September 13, 2021 by Bengt Halvorson
Elio Motors pivots to ⚡ 150-mile Elio-E EV, gasoline version still not canceled
SNIPPETS:
Last week Elio Motors put a price on a 150-mile,
fully ⚡ electric version of its high-efficiency, three-wheeled car: $14,900. 🌞👍
That’s a different format—and price—than the original Elio,
which still hasn’t arrived 12 years after its original announcement and 9 years after its originally anticipated arrival date. Call the company a startup only in the sense that there hasn’t yet been a product delivery. 🤔
Since its 2009 inception Elio has been slowly working on the same single product—a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a gasoline engine, with the original plan to sell it for just $6,800, with a projected 84-mpg EPA-cycle fuel economy. By later this past decade, it was supposed to cost less than $8,000 and return more than 80 mpg.
Elio Motors 85 mpg 3 wheeler (Image Elio Motors)
There are two models the Elio would compete against—both three-wheelers. Aptera, reborn in Southern California last year, is seeking to bring its “never charge” solar car within the next year, at a $25,900 base price. And then there’s the ElectraMeccanica Solo, an $18,500 single-seater EV that, after some delays, is due to arrive this year with retail locations in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.
⚡ Aptera on left 👈 👉 ⚡ElectraMeccanica Solo on right
... ...
The company has made many promises over the years and generally speaking, has
failed to deliver on most of them. Elio previously promised that it would employ 1,500 American workers by 2015—something Elio again reiterated in 2019, with a pledge of 90 percent North American content. ... ...
Elio stopped sending out regular weekly e-mail updates in November 2019, and prior to the Elio-E announcement it took down its previous blog and updates. Now it’s added a page about fleets that positions the Elio-E as a solution for the service and small delivery industry—a market that Arcimoto has gained some traction with. That page seems to suggest relationships with Grubhub, DoorDash, Geek Squad, Amazon, and others.
It’s noteworthy that Elio isn’t giving a projected arrival date for the EV . Will Elio deliver this time?
This decade? Leave your comments below.
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Full article with additional pictures:
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1133547_elio-motors-pivots-to-150-mile-elio-e-ev-gasoline-version-still-not-canceled