A car will soon be on the streets that costs under $10,000 and will get about 80 miles per gallon of gas. Why haven’t you heard about it? Eric Peters answers that question on a guest post at theburningplatform.com. One other feature about this car—it requires no government subsidies.
It’s interesting that the car That Makes Sense – economically and functionally – gets almost no press while cars that don’t (like the Tesla and other electric cars) do.
Elio Motors (company web site here) had a near-production-ready car on on display at the New York Auto Show last week. Company founder Paul Elio gave a presentation to reporters and took questions.
Bet you didn’t hear a thing about it.
This is downright Weird.
You’d think the media would be champing at the bit to let the public know that there is a car on the verge of production (with 41,000 of them already spoken for via cash-down reservations) that – according to Paul Elio – will cost well under $10,000 (under $8,000 is the target) and go well over 80 miles on a gallon of gasoline.
Ah, but it’s not electric – and so the Elio gets no love (much less coverage) from the media.
Electric cars (and other such cars) do because they lack the thing the media finds abhorrent – an internal combustion engine.
As long as it has batteries or fuel cells or solar panels or some other form of motive power – no matter how functionally impaired or expensive these may be – the media will spasm on the floor in ecstasy like a labrador retriever pup with a new chew toy. They will write stories more like love sonnets about the magnificence of whatever it is, provided it doesn’t use “old” and “dirty” technology.
That is, burn gas.
Well, the Elio does – but very little.
It is powered by a 900 cc three cylinder engine – about the same size as a typical motorcycle’s engine. Which is possible because the Elio weighs not much more than a motorcycle (about 1,250 pounds) and that is what makes 80-plus MPG possible.
Now, ponder that.
A car that can go 80-plus miles on a gallon of fuel is using very little fuel. The less fuel burned, the less exhaust produced and – here it comes! – the lower the emissions. The Elio’s emissions (it will comply with all of Uncle’s requirements) will be a fraction of those produced by any other currently available car simply by dint of the fact that it has a tiny engine that burns a fraction of the fuel.
No Magic (or elaborate/expensive technology) necessary.
Just simplicity – and light weight.
Which the media apparently doesn’t find attractive and therefore not worth reporting.
Meanwhile, endless fawning over the Tesla – the rich man’s toy subsidized by the working and middle class taxpayers who can look but never touch. They are fleeced by Uncle, so that Elon Musk – the Crony Capitalist King – can manufacturer $40,000-to-start (and from there to six figures) electric cars that are certainly sexy and Ferrari quick but which make as much sense as transportation as a thong does as clothing.
In Antarctica.
You have to be affluent – rich – to even contemplate the purchase (heavily subsidized by Uncle) of a Telsa. In which case, consideration of economy are an irrelevance. And if economy is irrelevant, what is the justification? Sexiness? Speed? Well, why not pay the rich to purchase Porsches, too?
Ah, but the Tesla is electric – and “zero emissions.”
Well, yes – it is electric. But “zero emissions”?
Sure, as far as the tailpipe (which, being electric, it hasn’t got). But electricity does not spontaneously appear out of the Void. It must be generated – and that requires (well, mostly involves) the burning of coal and oil, which produces emissions … just elsewhere.
Probably, more of them than the little Elio produces.
To continue reading: The Anti-Tesla Gets No Love
I’ve been following the Elio development for a couple of years. I think it’s a great idea. The world could use a fully enclosed three wheel motorcycle (autocycle) that costs what a motorcycle costs, gets better mileage than a motorcycle, and has much more utility than a motorcycle (rain, snow, groceries, etc.) However, I think the Tesla hating is unwarranted. Yes, Elon Musk did cash in on US federal subsidies, paid them off, and then said there shouldn’t be startup subsidies like these for Tesla’s competition. The Tesla is a great electric car, and there is definitely a market for that. Now that Tesla is rolling out a $35,000 version, more people can have a Tesla, but isn’t that usually the way new technology works? The early innovators pay more to develop the technology and the price drops for more volume sales later. In that sense, Elio is doing this backwards, because they are not trying to be Tesla. Different vehicle. Different market. But both are long overdue disruptions in the American automobile market that is not only stagnant, but I’d also say corrupt, given the crony laws in every state to protect the stealerships.