I Wonder If The Elio Could Qualify For This Litecar Challenge

[ScarecrowRepair]

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2015/02/the-litecar-challenge-is-an-alternative-to-hybrids/

 

[NSTG8R]

Nice find ScarecrowRepair [dang..that's a long screen name! I think you've got the record. ]. I think, by their criteria, that the Elio would definitely fit the bill, as long as "autocycles" would qualify due to the 3-wheel thing.

 

[Darrellh]

It must seat 5.

 

[NSTG8R]

It must seat 5.

Sure enough...missed that part.

 

[ScarecrowRepair]

It must seat 5.

Yep, the Elio can't qualify, and the prize of $150K isn't very tempting either. But it makes me wonder if there might be expansions along the lightweight prize line, like a $10M X prize. If it were a simple matter of a practical means of reducing gas usage, I'd say the Elio would win hands down because so many commuters are single occupant and because the Elio is so cheap that it can be strictly an extra car for commuting only. It would pay for itself not only in saving gas but in saving wear and tear on the primary family car, which could be bought with that in mind, not as a compromise do-everything car.

The problem with making a full featured 5 seater is the incredible extra expense. People commute in 5 seat cars or crossovers or pickups or SUVs because they can't afford to buy special purpose cars for all their needs; one car must make do for 99% of their usage, even if that usage (hauling a little league team or bags of potting soil or sheets of plywood) is only needed a few times a year. The Elio is cheapo enough, but to purchase and use, that it would do far more to reduce gas usage than a lightweight, expensive, 5 seater.

 

[NSTG8R]

I'm waiting for a drive train vehicle platform that allows for snap-on body style options allowing for multiple uses.
The ONE/AND only.

I believe the Elio could actually "fit the bill" as far as snap-on body style options. Just look at some of the different configurations Silas Sunday came up with (El Camino and 56ish front-clip Elio comes to mind). Lack of imagination (and money) is your only limit with a composite body (or steel for that matter).

 

[ThreeWheelBurnin]

Yep, the Elio can't qualify, and the prize of $150K isn't very tempting either. But it makes me wonder if there might be expansions along the lightweight prize line, like a $10M X prize. If it were a simple matter of a practical means of reducing gas usage, I'd say the Elio would win hands down because so many commuters are single occupant and because the Elio is so cheap that it can be strictly an extra car for commuting only. It would pay for itself not only in saving gas but in saving wear and tear on the primary family car, which could be bought with that in mind, not as a compromise do-everything car.

The problem with making a full featured 5 seater is the incredible extra expense. People commute in 5 seat cars or crossovers or pickups or SUVs because they can't afford to buy special purpose cars for all their needs; one car must make do for 99% of their usage, even if that usage (hauling a little league team or bags of potting soil or sheets of plywood) is only needed a few times a year. The Elio is cheapo enough, but to purchase and use, that it would do far more to reduce gas usage than a lightweight, expensive, 5 seater.

Maybe Elio will one day make a single seat pickup variant or a single seat panel van.:-)

 

[Norahsbed]

Maybe Elio will one day make a single seat pickup variant or a single seat panel van.

Single seat pickup buyer, right here! I love Silas' design of the pickup! To bad this competition limits it to a 5 passenger vehicle.

 

[RKing]

We got 5 in an MG Midget one time. Well kind in ... on ..

and it dosen't say how big the have to be