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.
Certainly, this
will be the case once the cars are mass-produced. Because people –
not just rich people – will be able to afford the Elio.
Lots of people.
Unless Musk can reduce the cost of his Toy
by at least 50 percent, it will never be other than a low-production rich man’s
indulgence. But the Elio will cost about 50 percent less than a current economy
car.
Almost anyone will be able to afford it.
And the cost to operate it
will be next to nil. Not just because it burns very little fuel but because it
will cost very little to insure.
Elio Vice President of Sales Jerome
Vassallo told the media at the NY Auto Show the company is hoping to have the
Elio classified by the government as an Autocycle. This is a regulatory class
different from conventional cars (with four wheels) but also different from
motorcycles (which have two). The Elio (a three-wheeler) will have air bags
(bikes generally don’t) and will meet a very high standard of crashworthiness,
Vassal said. It will have a reinforced (and of course, enclosed) cabin with an
integrated roll cage and these things alone will make it much superior in terms
of occupant safety than a motorcycle (usually cheap to insure unless it’s a
high-performance sport bike) and comparable to or even better than a current
subcompact car.
The cost to insure a Tesla is … higher.
A lot higher.
Because insurance is based at least as much
on the cost to replace the thing – in the event of a major crash that totals it
– as it is on how “safe” it is in the event of crash. If someone totals a
Tesla, their insurance company is looking at cutting a check for $40k or so.
This fact is reflected in the premiums.
The Elio would cost $8k or so to replace.
This fact will also be reflected in the cost of its premiums.
A full coverage policy for a new $10k
motorcycle (other than a high performance sport bike) is typically $250 or so a
year – about a third (or less) what it costs to buy a comprehensive coverage
policy for a $40,000 entry-luxury car (which is what the least expensive Tesla
is by definition).
Probably, a person would pay more to insure an
entry-level Tesla over eight years than one would spend to buy an
entire Elio.
This will probably appeal to people.
Well, how about maintenance? The electric
Tesla requires no oil changes, no periodic tune-ups or valvetrain maintenance
while the Elio – which has an IC engine – will require some of those things.
True.
But the Elio has just a small 12V battery
that costs about $100 to replace every five years or so (like any other car)
while the Tesla has a battery pack that will cost thousands to
replace when the time eventually comes. The Tesla’s battery pack alone costs
nearly much as the Elio itself.
But all these practical (and economic)
considerations don’t seem to get the Elio much traction – with the media. Even
the automotive media has been largely silent.
Except, mostly, me.
But I’ve been excommunicated from the
mainstream media because I refused the Kool Aid, do not sing sonnets of Tesla.
I despise Elon Musk and have said so, in print. The mainstream media hides its
bias.
I am open about mine.
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