Being classified as a motorcycle, it doesn't have to meet any of the safety regulations - no front or side impact protection. Apparently, it comes with an airbag, probably because they are using an off-the-shelf steering column assembly. Should handle pretty well, though. Seems to have a fairly long wheelbase for a 3-wheeler.
When it finally arrives, we want to see a burnout photo!! Should be easy to do with front wheel drive and a rear handbrake... Apparently someone in Orlando has signed up as a dealer, so maybe I'll get to do the burnout..... Denny, they'll be in Daytona for Bike Week in March. Savannah GA for St Patrick's day.
What great ideas, completely impractical for 99% of vehicle use. The new VW coffin ( and it's in black to boot...good call, cat!) ....... I think another thread talked about VW's... a peoples car, simple, cost effective, reliable.......and it seated 4, and it was simple!!!!! Was called a "Bug". It sold millions.........( I'm glad Hitler is spinning in his grave after seeing this thing....Uk yie mun leaderhosen) This one is a cockroach IMO, the other is a green grasshopper ...but we have learned you can eat those.
The green thing is what my son ordered. Hopefully not in that color. Where he lives in Illinois there are corn fields everywhere. He'd blend right in with the corn stalks. The highway they drive everyday is known for many deadly accidents in real cars. I also wondered about them being classified as motorcycles. That would require a motorcycle endorsement and helmet.:confused: I'm getting scared driving a red quadcab truck with a topper. I'll swear most people can't see it!
The black VW car that looks like an overshoe pictured above was a prototype. Here's what the production model looks like: http://ebongeek.com/2011/11/09/is-volkswagen-really-producing-a-600-200mpg-car-in-china/ Six hundred US dollars my arse. Projected price is at least $10,500 USD. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VemGJSIN1XY&feature=player_embedded
I like that VW L1 but for maybe half that cost. Still it's getting hard to find anything for under $15,000. To me any car needs to seat at least two.
And in China, where traffic is a nightmare to begin with, so plug up the roads with one passenger cars and brag out the gas millage because of the cost of fuel, yet spend all that $ to save on fuel.!? And Cat says he would like one:banghead3: Cat, second hand smoke in the opium den is just as harmful and may impair judgment...........
It is a two seater, but its tandem, not side by side. Either way, there is not a good return on investment on a $150K car just because it gets high MPG. The car will be old and worn out before the fuel savings start paying back.
It's basically a good car for rich people and celebrities to buy and drive to show how much they are committed to saving the world. That said I can appreciate what it does accomplish and the technology it uses to do what it does. While it probably doesn't make sense for 99% of people to own as their only car (selling price aside) it does seem more practical than the guy that uses his 4x4 1 ton dually quad cab to transport himself to work and back everyday.
The Elio was supposed to be the low priced one and does have a passenger seat behind the driver. If people put a down payment with the idea the price was low it should have to sell for that price. I don't remember what it was supposed to sell for. But maybe $5000 or less. There is another old thread about the Elio. There have been similar looking motorcycles out for years.
In todays day and age, I just can't see this green grasshopper even coming close to $5k new, that just does not happen anymore. Yet if it did for that price, I'd be scared to death even just following one.
