Garth's Equipment Shop wrote:And how is this "safe" again? I'm really surprised this was not among the questions already asked despite their quality.
THIS is a GOOD QUESTION.
01. The Elio is designed not to tip over on flat ground. The company states that it cannot be done. That sounds more like a challenge, but...
02. Under the body, the Elio is built more like an airplane than a typical car. It's more like a roll cage with a skin, from what I understand. (It also has airbags.) Based on Elio's tests they expect the Elio to have a 5-Star crash rating. You can't actually get that rating until a production version of the car is tested by the NTSB, but that's what they are expecting.
To to be completely honest and not sugar coat anything, I expect that in anything more than the lightest fender bender, the occupants of the vehicle will survive and the rest of the car will be smashed to shit. That front end does not look like it would do well if Bubba's 4WD truck ran into it.
Also, for reference - crash ratings:
Front impact:
5 Stars = 10 percent or less chance of injury
4 Stars = 11-20 percent chance of injury
3 Stars = 21-35 percent chance of injury
2 Stars = 36-45 percent chance of injury
1 Star = 46 percent or greater chance of injury
Side impact:
5 Stars = 5 percent or less chance of injury
4 Stars = 6-10 percent chance of injury
3 Stars = 11-20 percent chance of injury
2 Stars = 21-25 percent chance of injury
1 Star = 26 percent or greater chance of injury
Roll over:
5 Stars = 10 percent or less risk of rollover
4 Stars = 10-20 percent risk of rollover
3 Stars = 20-30 percent risk of rollover
2 Stars = 30-40 percent risk of rollover
1 Star = 40 percent or greater risk of rollover
[quote="Garth's Equipment Shop"]And how is this "safe" again? I'm really surprised this was not among the questions already asked despite their quality.[/quote]
THIS is a GOOD QUESTION.
01. The Elio is designed not to tip over on flat ground. The company states that it cannot be done. That sounds more like a challenge, but...
02. Under the body, the Elio is built more like an airplane than a typical car. It's more like a roll cage with a skin, from what I understand. (It also has airbags.) Based on Elio's tests they expect the Elio to have a 5-Star crash rating. You can't actually get that rating until a production version of the car is tested by the NTSB, but that's what they are expecting.
To to be completely honest and not sugar coat anything, I expect that in anything more than the lightest fender bender, the occupants of the vehicle will survive and the rest of the car will be smashed to shit. That front end does not look like it would do well if Bubba's 4WD truck ran into it.
Also, for reference - crash ratings:
Front impact:
5 Stars = 10 percent or less chance of injury
4 Stars = 11-20 percent chance of injury
3 Stars = 21-35 percent chance of injury
2 Stars = 36-45 percent chance of injury
1 Star = 46 percent or greater chance of injury
Side impact:
5 Stars = 5 percent or less chance of injury
4 Stars = 6-10 percent chance of injury
3 Stars = 11-20 percent chance of injury
2 Stars = 21-25 percent chance of injury
1 Star = 26 percent or greater chance of injury
Roll over:
5 Stars = 10 percent or less risk of rollover
4 Stars = 10-20 percent risk of rollover
3 Stars = 20-30 percent risk of rollover
2 Stars = 30-40 percent risk of rollover
1 Star = 40 percent or greater risk of rollover