An Electric Elio??

[John M Riley]

Has there been any talk about an electric-powered Elio?

 

[RUCRAYZE]

yep, there's always talk- most of it our own (B.S.), IMO down the road with lower battery prices-(thank you Mr Musk).

We got folks putting in V8s', turbos, solar, and EV which has gotten a lot of "milage" here. I realize that going back to threads has become more difficult, as title and first few responses stay on topic, then most wander way off!!! (food, jokes, NASCAR, and football threads seem to transcend the tendency. Boredom and waiting has created a site with no facts just fun "barbing" each other.
Stay tuned for the next installment of hope,-- real or fabricated. (we seem to enjoy either)

 

[Coss]

Has there been any talk about an electric-powered Elio?

PE said in one entry that an EV and / or diesel powertrain is a possibility in the Gen2 or Gen3 Elio's
It has been mentioned by EM / PE that EV has got to make major improvements in battery technology before it's a viable option.

 

[WilliamH]

The people asking about battery powered Elio are trying to impress their environmentalist neighbors, not low income people just trying to get to work in a car that won't break down every week. And not people who just found that they got the shaft from diesel VWs.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Has there been any talk about an electric-powered Elio?

Hi John, yeah an electric Elio won't happen anytime soon after the gas-powered Elio starts production. It's a ways down the road.

 

[RUCRAYZE]

Nice to dream, hoping my first generation is not too far down the road.

 

[Ty]

An electric Elio WOULD save about 142 gallons of gas ($321) a year over the gas version of an Elio driving 12,000 a year. If they can figure out a way to make the electric drivetrain fairly inexpensive, they may be able to get a little bit of the small niche of electric three wheelers market.

 

[JEBar]

If they can figure out a way to make the electric drivetrain fairly inexpensive, they may be able to get a little bit of the small niche of electric three wheelers market.

with that I completely agree .... I have no doubt that there is a large sustainable market for the Elio as envisioned by Paul .... I have no faith that would be true for an electric one .... long before EM has the resources to add an electrically powered model I have little doubt that they will do market feasibility studies

 

[Rickb]

The people asking about battery powered Elio are trying to impress their environmentalist neighbors, not low income people just trying to get to work in a car that won't break down every week. And not people who just found that they got the shaft from diesel VWs.

I'm asking about an Elio EV not to impress anyone. Why would you make assumptions and generalize about why some people like the idea of an Elio EV alternative. My reasoning is that I may have a quiet high performance Elio and help to guarantee future oil reserves to enable your Elio ICE fill ups. Consideration for your needs and the environment. Totally unselfish logic.

I bet there are many low income people that support the development of alternative energy vehicles and hope to afford and drive one someday as EVs move more mainstream. I respect the fact that you are not one of them. Please give us a break on our reasons for going Electric.

I may have to settle on the Morgan EV3 while I wait on the electrified Elio.

 

[Sethodine]

Being both low-income and an EV owner myself, (2012 Nissan Leaf) I agree that they are truly fantastic vehicles with lots of wonderful pros....and crippling cons. My wife and I went from paying about $135 a month on gas to just $35 on electricity, for the same exact driving. Plus no oil changes, no worries about the (non-existant) transmission going out, and much else besides. It has brought much peace-of-mind to my wife's daily driving.

However, where the Elio really shines is on long, daily commutes...something that EVs just are not up to the task. Unless you can shell out the $100k for a Tesla, then you'll be lucky to get 85 miles on a charge in a modern EV. Then you gotta wait for the battery to recharge, which could take an hour (public DC supercharge stations) or up to 21 hours (120v wall socket at home).

The Elio is smaller and lighter, so it would surely get a better miles-to-battery ratio than the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Spark EV, but it also has much less room to carry that battery. No, in my mind, the Elio is best as a hyper-MPG cruise machine that can take you long distances on the cheap.

HOWEVER, I can totally see a future for an Electric Elio if/when we are able to implement wireless induction charging for EVs (i.e. the highway wirelessly charges the car as you drive). This technology would allow for EVs to have smaller batteries yet have increased range over the current technology. But since that is still in the pipe-dream phase of development, so too is the Electric Elio