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What Elio could have been

aknaten

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BaldGuy

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MSRP $18,500. Ouch.

They could learn some things from Elio. I'll wait. Thank you.


Elio:
Nothing is Too Small for Engineering Innovation

A traditional hood opens forward, requiring two latches. If the first latch fails, the second latch keeps the hood from popping up and blocking the driver’s sight line. But, a second latch means more equipment and adds more than $20.00 to vehicle cost. On an Elio, the hood is engineered to open the other way. If the latch fails, the wind will blow the hood down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not required. The Elio latch costs just $3.00. Hundreds of these cost-saving designs add up to … or more accurately, it adds down… to targeted $7,450*.
 

JohnJ

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MSRP $18,500. Ouch.

They could learn some things from Elio. I'll wait. Thank you.


Elio:
Nothing is Too Small for Engineering Innovation

A traditional hood opens forward, requiring two latches. If the first latch fails, the second latch keeps the hood from popping up and blocking the driver’s sight line. But, a second latch means more equipment and adds more than $20.00 to vehicle cost. On an Elio, the hood is engineered to open the other way. If the latch fails, the wind will blow the hood down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not required. The Elio latch costs just $3.00. Hundreds of these cost-saving designs add up to … or more accurately, it adds down… to targeted $7,450*.
You're right. Too bad it doesn't matter.
 

Hog

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"A traditional hood opens forward, requiring two latches. If the first latch fails, the second latch keeps the hood from popping up and blocking the driver’s sight line. But, a second latch means more equipment and adds more than $20.00 to vehicle cost. On an Elio, the hood is engineered to open the other way. If the latch fails, the wind will blow the hood down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not required."

Not so. my 1969 corvette opened from the windshield. Think that the air pressure would hold it down, one day I took off down the street and as I hit 25-40 mph imagine my shock as the hood flew UP. It seems that rolling air turbulence in front of the windshield pushes down at the base of the windshield but then flows forward, towards the front of the car and then lifts UP, before rolling back over the roofline. The corvette had very little abrupt slope to the windshield, many other cars are much steeper. The same effect can be seen if you follow a pickup truck down the highway. Leaves and debris in the bed are lifted up against the rear window, then can be seen to roll back at the roofline and many times right back into the bed, to do it again.
 

Mark BEX

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By far the weight of people making suggestions to me is that they want gas engine, not electric.

Generally speaking, single seaters fail in sales, aircraft, motorcycles, cars, 2 seaters outsell them massively, not a question about it.

Single seaters look great, people go all goo goo over them, and they do look great, but they want a 2 seater when it comes to handing over the money, to take their partner, bags, dog, children, workmate who needs a lift home etc.
 

Mark BEX

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On an Elio, the hood is engineered to open the other way. If the latch fails, the wind will blow the hood down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not required

I agree with Hog.

I used to fit an engine a day when I was importing used JDM Japanese engines decades ago, sometimes I would just throw the bonnet (hood) on to run around the block to test the engine, and at speed the (unbolted) rear edge lifts surprisingly high.

Also in Australia at least, you need an additional safety catch under the regulations.
 

Coss

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Yeah, but still it doesn't need to be anything fancy, a simple $5 latch would work, just KISS it (Keep It Simple Stupid)
you don't need to over engineer it.
 
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