Follow up.... Link: 4c/mile! JPods cut the cost from about 56 (US) cents a mile for cars to about 4 cents a mile. (I believe that's overall cost including price of the vehicle!!, but not the rail system facilities) Shweeb https://newatlas.com/the-shweeb-human-powered-monorail/9678/ Wuppertal Suspension Railway
It's terrible ( and short sighted) to think that American car manufacturers are planning their future on "big rigs"- pickups. You don't see too many folks commuting in them in all but this country. When the real price of oil is accepted, it'll have the same reaction that the "oil crisis" and other blips have had on the car industry. Gas goes down Americans go big ( and pay a premium for the guzzlers) prices go up, and Americans pay a premium for high milers, with the ever decreasing amount that our planet has of oil, it's only a matter of time. The future is obviously (now, not even 20 years ago) EVs. I think the Elio (EV) will be an excellent example of this. The irony of it, and that which brings a smile, is that they will be produced in the same facility that the Hummers were built. aside-- we gotta get our s_ _t together to recognize that whatever cars we drive have to be made by Americans. (too political??) I think not.
The rationale for the GM move is that they are focusing on their most profitable models to invest in EV development. That seems to be a reasonable strategy to me, even if those vehicles are the big gas guzzlers. With EVs fuel costs aren't as much of a concern so as battery cost improves, so can the size of vehicles. Back to the original topic of this thread, this GM move makes it less certain that it's the 3cyl Ford Ecoboost rather than a similar GM engine that may be going into the Elio.
GM unveiled significant updates to their 1.0L turbo EcoTec engine in September 2017 for the 2018 model year: https://media.gm.com/media/cn/en/gm...rs-Reveals-New-Generation-ECOTEC-Engines.html
http://products.rivian.com/ Trucks? Here's one. I think it's pretty cool and could be the bridge vehicle that EVs have needed to help coax people out of their big trucks. (me included)
With the news of the GM closings and Mr. Trump talking about how he doesn't like it and wants more American manufacturing, isn't now the time for Elio to do all they can to get a feature about their car on the evening news?
Like anything else, this all depends on how much of a safe return investors can make on it. If that bottom line is not as much or more as other investment opportunities, it sadly won't happen.
Just When!!! It would be so cool to hear what is going on at Rouch. To see a 100hp ELIO do a few turns. Sweet Dreams.
Nice looking overall design, not a fan of that front though. There are a few possible EV trucks on the horizon. I am very interested in what Telsa produces with their pickup design, and if it will fall into the midsize or fullsize category. I will probably have to replace my truck in 3-5 years, so hopefully by then there will be options by them or other companies that step up. Another possible option for the "Jeep look" but electric. What I like about this company is that they kept their design basic, rugged, and non-futuristic. https://www.bollingermotors.com/
