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Elio Motors Review [VIDEO]

My colleague over at CarNewsCafe, Aaron Turpen, did a great video review of Elio Motors three-wheeled car recently. Check it out below and let me know what you think.

The aim of the Elio is that it will be an extremely inexpensive car to buy for the masses. Elio Motors hopes to sell the 3-wheeled car for $6,800 dollars which should be a price point attractive to a wide range of buyers. The reason the Elio will be so cheap is that all the components and parts used will be mostly taken from what is already available on the market. That means no having to special order or wait for parts direct from Elio Motors so you can get back on the road easily. This also means you should be able to fix this three-wheeled car yourself easily.

The design of the Elio is not only cool but aerodynamic and fuel efficient. The engine which is equipped is a small 1-liter 70-horsepower engine with 3-cylinders and the EPA estimated 49 mpg in the city and 84 mpg on the highway makes it ideal for commuters or something to just get around town with to have fun. The estimated top speed is 100 mph and you can order it with 5-speed manual or an automatic. I would probably opt for the stick shift since the Elio looks like a lot of fun.

Elio Motors is hoping that the Elio will receive a 5-star crash test rating. Usually with three-wheeled cars they are classified as “motorcycles” meaning they do not need to undergo car crash safety tests. (Well they don’t do any crash testing actually.) Whether this is something that Elio Motors can pull off engineering wise in such a small and tight package as yet to be seen though.

Hopefully we will see this car on the road as I really like the concept. As with a lot of great car ideas (Tucker) they can’t get off the ground and into production. At the time of this writing the company still has not secured financing to buy a facility to build these.

Sure hope they can get their 5-star rating! I would love to have one but, if it is classified as a motorcycle I’m afraid I would have to pass due to my age, not to mention the fact that dear old Oregon wants close to $300.00 just for a cycle endorsement on your license!

I am “all in” I sent them 1000.00. If they don’t get the car made I’ll end up with an expensive t-shirt. It looks more and more promising everyday. It will be a motorcycle but because it is enclosed you will not have to have a helmet or m/c license.