We just checked out Elio's $7,300 car for the masses

Elio Motors has one of the more interesting, and simple, ideas in the auto industry.

The Arizona-headquartered transport startup, with a factory in Louisiana, just started taking deposits on its first vehicle, a three-wheeler that's street-legal, made in the USA, and that will sell for just over $7,000. So far, over 50,000 people have plunked down some dough for a pre-order.

The idea is to provide basic mobility to folks who couldn't otherwise afford a basic set of wheels. The cheapest new car on sale in the US, the Nissan Versa, goes for over ten grand.

True, you could get a halfway decent used car for $7,000, but it probably wouldn't be as exotic as Elio's new machine. It also wouldn't get over 80 mpg.

So what's the thing like? Well, it runs on gas and had a standard transmission, and two seats. Elio brought a prototype by our New York office, and we checked it out:

Photos by Hollis Johnson.