WilliamH
Elio Addict
Is the issue with the headlights their location or the fact that American headlights aim to the right to avoid blinding oncoming traffic while British and other right hand drive nations aim to the left for the same reason?
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Why The Prototypes Have To Wait On The Engine
- Thread starter Ekh
- Start date
Is the issue with the headlights their location or the fact that American headlights aim to the right to avoid blinding oncoming traffic while British and other right hand drive nations aim to the left for the same reason?
I have little to no knowledge and have been disappointed by the real knowledge I thought I had that was actually provided by Elio Motors. I personally credit EM for the positive progress and credit EM for the delays and funding shortfalls not some politician.AAaand you "know" this.......how?
You have no more "knowledge" than anyone on this forum.........
Common sense tells me that P. Elio and his Board investors are running the company and making the decisions. It is what it is. Frankly, the reason doesn't matter in the grand scheme of needing money to make any real continued progress. Perhaps there was no budget for the engine start event or Elio missed an IAV engine payment and the engine is under lock and key until payments are up to date. Speculation. The clock is ticking and I am anxiously waiting for some real headline news from a knowledgeable source.
WilliamH
Elio Addict
For whatever reason, Elio had to postpone the start demonstration six days ago. That's six days.
Unfortunately people have become accustomed to instant gratification.
When an event is planned and has to be rescheduled it takes time.
When people from multiple companys are involved it take more time.
Incidentally, funding held me up until recently so I went "all in" on 2/9/15.
Guess that makes me a true believer or something.
Cache Man
Elio Addict
Elio paid IAV up front for development. There wasn't a missed payment. IAV caused the postponement of the unveiling. I spoke to Elio today and they are planning on having a bigger event for the new unveiling date. This is what I understood based on what was said. They again confirmed that the Elio engine has been running and being tested.
Maybe they will have a new engine to "officially" start... and then maybe they will roll out the P4 with the new engine installed!!
I hope you are correct. I'd rather see that new engine in the EP5 prototype, but either will do.
Cache Man
Elio Addict
Elio said that the P4 is it. There will not be a P5. There is a slight change in the nose of the car but otherwise the P4 is the production version. There has been talk about a P5 in the blog, but Elio has confirmed to me that the P4 is it.
I assumed the new engine would drop into the upcoming 25 engineering prototypes that will be used for factory tooling and testing. I thought they were referred to as the EP5's. They would be hand built for a precision engine fit and fully specified. I may be mistaken.
Cache Man
Elio Addict
I am pretty sure, based on my experience, that during the time of the manufacturing of the test cars they will be creating tooling, fixturing, and develop the processes that will be used in the actual production run. This is a very good time to do so and to perfect the system/process the best they can. Many people were using the "P5" with anticipation that there will be. It is just a idea that has spread and assumed to be true. Then I am unsure were the "E" came into play. Elio refers to the models as "P#".
In another blog the P4 vs P5 was being discussed. Jerome told me personally that the P4 is the production model and that there won't be a P5.
I thought the EP5's were engineering prototypes. I heard Jerome say that the first of the EP5's would be used for tooling the production line and the following builds would be used for ride and drive events and testing, but much has changed since that statement. Time will tell.
wheaters
Elio Addict
It's the location of the headlights. Obviously, like any other vehicle made in USA for other markets, where the rule is to drive on the left, light units can be made to dip to the left, rather than to the right, a fairly simple change in the lens design. I understand that it's also acceptable for lights to dip vertically down, provided that a certain light pattern is produced (my USA market Honda Nighthawk 750 is like this).
The build regulations require the headlights to be no further than 400 mm from the outside edge of the vehicle. It's all to do with oncoming drivers to be able to correctly judge the full width of the vehicle. Although I haven't had the benefit of seeing an Elio in the flesh, so I could measure them, it appears to me that the P4 has the lights too far inboard. Another rule says only one set of headlights is allowed, so fitting auxiliary headlights and/or marker lights on the fenders unfortunately probably wouldn't satisfy the requirement.
Having put my self built Liege through the vehicle testing procedure, which took almost half a day, I know how thorough it is. Without a pass certificate, it is impossible to register a vehicle here. It would be a huge shame if Elio don't check the UK regulations and see what can be done about ensuring compliance. Because the only factory example of my type of car predated the testing procedure as it is now, I had to buy the official manual and build the car in accordance with it. My car passed the inspection first time out; many other similar cars did not. Something as fundamental as headlight placing is essential to get right.