Elio Turns to Roush for Help

If you’ve been wondering whether Elio, the three-wheeled super-economy car brand, is still in business, it somehow is. Years and years after promising an actual product on the market, the startup still thinks it has something revolutionary.

Elio expended considerable resources repurposing a Geo powertrain to power its vehicle, but now a partnership with Roush will probably annihilate all that work. A report from Autoblog about this development speculates this means Elios will use Ford’s turbocharged three-cylinder EcoBoost engine.

While Elio isn’t saying what engine Roush will supply, it is playing up the development by saying it will nearly double horsepower without sacrificing fuel efficiency or price. It also says this will push the market launch date to an earlier timeframe.

Just when will the Elio three-wheeler finally hit the market? At this point, I don’t think anyone could offer an even remotely educated guess, including Elio.