Elio Motors thinks its new three-wheeled vehicle will be the next big thing in transportation. Before your eyes roll out of your head, let's look at the claims. Top speed -- more than 100 mph. Zero-60 mph -- less than 10 seconds. Range -- 672 miles.

Those all sound like great numbers, but we've heard that song before. But here's one we haven't heard: The Elio will carry an entry price of just $6,800. At least that's what founder Paul Elio said the two-passenger car will cost when deliveries start in July of 2014.

The front-engined Elio is said to return 84 mpg with its eight-gallon tank, leading to its Detroit-to-New-York range. Elio also said he expects the vehicle to get a five-star crash rating from NHTSA in all directions.

According to Elio, the car will be produced in a plant in Shreveport, La., previously owned by GM. They expect to create 1,500 jobs and make a capital investment of more than $100 million. The plant was purchased from Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust, which was created during GM's bankruptcy to redevelop shuttered GM locations.

The Elio uses a three-cylinder, 1.0-liter engine making 70 hp with either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic. The company will announce its parts suppliers at a press conference in May.

The three-wheeler is considered a motorcycle, according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, but Elio wants to know what you see when you look at it.

“Fully enclosed, power windows, wiper blades, steering wheel, gas and brake pedals … you be the judge.”

Most states will not require a motorcycle license to drive it, according to Elio, but check your local laws to be sure.

The Elio rides on an independent suspension with unequal-length control arms. Coil-over springs and shocks sit at each wheel. Ground clearance measures 5.75 inches.

Elio says the vehicle will fit 95 percent of all men comfortably, and that it was designed to fit a 6-foot 1-inch, 220-pound man perfectly. The rear seat folds down to reveal 47 inches of cargo length, which Elio says is enough to fit a golf bag. You'll have to meet the foursome at the links.

The company is offering four levels of reservations -- with clever names -- on its website now.

$100: This is cool, I'm in.

This level entitles you to a $50 bonus, plus a limited edition t-shirt and bumper sticker.

$250: I'm feeling it.

This level yields a $125 deposit discount off of your final price, as well as the aforementioned t-shirt and bumper sticker.

$500: I want it.

This level takes an extra $250 off the final price it includes the swag.

$1000: Gotta have it.

The highest level means you get one of the first cars to roll off the line and an extra $500 off at purchase. It didn't mention the swag, but we assume it's also included.

All levels include updates and a periodic newsletter on Elio's progress.

The Elio could just be vaporware, never to be seen again. On the other hand, it could be the next Tesla Motors. We'll check back in with Elio at its May press conference.

Elio Motors unveiled a prototype of its two-passenger, three-wheeled vehicle Wednesday, confirming the all-new vehicle will have a $6,800 base price when it goes on sale in June 2014.

Paul Elio, company founder and CEO, said the vehicle is targeted at first-time or cash-strapped buyers, as well as for families who already have a family car and are seeking something inexpensive for daily commuting.

Its sub $7,000-base price makes it almost half the price of the cheapest car in the U.S. -- the base Nissan Versa, which carries a $12,780 price tag after shipping charges -- and Elio says its quirky three-wheel design cuts weight and improves aerodynamics to help it achieve 49 mpg in the city, 84 mpg on the highway.

Engineering details are still being tweaked, but Elio said the vehicle weighs less than 800 pounds and will likely be powered by a 1.0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine, with power transferred to the front wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission.

Top speed is in excess of 100 mph, and the 0-60 mph time is under 9.6 seconds.

The vehicle can be registered as a motorcycle because it has less than four wheels, but Elio says most states will not require a motorcycle license to operate the vehicle, although but the company still recommends checking with your state.

Elio said the vehicle meets every necessary four-wheel vehicle safety requirement.

Federal safety ratings aren't issued until after the car is put into production, but Elio expects to receive a five-star rating. The vehicle has a full steel frame, antilock braking system and three airbags that create a "cocoon," Elio said.

With a 110-inch wheelbase and 161 inches in length overall, its not too far from the 2013 Honda Civic sedan, which has a 105.1-inch wheelbase and is 179.4-inches overall.

We got a chance to sit inside the Elio, and even climbed into the second-row seat. Despite its diminutive looks, there was plenty of head and shoulder room once inside. The tall greenhouse and large windows kept us from feeling claustrophobic while sitting in the back.

They have even considered cargo space, with a fold-down back seat that Elio says can make room for a set of golf clubs.

Elio also announced a unique financing option. Buyers can receive a credit card with a $300 limit that is solely for the vehicle's fuel sales. Each time the card is used, Elio would add an extra amount to use to pay back the loan. For example, a $10 fuel purchase would appear as $30 on a credit card statement, with $20 being used to pay back the loan. More information on this program will be available closer to the vehicle's launch.

The three-wheeler will have a national launch after production begins in June of 2014. Production will be in a former General Motors assembly plant in Shreveport, La.

Elio said they are predicting a whopping 250,000 units to be sold per year. He admitted that that is a "nutty number," but said that the vehicle should catch the attention of new-car shoppers with its low base price and quirky design.

They are off to a good start, as Elio said there are already 13,000 units reserved.

Elio Motors, the spunky and potentially revolutionary micro-carmaker founded in the depths of the recession, continued its drive to productivity with the launch of its fifth prototype, at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The bright red P5 is the first prototype of the three-wheeled enclosed car to feature Elio’s own engine, a three-cylinder transverse-mounted naturally aspirated unit making 60 hp and 55 pound feet of torque. Earlier prototypes featured engines from ancient Geo Metros. This unit was made by iAV in Northville, Michigan in cooperation with, or at least with some input by, Porsche’s Weissach R&D facility. So it’s a Porsche engine?

“Ha ha, no,” said powertrain project development director Kody Klindt.

The 0.9-liter SOHC powerplant does feature a sort of VTEC, with each cam lobe featuring two profiles. A hydraulically actuated pin switches lobes at the direction of an algorithm built into the software. It also has port fuel injection. Why not direct injection, we made the mistake of asking?

“Do you know how much that costs?” said Klindt, with surprising enthusiasm. “The five percent increase in output you get isn’t worth it.”

Did they ever try a motorcycle engine we asked.

“A motorcycle engine? Those things make all kinds of horsepower at about 12,000 rpm,” he said. “No motorcycle engine would meet our needs.”

So Elio made its own. This one redlines at “7000 or 7200 rpm.” It’s had 300 hours on the dyno, too. It weighs between 150 and 160 pounds in its current form but will weigh less in production trim. The engine in P5 was mated to an Aisin five-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels. About 70 percent of the car/trike’s weight is over the front wheels.

It has, or will have: ABS, traction control, stability control, air conditioning and heating. P5 even had a windshield wiper, which no earlier prototype has had, though this one wasn’t hooked up so as not to scratch the prototype Plexiglas windshield.

Inside, P5 is a little more comfortable, with a repositioned arm rest and an inch more headroom in the rear tandem seat. Outside, the body on prototype 5 is fiberglass but will be SMC composite on production units. The Elio gets to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds and tops out over 100 mph, the company claims. Elio still touts an 84 mpg figure for efficiency and a sticker price of $6800 not counting destination, though founder Paul Elio has admitted the actual price could be over $7000.

Elio has a production facility in Shreveport, Louisiana that it got for a song when GM declared bankruptcy in 2009. The plant has inside it a lot of the things Elio will need to build cars. So what’s the hold up? Cash. Estimates are that Elio Motors needs $200 million more to fire up the production line. That could come from the Federal government’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. We’ll see.

For now we have this lovely red three-wheeler. While P5 was driven into the show under its own power, we won't be able to drive one until next year. Looks like it'd be fun.

Elio Motors Inc., the Arizona startup planning to begin commercial production of its oft-delayed three-wheeled vehicles next year, said today it will assemble test vehicles in suburban Detroit.

Elio said in a news release it will assemble its E-series vehicles to “conduct safety, system-performance, manufacturability and durability tests” at a new pilot operations center in Livonia, Mich.

A company spokesman said Elio added eight members to its team to assemble the vehicles, the first of which will test the antilock braking system supplier Continental AG provided. More tests will follow, Elio said.

“Beginning the E-series assembly is another important milestone in our journey toward production, as these test vehicles will allow our engineering and supplier teams to evaluate and validate our design,” CEO Paul Elio said in a statement. “Commencement of the build will be another tangible sign of the progress we continue to make every day in our unrelenting quest to get this vehicle to market.”

Elio said last month that “the bulk” of its commercial production will not begin until 2017, three years after its initial goal. The company, which said in a March regulatory filing that it has accumulated a deficit of about $53.8 million, also noted “we anticipate generating a significant loss for the current fiscal year.”

The company previously planned to deliver the vehicles to the more than 50,000 people who preordered them in 2014 and in 2016.

Elio says the three-wheeled vehicle, which is planned for production in a former General Motors assembly plant in Shreveport, La., will get up to 84 mpg and will sell for $6,800. Elio said last month the company will sell more than 100 preproduction vehicles this year to generate revenue and to allow Roush, its lead engineering partner, to “provide a quieter, smoother vehicle.”

The Livonia center is next to Technosports Creative, the company that supplied Elio with four of its prototype vehicles, Elio said. It chose suburban Detroit for test vehicle assembly in part for its convenience, said Gino Raffin, Elio vice president of manufacturing and product launch.

Raffin said, “Building the E-series vehicles in Detroit allows for a seamless and timely execution because the majority of our original equipment supplier partnerships are based here.”