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You're right, this should have been done decades ago. We should have millions of similar vehicles all over the world by now, getting 100 mpg+ on ethanol and CNG and propane and batteries, all with drivers waving the #1 salute to the oil-despots of the world.

It's possible that compressed air could be a better option than batteries as a means of storing energy from the power grid to use for automotive power. With a little more development pneumatic motors could be very efficient, there is virtually no weight to the fuel, no carbon emissions, no rare...

No hurdles for the tesla? How about the PRICE? Great, we've solved the carbon problem of rich people driving home to their 20,000 square foot mansions where they already have the same power consumption as a small town! I agree that the ICE is antiquated technology, and we should have found...

I was kinda hoping for an electric water pump to reduce parasitic drag on the motor. Oh well.....

Sorry, I have to amend my scooter rant a bit. I checked some new pricing and a basic 50cc honda is only a mere $2000, while a base 50cc Vespa comes in with a thrifty little tag of about $4500. Are they kidding?!?!

Funny enough, even Goldstar had their gems. I set up a store display once with 4 of Goldstar's cheapest VCR's and they ran playing the same tape over and over, (auto replay). I th9ught they wouldn't last over a couple weeks. A year and a half later they were finally killed by a power surge...

Chinese scooters are undoubtedly of inferior quality to Hondas, and Vespas, BUT those guys have priced themselves WAY out of the market for what they are selling. Sure there are some nostalgia buyers out there, and some older folks loaded with cash and looking for a fun way to zip over to the...

The part NOT to overlook with chinese manufacturing is that companies from North America and Europe and Japan are sending their entire production processes to China by the ship-load. With that goes their advanced equipment, technologies, experts, experience, and ALL control over security. The...

Man EZ, you got it made in a lot of ways. I would not mind at all to be in your shoes. A tropical island and my sailboard and maybe a cold one after a great session on the water as the sun sets..... But, then there's the wife and kids and life gets MUCH more complicated. All the priorities...

I guess when you have the money to live in a tropical paradise you probably DON'T care about mpg OR the price of gas. I personally am one of the large majority of people who are NOT rich. 10% of my income goes into the gas tank, and I figure the Elio would save me about $2500 per year in gas...

Wow EZ, I'm not sure what to make of that. That's like a satire right? Just kidding? I'm assuming you can't be serious, right? Can ANYONE be that far removed from reality?

Cool! Sounds like THAT little hurdle is getting cleared out of the way right on schedule. I can't see how any legislative body could actually go on record saying people need to wear a helmet in an enclosed cabin. They would just come off looking stupid or like theey are promoting some hidden...

I'm not really one for making things more complicated unless there is real evidence to show it's worth it, but I'm kinda diggin' this Idea. Simple hub motor and battery on the back with only an interface to the computer for throtle and braking coordination. Designed to be plugged in for the...

Yikes, I thought they got a little better than that. So what would be in the 9.5 mpg range? I cam't think of anything. But then again I was just having a little fun with the numbers. In actuality I suppose I could have insisted on narrowing down the discussion to exactly what "pay for...

Ah, I looked up the battery construction, but only took a cursory glance at the first few references and they said Li-Io, guess I shoulda read further. Ni-Mh is a little less finicky about charging and such, and less prone to explosion and fire. Thanks for the clarification.

$5000 for a decent car isn't bad generally speaking, but at my economic level a $3000 car that suddenly turns into a $5000 car isn't an inconvenience, it's a thermonuclear DISASTER! But if the car runs without the battery, not such a big deal. My commute is 110 miles, almost totally FLAT along...

With a minimum of test equipment it shouldn't be too difficult, but you'd have to find a supplier of replacement cells for a reasonable price. Then there is the matter of having DEA Jack-boots on your door-mat when you show up in the system buying any quantity of lithium-ion cells.

I guess that is my fear with the hybrids, the battery life expectancy is almost exactly the same as the age/mileage vehicle I could afford to buy. So if I found a $3000 car and had to replace the $3000 battery a week later I just gt $crewed. BUT if the highway mileage didn't go down much...

Super geek-out Yo! Behold the power of simple math. I'll bet you don't buy many lottory tickets either. I just thought it would be fun to run some numbers. Naturally we could get into all sorts of additional details, but I think you covered the gist of it. I was wondering though, what do...

I'm just gonna indulge my inner math-nerd for a second, and hope you don't mind, BUT.... For the Insight to even USE, much less SAVE $3000 on a 42 mile, 60 mpg commute would take a little under 4.5 YEARS. The Elio is supposed to be about 12 months away. By my math for the Insight to pay for...