18 miles) every day, and it gets 18 MPG, but it allowed you to use the HOV lane (avoid the delays)

is THAT worth spending $3.50 on gas each way ( VS $1.00)

what is the REAL REASON for the attraction to this three wheeled vehicle ??

if it comes down to 25 MPG will 35,000 can cell and walk away ??

if it becomes $7500.00 will 35,000 people walk away ??????

what I do NOT understand, Paul Elio says this is an "AND" car ! You still keep your SUV for weekend trips, this is just to commute to work, yes ??

SO WHO THE F CARES WHAT THE MILEAGE IS IF THE AVERAGE PERSON COMMUTES 18 MILES TO WORK ???

if gas is $3.50 per gallon, what difference does it REALLY MAKE ?

the cost of two beers at night ?

the cost of a pint of ice cream ?

pack of cigarettes ???

who REALLY CARES ???

is it just the "FUN FACTOR " ???

is it the "THREE WHEELS" ???

the "one door" ??

is it the "NEW CAR" THING ??

With SOOOOOO many used cars available, for LESS than the $6800., why the attraction ??

silly ….

just a cool fun new silly toy !!

my 1990 Audi has 50,000 miles in PERFECT condition ! book value $1500.00 !!View attachment 3124View attachment 3124View attachment 3125View attachment 3125

I WANT BRIGHT YELLOW !!

The mileage is the big attraction, much more than the price. I don't commute 18 miles a day, I drive 130 miles round trip, so it's more than 2 beers or a pint of ice cream. I fill up with between 11 to 13 gallons every other day! Every time I do I wish I had an Elio! I would gladly pay $7,500 for it if it got decent mpg. We don't have HOV lanes out here in the country so that's not a factor in my decision. It's not going to get 18 mpg or even 25 mpg, that can be done in just about any car today. My wife gets over 30 mpg in her Impala. It's about the mileage. Nothing else out there comes close. It's American made, if it gets anywhere near 70 mpg and costs under 10K I want 2. TODAY! It's all about the MPG!

 

[Elio Amazed]

If you're talking a 36 mile round trip per day @ highway speeds, you'd save roughly $1320 a year.
Over a ten year period that would be $13,200 in fuel saved on the commute alone.

If you're talking a 18 mile round trip per day @ highway speeds, let's look at the quality of life factor according to your figures.

These days...
A couple of beers in any local tavern here cost more than $2.75. Guess you could always drink at home.
If I was still a smoker, I wouldn't even touch ciga-butts that only cost $2.75 a pack (if I could find any that cheap).
I can, however, get 3/4 of a quart of, not great but decent, ice cream for just under $2.00.
But I wouldn't be able to buy good tasting, healthy, low fat ice cream for anywhere near that.

If you're talking just a 18 mile round trip per day commute @ highway speeds, you'd still save $6600 over a ten years on commuting fuel alone.
Throw in the driving you'd do in the vehicle outside of the commute and the money saved on higher priced SUV parts and repairs, and the Elio would pay for itself in far less time than ten years.

Geez. I quess this all means that with a 36 mile round trip commute, it would pay for itself in far less than 5 years.
You could basically take the money you'd save plus the money you could sell your used Elio for, and buy a new one every three years or so.
After all, you'd have put less than 26,000 miles on the vehicle by commuting for three years. If you added in the additional mileage that you'd put on the Elio, the warranty would be running out just about the time that you'd be ready to buy a new one.
A free car (sorry, autocycle) every three years. What a concept.
Math. It's fun. Try it.

Sorry about your Audi.
It's off the subject, but keep it shiny.
If it's FMV is $1500, most insurance companies will use thier own "legal" valuation and give you $1,200 if they ever deem it to be a total loss.
Been there. That's just the way they are. Licensed to steal.
The insurance lobby is very powerful, well funded, and very skilled at what they do.

BTW, how's that pot-stirring thing working out for you?

 

[grampi]

Mine's gonna be over $7500 anyway because I'm getting it with an automatic...the MPGs and price are big selling points for me, but the two biggest selling points for me are the vehicle's uniqueness (there will be nothing else like it on the road), and it just plain looks fun as hell to drive.

 

[bowers baldwin]

what if it only gets 25 MPG ? but the price was still $6800, would your still buy it ??

what if it creeps up to $7500. ??

reality check …

if you only use this to drive to work (18 miles) every day, and it gets 18 MPG, but it allowed you to use the HOV lane (avoid the delays)

is THAT worth spending $3.50 on gas each way ( VS $1.00)

what is the REAL REASON for the attraction to this three wheeled vehicle ??

if it comes down to 25 MPG will 35,000 can cell and walk away ??

if it becomes $7500.00 will 35,000 people walk away ??????

what I do NOT understand, Paul Elio says this is an "AND" car ! You still keep your SUV for weekend trips, this is just to commute to work, yes ??

SO WHO THE F CARES WHAT THE MILEAGE IS IF THE AVERAGE PERSON COMMUTES 18 MILES TO WORK ???

if gas is $3.50 per gallon, what difference does it REALLY MAKE ?

the cost of two beers at night ?

the cost of a pint of ice cream ?

pack of cigarettes ???

who REALLY CARES ???

is it just the "FUN FACTOR " ???

is it the "THREE WHEELS" ???

the "one door" ??

is it the "NEW CAR" THING ??

With SOOOOOO many used cars available, for LESS than the $6800., why the attraction ??

silly ….

just a cool fun new silly toy !!

my 1990 Audi has 50,000 miles in PERFECT condition ! book value $1500.00 !!View attachment 3124View attachment 3124View attachment 3125View attachment 3125

I WANT BRIGHT YELLOW !!

I am not sure I understand the questions here (it's early and I haven't had my cup of coffee yet) but:
I am already in for a grand so I am kinda committed already, so yea Id still want it.
now if you roll back the clock before my deposit then yes the price and MPG would be a big factor.
personally for me the limit would have been 60 MPG @ $ 8000.

 

[EZ]

here on the Island my "everyday" transportation is a Yamaha TW200

it holds 1.2 gall gas

gets about 70 mpg

all I care about is when the engine sputters I have to flip the fuel petcock up to the reserve position, and know I have to get gas sometime (within about 20 miles ?)

that is my "reference"

any vehicle weighing 1200# is going to get 50 MPG

do I REALLY care if it gets 84 ? NOOOOOO !

if it only got 35 would I care ?

NOOOOOOOOO !

i would adjust my "reference" point to realize when I needed to find a gas station ..

we are all SPOILED ! WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT GAS MILEAGE ??

blah blah blah

saying you can drive cross country on one tank of gas ? WHO CAN SIT IN A SEAT FOR 3000 MILES ?? just stupid advertising

I realize they need some "hook" to get those magic reservation numbers up up up, so they can secure more financing !

probably the only REAL NUMBER they need is 100,000 reservations ! something to help secure more funding..

i would expect in another two years there be an announcement that they are ready to start production, and they need 50% down payment on every reservation, with the other 50% before the vehicle leaves the factory..

maybe even 100% down payment up front !

THAT will be the line that will thin out the herd …they will be losing money on the first 10,000 vehicles, and THAT will be the big hurdle to overcome ..
just my thoughts this Saturday Morning from here in the Caribbean …

 

[Edward43]

If that does happen and Ford, Chevy, Honda etc... etc... decide to make their own version I would still stick with Elio because that would just prove, by virtue of having NO new technology in the Elio, that the big corporations could have had this concept on the road YEARS if not DECADES ago. WHY has it taken so long? How many gazillion barrels of oil could this hyper-efficient concept have saved in the time they spent selling us 3000 lb. boxes for 20K plus and acting like 30mpg is GREAT mileage, and anything better has to cost 50K? Enough hyper-efficients on the road might have changed the course of world events by effecting the demand for oil worldwide. Why should any late-comers get a dime of the market share when they've been holding out on us for ages in order to maximize access to our pockets.

I punched the "like button" four times because that statement is so so so so true!

 

[outsydthebox]

here on the Island my "everyday" transportation is a Yamaha TW200

it holds 1.2 gall gas

gets about 70 mpg

all I care about is when the engine sputters I have to flip the fuel petcock up to the reserve position, and know I have to get gas sometime (within about 20 miles ?)

that is my "reference"

any vehicle weighing 1200# is going to get 50 MPG

do I REALLY care if it gets 84 ? NOOOOOO !

if it only got 35 would I care ?

NOOOOOOOOO !

i would adjust my "reference" point to realize when I needed to find a gas station ..

we are all SPOILED ! WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT GAS MILEAGE ??

blah blah blah

saying you can drive cross country on one tank of gas ? WHO CAN SIT IN A SEAT FOR 3000 MILES ?? just stupid advertising

I realize they need some "hook" to get those magic reservation numbers up up up, so they can secure more financing !

probably the only REAL NUMBER they need is 100,000 reservations ! something to help secure more funding..

i would expect in another two years there be an announcement that they are ready to start production, and they need 50% down payment on every reservation, with the other 50% before the vehicle leaves the factory..

maybe even 100% down payment up front !

THAT will be the line that will thin out the herd …they will be losing money on the first 10,000 vehicles, and THAT will be the big hurdle to overcome ..
just my thoughts this Saturday Morning from here in the Caribbean …

View attachment 3126

I am sorry that you don't "get it." It is like Paul says, " It's not for everybody".....I guess that means you. The Elio has been designed by a man who cares. Mostly, he "cares" about others!
I am left wondering where you are getting you information, such as...."3,000 miles per tank"...Whaaat?
Why do you think gas prices will stay at $3/gal?
Or..."who really cares about gas mileage?....I DO! And I don't think I am alone here.
...They need a "hook?...Elio IS the hook.
Final comments: The money you save by riding your bike, you spend on tires. At 5K - 8K miles per set @ $300/set, any fuel savings is quickly eaten up....but, as you said "who cares."

 

[jetpack54]

EZ,
I'm trying to understand the Caribbean people's mentality but I guessed after reading your post says it all...just out of touch w/ reality! Well, for one thing you live in an easy going vacation island that's probably got more motorcycles than cars, 2, one can drive from one end to the other end of the island in what, half a day? See much of us here "cares" about how much we can drive per gallon! I drive 100 miles a day so do I need to spell that out for you how much it'll save me in gas??? Another thing that's so funny about your statement, "who can sit in a seat for 3,000 miles?" you say. Well, who says we have to drive straight for 3,000 miles??? Ever heard of bathroom breaks, snack, lunch or dinner breaks, pit stops, etc. Not trying to pick on you but you need to get your reasoning together because it's funny! If I live where you live, I say the heck w/ the gas prices and drive a Hummer there. You visit us here in and we'll teach you a thing or two about what's reality is all about!