• Welcome to Elio Owners! Join today, registration is easy!

    You can register using your Google, Facebook, or Twitter account, just click here.

Sondors Electric Car

Rickb

Elio Addict
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
7,094
Reaction score
13,965
Well, I guess we'll see; watch this space... It's possible, I guess.

I'm not impressed with him in the video, he comes across as a bs artist to me...
Perhaps, but the odd quirky personality did get his affordable electric bike to market when everybody said it was impossible. A proven track record. It takes odd and quirky to get something done and he has generated an investor following. Time will tell if he gets the Sonder's prototype build going on in his garage up and running. It could happen.
 

Maurtis

Elio Addict
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,744
Location
San Marcos, TX
Perhaps, but the odd quirky personality did get his affordable electric bike to market when everybody said it was impossible. A proven track record. It takes odd and quirky to get something done and he has generated an investor following. Time will tell if he gets the Sonder's prototype build going on in his garage up and running. It could happen.

I was following his release since it was happening as I was building my own, so I was keenly following ebike trends at the time. No one said building and selling his bike for $500 was impossible, they said it was impossible with the range and weight he was quoting, which was true. They eventually lowered the range to a more realistic amount and the weight went up to reflect the steel frame and big wheels.

My issue is not with the product itself. I am glad that someone stepped up to build and sell an ebike that was better than Walmart quality eZips at a reasonable price. My issue was with the intentionally deceptive early advertising. And instead of engineering the product to meet the stated goals (like Elio), they just lowered the goals after getting the crowdsourced funding.
 

Rickb

Elio Addict
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
7,094
Reaction score
13,965
I was following his release since it was happening as I was building my own, so I was keenly following ebike trends at the time. No one said building and selling his bike for $500 was impossible, they said it was impossible with the range and weight he was quoting, which was true. They eventually lowered the range to a more realistic amount and the weight went up to reflect the steel frame and big wheels.

My issue is not with the product itself. I am glad that someone stepped up to build and sell an ebike that was better than Walmart quality eZips at a reasonable price. My issue was with the intentionally deceptive early advertising. And instead of engineering the product to meet the stated goals (like Elio), they just lowered the goals after getting the crowdsourced funding.
Thanks for clarifying. I was unaware of the spec changes in the process of getting Sonder's e-bike manufactured. Perhaps the Sonders anticipated electric three wheeler specs will change too or ultimately turn to vaporware which would be even more disappointing to investors. Same goes for the Elio, the Solo, and the SRK. All three have changed over the course of R&D. Anticipated specs can change during prototyping, usually do change during Engineering testing, and then vaporize completely. I've followed way to many three wheeler concepts over the past 12 years.
 

Frim

Elio Addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Messages
885
Reaction score
1,550
Location
Warrenton, MO
Frim, Much to early to call Sonders vaporware. Sonders has a vision in 2016 much like Paul Elio had a Vision in 2007. Crowd funding is pushing a Million dollars and closes in 35 days. A prototype building partner could hand build a prototype for Well under a million. $2-3 Million could in-house build and road test a production prototype model. Similar to Electra Meccanica's Solo and Arcimoto's SRK business model..........funding spent on R&D..........no funds wasted on marketing beyond social media until there is a product to sell. Ordered on-line and shipped to our door. Magic. :)

The Sonder's Rendering looks so stylish and so affordable for an EV at $10K that if I won the Lotto I would invest in Sonder's. Did you see the Dash render and the side by side seating for old fashioned date night! I want both form and function! That is exactly what Sonder's plans to provide an affordable, stylish, and functional electric three wheeler. Go three wheels!

View attachment 11890 View attachment 11891
It is beautiful. I give it that.
 

voyager

Elio Addict
Joined
May 24, 2016
Messages
225
Reaction score
160
Location
Amsterdam
Let's not forget that for people like Sondors, the 3 wheel layout is meant to keep costs low as it qualifies as an autocycle, for which the stringent car safety tests and regulations do not apply. The question therefore is: would you pay 10K for a vehicle that is substandard-safe instead of some pre-used sporty hatchback? (Btw, between RickB and me, still no news from the FTRC front....)
 

Rob Croson

Elio Addict
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
1,384
Reaction score
2,279
Location
Ohio
Let's not forget that for people like Sondors, the 3 wheel layout is meant to keep costs low as it qualifies as an autocycle, for which the stringent car safety tests and regulations do not apply.
Yep. When three-wheelers get more mainstream, the regulators will catch on to the number of manufacturers that are taking advantage of a regulatory loophole to bypass all their laws. The more crappy death traps there are on the market, the quicker it will happen, and the harder they will come down on everyone when they do. That's why I'm glad that Elio is still holding to the full testing and safety route. The further you can go to meet as many of the truly safety-related regulations as you can, the better it will be for everyone.
 
Top Bottom