4th generation coming 2015!

, no winter in Central Florida to talk about, but did live in NYC for 30 years!

 

i hope to see you in february, if i don't freeze here.

 

Want to be "blown away", "knocking your socks off"? this may do it: New Terrafugia Animation Keeps Flying Car Dream Alive: Video

 

The 3-wheeler? Unconventional but impressive if they can pull it off. The price is the most appealing. I imagine they could make an electric-powered model with some impressive range. For even double the price, it might be worth looking into.

 

as a purpose built commuter it is no brainer. You'd have to get a m/c license and worry about crash protection, but 84MPG for $6800 and access to HOV lanes seems to be a good trade off.

 

Yes, but I still don't like the thought of forced idling and am tired of oil changes. I'm envious of the BEV owners who have completely forgone that part of the vehicle ownership experience (brakes are pretty much the sole remaining preventative maintenance hassle remaining). Hadn't even thought of needing a motorcycle license for the Elio, but that's logical. Of course, then I think about the prospect of no or few car payments to be free and clear, and that Elio is suddenly back to looking tempting.

 

I just checked out the Elio website. Pretty neat little thing! Nothing on the site about release date though? Any idea? Says you can preorder though and many have..

 

Perhaps hybrids and these new fangled plug ins have forgone the need for an off switch, but the rest of us plebes are living like luddites with one on our cars. The switch is even within easy reach. I just turn the car off at lights, and turn it back on when the light goes green.

I do charge up the starter battery occasionally as a precaution, and I do have to pay attention when stopped at a light. So I longer can do my texting then, but the gas savings is worth it.

I was interested in one before I got my current car, but at the time, the projected release date was last summer. The odds are against them, but I hope they succeed. The trike would be a great low cost solution for reducing petroleum use for many. I think they have a better chance than Aptera, because they are aiming for low cost with just an ICE.

 

As for a commuter only vehicle, I think this idea is quite nice.

Home | Lit Motors

 

(apologies for derailing this thread again)

They were planning to start in 2015, but they had set backs due to need to develop new engine (they originally planned to use GMs tooling for Geo Metro 3-banger), and lack of finance. I am guessing when and if it comes out $6,800 will be just for manual, no cruise and no destination charge included.

And it is not in any competition to Prius or any car in general. It is purpose built commuter vehicle with low price, great MPG and clever exploit of legislative loopholes. To break it down Prius is a family car. Prius V is slightly bigger family car. Prius C is a commuter and/or single/no kids/city car.

We picked up C this year it was for commute only. ~80% of the time there is only one person, and there are maybe 5-8% of the time when there were more then 2. All those times when more space needed, there were alternatives to use (Gen3), so Elio would have worked for me as well as Prius C, for ~10K less.

What would make a 3-wheeler really attractive in some locations is the access to HOV/HOT lanes. We ran numbers with co-worker, and for his situation (55mi one way commute, free access to HOT lanes) the savings on gas and HOT access fees would pay for the car, save his SUV and most important save time, ~1hr a day.

 

That's cool, but I suspect it will run into the same hurdles as the Aptera to the market.

2014 was the initial release year. The original engine specs were identical to the engine in the NA smart fortwo, which is a Suzuki. The Sonic is a commuter only for me, and is what I got instead of waiting for Elio.

I hope it works out. It's efficient, and should be affordable enough for most people to justify getting a commuter only vehicle.

 

A small, efficient computer vehicle sound attractive in some situations. ....but not where I have ever lived.
In a major city, I'd be scared to death. Have you ever driven in rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles, or Las Vegas, or Houston and dozens more? Motorist drive the HOV lanes faster than the non-hov, and they dart over into the HOV lanes regardless of the double line (not to cross). The older I get, the more I appreciate comfort and safety. BTW, tandem seating would not interest me in the least.

Fortunately, I can afford a quiet, comfortable, hybrid that gets commendable milage.

 

Fortunately, I telecommute, but I would certainly be concerned when traveling into the largest town nearest to me. Traffic is congested to say the least.

 

Not in Huston but I've driven in LA, SF, Orlando, Miami, Wash DC, Chicago, NYC, St Luis, Memphis, Boston, Denver, Atlanta. LA and SF on motorcycle in rush hour. All this nothing comparing to Rome or even Paris.

You have drive defensively. Just assume they don't see you, and ~50% of the time you'd be right. Very useful skill, especially now that I commute on Prius C.

 

Even under camouflage, Hyundai's Prius fighter seems to do a better job of styling the Prius wedge:

 

Looks like a winner

 

I am of the opinion that Hyundai markets some of the finer looking automobiles sold today. I haven't quite persuaded myself to own one, but Consumer Reports generally rates them highly.

 

The turn-around point for them was the arrival of Gen VI Sonata in 2009? when they hired off Audi designer. One of the better looking cars of last decade. 2015 facelift was a serious step back. Having 8hr layover in LA I've rented one and drove on Angelis Crest hwy.. it wasn't bad. Too much body roll but no red flags and nice looking inside-out.

I still have a bad taste from 80s Hyundai Excel. That car needed a quart of oil every 100mi, and it had only 60K.. lemon. But then the idea of buying Hyundai isn't repulsive anymore, so I'd consider one now too.

 

Because I can buy two 2nd gen PiPs for the price of one Model S? Worst part of the Model S is when I go back to the Prius I have to adjust to two things:
1) Acceleration.
2) the car coasts when I take my foot off the brake.

PS. Kudos to PriusChat people - you are a much more polite group than the Tesla Model S forum. For some reason there are a significant number of "jerks" that hang out in that forum - any other PriusChat people who are on the Model S forum agree with that observation?

 

Very simple: more money you have less tolerant you become. More expensive cars attract money.

BMW drivers used to be an obnoxious bunch, but it looks they had moved to Tesla?