“Let’s Drive to New York for Less Than $15”

With the ability to go from Wilmington, NC all the way to New York City on a single tank of gas, with extra to spare, Elios Motors new vehicle intends on making an impact on the current fuel economy. While there is support for production,specifically 38,593 reservations as of last week, there are a number of critics of the Elio that are suggesting that the quirky style of the design won’t make it the most practical.
One key piece that opponents of the Elio are making is how the vehicle is how this in legal terms, is not a car. Being under 1,500 pounds in weight and only three wheeled, the vehicle falls under the motorcycle category. With that being said, North Carolina § 20-140.4 requires that driver and passenger must wear a helmet to drive on the public roads. This loses some potential customers as not everyone wants to wear a helmet while inside a vehicle, however North Carolina is one of only five states with the helmet law applying to Elio, so unless one would be driving to Missouri, Nebraska, West Virginia or Mississippi, no helmet is required.
Aside from that aspect, the place where Elio garners most of its support for is practicality. Getting 84 MPG with an ability to get up to a staggering 672 miles on a single tank, support is here with the car being a very efficient touring vehicle, effortlessly beating out motorcycles such as Honda’s CB500X with 66 MPG and cars such as Toyota’s Prius with 51 MPG. With that in mind the $6,800 base price tag attracts plenty of looks, and with the price of gas averaging under $2.14, makes trips such as that to the “Big Apple” within reach.

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This is an automotive centered blog by Jarrell McQueen. With emphasis on rising trends in automotive ingenuity, I’ll work to shine light onto some of many topics to cover, and with that in mind, drive on