Still waiting for an Elio? Here's another cheap 3-wheeler in the works (Sondor)

Behold, the Sondor 3-wheeler:

It's an EV. The cheapest model with 75 miles of range should go for $10k, production is planned to start next year.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/05/sondors-three-wheeled-ev-test-drive/

That's not bad looking

Sort of looks like a 3 wheel first gen Insight. That's not a bad thing. $13k for 150 miles would meet my needs nicely.

Not bad.  Personally, I'm hoping the proposed VW Microbus EV will meet my needs for space and range, but this could be a serviceable alternative for general commuting.

I will believe it when I see it in showrooms.

Its nice they closed up the space around the rear wheel with body.   Most three wheelers leave that area unfinished. 

I could deal with that as an around-town commuter/runabout. I for a while toyed with trying to build a Tri-Magnum to drive around town (long before meeting SWMBO).

Lots better looking than the Elio to my eye.  Hoping this one actually makes to market!

Looks sweet 

The0retical said:

Sort of looks like a 3 wheel first gen Insight. 

Came to say this!

Hmmm...RWD. I'd buy one. Not going to hold my breath for production

Nice looking EV.  But I lost interest by the time my eyes hit the door handle.   I still prefer dead dinosaurs.

Is Elio even still in business?

Any crash standards or is this an enclosed motorbike?

In reply to Blaise :

The vehicle shown looks to be an early prototype, so I would guess it hasn't been tested yet.  As a three-wheeler, it probably will be classified as a motorcycle and exempt from crash standards although historically these companies know their market and usually try to engineer them to automotive requirements.  

As far as Elio... the website is still up, although it doesn't look like there has been much in the way of updates since 2016 other than some blog posts.  A bit of Googling turned up nothing conclusive either way, although an Oct 2017 article indicates a dim outlook.

As long as gas is cheap, vehicles like this will have a limited market.  

The0retical said:

Sort of looks like a 3 wheel first gen Insight. That's not a bad thing. $13k for 150 miles would meet my needs nicely.

that would cover my weekly commute perfectly

Meh, my 3-wheeler will retail at $9,000. Honestly. Send venture capital. Bitcoin accepted....

I will say that's probably the most aesthetic 3-wheeler design yet from a mainstream perspective. It looks like it could have been penned by Honda circa 10-15 years ago, and that's a good thing.  

The basic problem that all such vehicles have is A - the market for two-seaters is weak, B - there's no history of success to draw from (the opposite in many peoples minds), and C - how is it superior to currently available 3 and 4-wheeled options? It's a tough sell from a fuel-efficiency or performance  perspective, which leaves cost. And that's a darn hard road to hoe.

Ian F said:

As long as gas is cheap, vehicles like this will have a limited market.  

There will always be a limited market for vehicles that don't actually exist.

In reply to Kreb :

My understanding is the Sondor will only be an EV, so it's competing more with the used Leaf market.  Otherwise I agree they have a tough road to travel.  Economy cars in general don't sell well in the US and have trouble being profitable. I try to be an optimist, but the best chances I give the Sondor are maybe 50% to making it to production (and that is probably being extremely generous).  Still... I think they have a better chance the Elio does/did.  

Personally, I think the 3-wheeler that had the best chance was the Aptera - mainly because it looked so different.  It had that "look at me!!" factor a vehicle like this needs to have to appeal to early adopters of tech like this.  Different enough I think buyers would have been willign to pay a premium for the car.  Unfortunately, I think the design was too far ahead for the available technology of the time.

I think this will appeal to those that are trying to lessen their carbon footprint. If I owned one, it would go a long way to offsetting the amount of dead dinosaurs my Rover drinks

Even the base model sounds about perfect for 90% of my driving. I've put less than 60 miles on the QX4 since filling it up last Thursday, so I would probably only need to charge it 2-3 times a week, and I could sell the scooter since this would be even more efficient to drive around (and have far more cargo capacity and be comfortable in the rain/cold). If it were a convertible it would be even more perfect.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

Even the base model sounds about perfect for 90% of my driving. I've put less than 60 miles on the QX4 since filling it up last Thursday, so I would probably only need to charge it 2-3 times a week, and I could sell the scooter since this would be even more efficient to drive around (and have far more cargo capacity and be comfortable in the rain/cold). If it were a convertible it would be even more perfect.

If people honestly bought cars with that thinking, the world population of cars would be very, very different.

But that has never happened.

my official stance on this is, "hmm..."

mad_machine said:

I think this will appeal to those that are trying to lessen their carbon footprint. If I owned one, it would go a long way to offsetting the amount of dead dinosaurs my Rover drinks

Perhaps, but the first generation Prius sold like crap - by most accounts because it looked like a run of the mill compact Toyota.  When they changed to the cam-back design that stood out, sales took off (although hurricane Katrina helped).

Otherwise, I agree - a base model could theoretically meet my current commuting needs, assuming that is "real world" range with A/C and/or heat running and not just "best" range.

Range is always "best" range, so you'd need to go for a higher model if you want to drive that far AND run the AC. Deeply discharging the battery on a regular basis wears it out faster anyway.