Ty
Elio Addict
If they plan on a real "5 Star" rating (which I don't know how you get for a motorcycle) doesn't that mean expensive testing by destruction of expensive prototype vehicles as you slam them into walls/cars/each other? Plus the re-designs needed (if needed) to make it pass.
I think the 5-star thing was added to make people feel more comfortable about buying a "motorcycle", but it will bite Elio in the ass in the end.
I don't think that they will ever get a 5-star rating until the Federal Government either creates a rating system for autocycles or they reclassify the Elio as a car (Please, no). Elio doesn't even claim that it will receive a 5-star crash rating. They never have. However, this is one of the things that gets repeated so much that people assume they are going to try to get a 5-star crash rating. What Elio actually says on their web site is, and I quote "Engineered for a 5-Star Crash Test Safety Rating." They will surely crash enough of them to make sure they are safe and that they WOULD receive a 5-star rating if it applied. I am willing to bet that with today's modeling software that Elio will build the couple dozen P5s, crash test several, video them, of course, show the best videos and say "See, this would be a 5-star rating if the Elio was classified as a car".
What I'm saying is that while Elio will ensure 5-Star level safety protection, he'll make sure that before the P-5 is produced (probably already is either done or in work), that it is over engineered to be easily over that crash rating thus limiting rework to almost nothing. Not having a door on one side will really stiffen up protection quite a bit, too.