Lean, Green 84 MPG Machine Planned for 2014
By: Never mind those 50 MPG hybrids — how about over 80 miles per gallon? And for under $7,000?
That's what Elio Motors promises in a rollout planned for 2014. The vehicle is like nothing you'll see on the street today.
The narrow-bodied car is classified as a motorcycle, for regulations purposes, because it has just three wheels (the single in the rear). It takes just the driver and one passenger in back.
"At highway speeds most of your fuel is going to moving air," founder Paul Elio explained on CNBC's "Street Signs.""We're half as wide, we move half as much air, we get double the mileage. There's no magic here."
"We get 84 miles per gallon, and that's what drove the design."
Elio said the as-yet-unnamed car can hit 107 mph, will come in eight colors, and take a sticker price of $6,800. The company website is taking reservations for the first ones to roll off the line.
Production is planned to begin in June 2014, Elio said, with 1,500 workers at a shuttered General Motors plant near Shreveport, La.
