Electric Elio?

[Coss]

If you read the description of the Indy One it says:
The Indy One is a 'kit car' and is only part of a complete car. You will need to use parts from a Toyota Prius, a 2001 to 2009 model. You will also need a battery pack, which can be the most expensive thing. And if you don't assemble the car yourself, you will need to hire someone to build it for you. I anticipate a total cost of under $10,000, but certainly under $15,000.

He hopes to get the kit price down to $6,000; but it's still going to be a kit you have to build yourself and provide your drive components for.

 

[nimblemotors]

Thanks. A key to the Indy One is to recycle existing components instead of making new ones from scratch like they are doing with the Elio.
If they didn't need to make new everything, you'd already be driving an Elio!.
That is why I only need $50,000, not $500,000,000.

The Indy One can be assembled by any competent mechanic if you don't want to make it yourself.
The goal is to have it take less than 3 days to assemble.
The Kit includes everything but the Prius parts and battery pack and charger.

There were two Prius for under $1,000 last couple weeks in Sacramento.
It doesn't need a good battery or engine or body, just needs a good transaxle and suspension.

A battery pack can be $3,000 to $8,000 depending on how far you need to go, and where you get them.
One Tesla S can provide enough batteries for EIGHT Indy Ones. You can buy them for about $24,000 when crashed,
so 24/8 = $3,000 for an Indy One that can go 100 miles per charge. A crashed Nissan Leaf battery pack is about $5,000,
and you can use 1/2 or 1/3 of it for an Indy One.

Welcome nimblemotors! Good luck with the Indy-One. I like the concept. Idea: How about a Nimblemotor's EV Retrofit Kit for the Elio (EVElio)? I will be watching your progress.

 

[Reid3400]

Thanks. A key to the Indy One is to recycle existing components instead of making new ones from scratch like they are doing with the Elio.
If they didn't need to make new everything, you'd already be driving an Elio!.
That is why I only need $50,000, not $500,000,000.

The Indy One can be assembled by any competent mechanic if you don't want to make it yourself.
The goal is to have it take less than 3 days to assemble.
The Kit includes everything but the Prius parts and battery pack and charger.

There were two Prius for under $1,000 last couple weeks in Sacramento.
It doesn't need a good battery or engine or body, just needs a good transaxle and suspension.

A battery pack can be $3,000 to $8,000 depending on how far you need to go, and where you get them.
One Tesla S can provide enough batteries for EIGHT Indy Ones. You can buy them for about $24,000 when crashed,
so 24/8 = $3,000 for an Indy One that can go 100 miles per charge. A crashed Nissan Leaf battery pack is about $5,000,
and you can use 1/2 or 1/3 of it for an Indy One.

This is an interesting concept, but to start with $10,000 to $15,000 is a large range which says "I didn't keep track of my time and costs". After you have built a few kits, you quickly get skeptical. After you have spent 100+ hours getting doors to fit and be weatherprooof, the little light goes on. When you go from dune buggy kits (with no doors) to aircraft, you see 9 months, turn into 9 years. When you say a mechanic can assemble a car kit in 3 days, I would like to see the manual and timeline? Better still, a video. Who takes the Prius apart and at what cost? You might consider starting with a $50 information package? This may not only provide some startup funds, but also give some solid feedback as to the interest level.
Here is the type of information I would be looking for. A $13,000 kit, plus the donor car, plus 100 hours. http://exocet.co.nz/ The most cost effective kit car in the market with 30 years of success. The original version; http://www.mevltd.co.uk/ There are a handful in the US, maybe 7. http://exomotive.com/

 

[Rickb]

Lots of kit cars on the market, but will not appeal to the masses, only a select few with the necessary mechanical expertise, time, money, and did I mention mechanical expertise. Nimblemotors is not necessarily profit driven with their Indy-One concept, but may be more of an expensive hobby business model, but will still need to generate some income from sales to support it.

I would rather use a new Donor Elio (DElio) less the drive train as the donor for my new electric autocycle. The Elio would be well under $6800 less the drive train. Makes more sense financially as well as from a design, engineering, and safety standpoint. The DElio EV Concept has more profit potential for the limited EV market........although the DElio EV Concept could take off and become as wildly successful as our hopes for the Original Elio.

I am actively seeking investors in the DElio Motors Concept. I smell a crowdsource funding opportunity in the near future.

One color to keep cost down: White Lightning

 

[nimblemotors]

There are 'kit cars' that are mostly a pile of parts, and the cheap ones are pretty much junk, so I can understand your skepticism.

There is no video on building one because the actual Indy One kit DOES NOT EXIST yet, that is the point of the crowdfunding!
To get the funds to create the Kit using the existing body and build the initial cars for testing.
The car shown is not an Indy One. It is the Body Design for the Indy One.
I know this is not made clear on the current website, you have not seen the website previously.
"The Car" link has not been completed yet, which will provide more details.
The Indy One will be a monocoque, To build one will be mostly just bolting in the suspension and drivetrain,
which you source locally.

I appreciate your feedback, thanks!

This project began 8 years ago, it is only in the last year I have finished the prototype, because everyone else hasn't delivered on their promises. (insert angry icon)
Edison, Aptera, and now Elio are just a few examples, and Tesla too, is not making EV's widespread, but exclusive and expensive.

Regarding convert an Elio to electric, good luck getting a car without a drivetrain when you can't get one WITH a drivetrain!
There will be business opportunities to assemble Indy One's for others, that is one of the points of the car.

This is an interesting concept, but to start with $10,000 to $15,000 is a large range which says "I didn't keep track of my time and costs". After you have built a few kits, you quickly get skeptical. After you have spent 100+ hours getting doors to fit and be weatherprooof, the little light goes on. When you go from dune buggy kits (with no doors) to aircraft, you see 9 months, turn into 9 years. When you say a mechanic can assemble a car kit in 3 days, I would like to see the manual and timeline? Better still, a video. Who takes the Prius apart and at what cost? You might consider starting with a $50 information package? This may not only provide some startup funds, but also give some solid feedback as to the interest level.
Here is the type of information I would be looking for. A $13,000 kit, plus the donor car, plus 100 hours. http://exocet.co.nz/ The most cost effective kit car in the market with 30 years of success. The original version; http://www.mevltd.co.uk/ There are a handful in the US, maybe 7. http://exomotive.com/

 

[Rickb]

"Good luck getting an Elio with or without a drivetrain............". That was nasty. Talk about bursting my optimistic bubble! The note about the angry icon is not a good sign.

I currently can't get either an Elio or an Indy-One Kit car. The Elio may be closer than the Indy-One and I wish you both success. I need to walk in and buy a completed vehicle not mess around with building one since most of my kit project endeavors throughout my lifetime to date had parts missing,

 

['lio]

There are 'kit cars' that are mostly a pile of parts, and the cheap ones are pretty much junk, so I can understand your skepticism.

There is no video on building one because the actual Indy One kit DOES NOT EXIST yet, that is the point of the crowdfunding!
To get the funds to create the Kit using the existing body and build the initial cars for testing.
The car shown is not an Indy One. It is the Body Design for the Indy One.
I know this is not made clear on the current website, you have not seen the website previously.
"The Car" link has not been completed yet, which will provide more details.
The Indy One will be a monocoque, To build one will be mostly just bolting in the suspension and drivetrain,
which you source locally.

I appreciate your feedback, thanks!

This project began 8 years ago, it is only in the last year I have finished the prototype, because everyone else hasn't delivered on their promises. (insert angry icon)
Edison, Aptera, and now Elio are just a few examples, and Tesla too, is not making EV's widespread, but exclusive and expensive.

Regarding convert an Elio to electric, good luck getting a car without a drivetrain when you can't get one WITH a drivetrain!
There will be business opportunities to assemble Indy One's for others, that is one of the points of the car.

I like the looks of your design, but why not keep your comments friendlier?

Not many that will buy an Elio next year (or later if production will be delayed), will have any interest in it being electric in the near future. Me neither, since for what I would like to use the Elio for, the combination of low purchase price and maintenance combined with the long range, trumps everything else.

The comparison between Elio in regards to Aptera, Edison and your project, is apples and oranges.

 

[Reid3400]

"Good luck getting an Elio with or without a drivetrain............". That was nasty. Talk about bursting my optimistic bubble! The note about the angry icon is not a good sign.

I currently can't get either an Elio or an Indy-One Kit car. The Elio may be closer than the Indy-One and I wish you both success. I need to walk in and buy a completed vehicle not mess around with building one since most of my kit project endeavors throughout my lifetime to date had parts missing,

I just did a check and realize my first kit experience was 50 years ago. Probably worked on 50+ kits up to a 40' boat. The education has been well worth the time and expense, as it taught me how to build robust commercially viable equipment. To my parents annoyance, when young, I always kept a few wrecked cars on the farm. These provided me parts for projects and an income when between jobs. They also provided a connection to other like minded souls and an education. It also taught me that the hull of a boat or the shell of a kit car is 10% or less of the total cost, even if you use a donor wreck for everything. I used a road grader for power and hydraulics for the 40' boat. Still, the hull was close to 10% of the finished cost, if you count your labor.
At this point, the only thing Elio has going for it, is the commitment of 40,000 dreamers. The low price is a big part of that dream. If this concept will fly, anywhere near this price, some company will surely take note and build it? Like the Elio, the Smart car is free, if you base your vehicle costs on a long commute with a gas-hog. My problem is why have Smart car sales died instead of taking off? No, they are not as attractive on any plane as an Elio, but they are here, NOW!

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

To be fair, no one can get an Indy One either. Yet there are at least a couple of complete prototypes of the Elio rolling around vs. just a "body design" for the Indy One. Both you and Paul Elio have been at it for eight years, but he's further down the road in every way than you are. <shrug>

I wish you luck with your project, but throwing stones here won't win you any friends.

 

[WilliamH]

I just did a check and realize my first kit experience was 50 years ago. Probably worked on 50+ kits up to a 40' boat. The education has been well worth the time and expense, as it taught me how to build robust commercially viable equipment. To my parents annoyance, when young, I always kept a few wrecked cars on the farm. These provided me parts for projects and an income when between jobs. They also provided a connection to other like minded souls and an education. It also taught me that the hull of a boat or the shell of a kit car is 10% or less of the total cost, even if you use a donor wreck for everything. I used a road grader for power and hydraulics for the 40' boat. Still, the hull was close to 10% of the finished cost, if you count your labor.
At this point, the only thing Elio has going for it, is the commitment of 40,000 dreamers. The low price is a big part of that dream. If this concept will fly, anywhere near this price, some company will surely take note and build it? Like the Elio, the Smart car is free, if you base your vehicle costs on a long commute with a gas-hog. My problem is why have Smart car sales died instead of taking off? No, they are not as attractive on any plane as an Elio, but they are here, NOW!

I will give you three reasons for my interest in the Elio.
1. Price
2. looks like fun
3. Manual transmission
Take out any one of those and I can find lots of other was to spend that money.