Changing Ps To Es

[DAVID BROWER]

LOOKS LIKE THE P-5 IS THE END OF THE ROAD FOR THE P SERIES OF ELIOS

http://www.eliomotors.com/what-is-p-to-e/

ELIO SAID IN TODAY's FRIDAY BLOG THAT THE NEXT ROUND OF CARS WILL
DESIGNATED E-6 TO E-30 ( NOT RELATED TO THE BMW E30 )
INSTEAD OF THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED NOMENCLATURE P-6 TO P-30 .

THE "E" STANDS FOR ENGINEERING . THEY DECIDED TO CHANGE THE
PROTOTYPE "P" BECAUSE THE NEXT ROUND OF 25 CARS WILL BE A GROUP BUILD
INSTEAD OF ONE AT A TIME LIKE THEIR PREDECESSORS .

THE LETTER CHANGE MAKE SENSE TO ME AND DOES INDICATE THAT WE
ARE ENTERING A NEW CHAPTER IN THE ELIO STORY .

SO MY QUESTION FOR ELIO IS , WHAT LETTER DESIGNATION WILL THE
FACTORY PRODUCED CARS CARRY ?

 

[pistonboy]

Elio Motors just announced in an email that P6-P30 will now be called E1-E25. E for engineering. Is this just word hype of does this signify something serious? The email said:

"The “E” vehicles will not be made in succession like the “P” vehicles, they will be made essentially at the same time. This will significantly shorten the timeline versus making 25 vehicles one after the other.

The parts will move to standardization in the “E” vehicles. The “P” vehicles were handmade, the team created or borrowed a significant amount of parts for those vehicles. The “E” vehicles will use significantly more parts from our supplier partners with those parts ultimately resulting in the final production vehicle."

I found this interesting. Any opinions?

 

[pistonboy]

At minimum this affects the amount of time we thought would be needed. They are not made in succession.

 

[Bilbo B]

Jerome told me a couple of weeks ago that the crash test vehicles had to be using standard, production rated parts, so it makes sense. He mentioned it with regard to the body panels, so I'm sure it holds for the frame and other critical parts. At 20 weeks to build the P4, even if they cut that in half, you'd be looking at several years before you'd see 25 'E' models if they built them one at a time. They pretty much have to build them in parallel. If it really takes 20 weeks to build all 25, they won't be crash testing until 2016. Granted they won't all finish the same day, and not all will have functional everything (Jerome mentioned models intended for crash tests only wouldn't have real engines, for example), but not starting that testing until January cuts it close to start production in July. There's little time to react to anything they find in the testing that they have to correct.

 

[Ekh]

LOOKS LIKE THE P-5 IS THE END OF THE ROAD FOR THE P SERIES OF ELIOS

http://www.eliomotors.com/what-is-p-to-e/

ELIO SAID IN TODAY's FRIDAY BLOG THAT THE NEXT ROUND OF CARS WILL
DESIGNATED E-6 TO E-30 ( NOT RELATED TO THE BMW E30 )
INSTEAD OF THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED NOMENCLATURE P-6 TO P-30 .

THE "E" STANDS FOR ENGINEERING . THEY DECIDED TO CHANGE THE
PROTOTYPE "P" BECAUSE THE NEXT ROUND OF 25 CARS WILL BE A GROUP BUILD
INSTEAD OF ONE AT A TIME LIKE THEIR PREDECESSORS .

THE LETTER CHANGE MAKE SENSE TO ME AND DOES INDICATE THAT WE
ARE ENTERING A NEW CHAPTER IN THE ELIO STORY .

SO MY QUESTION FOR ELIO IS , WHAT LETTER DESIGNATION WILL THE
FACTORY PRODUCED CARS CARRY ?

This designation: $-1

 

[Ekh]

Jerome told me a couple of weeks ago that the crash test vehicles had to be using standard, production rated parts, so it makes sense. He mentioned it with regard to the body panels, so I'm sure it holds for the frame and other critical parts. At 20 weeks to build the P4, even if they cut that in half, you'd be looking at several years before you'd see 25 'E' models if they built them one at a time. They pretty much have to build them in parallel. If it really takes 20 weeks to build all 25, they won't be crash testing until 2016. Granted they won't all finish the same day, and not all will have functional everything (Jerome mentioned models intended for crash tests only wouldn't have real engines, for example), but not starting that testing until January cuts it close to start production in July. There's little time to react to anything they find in the testing that they have to correct.

It's worth remembering that not all the E cars have to be completely finished, right down to Skyzmatic. Different tests require different levels of finish. For example, for a head-on crash test, you'd need the seats, seat belts, dash, steering gear and maybe front axles. But you don't need an actual, highly-machined engine -- you just need a block of metal with the same overall dimensions and weight. Thus saving mucho time and money.

Similarly, for a side impact test, you only need to completely finish the side you're going to slam. And so forth.

 

[goofyone]

The interesting thing to me is that, while this is news to many people, this has been the plan all along. The E series vehicles were discussed way back in Tech Talk v5 very early in 2014.

Up until this point, the prototypes have been built as a “one-off” for engineering purposes to answer specific questions. The next series of builds will be considered E builds where 18 to 26 vehicles, each numbered accordingly, will be built to address a specific mission (e.g., fuel economy) from which it will be evaluated against. It is also important to note that through each of these series of steps, the production assembly sequence, methodology and the needed tools are being finalized. Therefore, the objective is to prototype a vehicle for engineering as well as prototype the assembly process. This is a critical difference between Elio Motors and other automotive manufacturers given Paul’s vision was to take a more conservative approach in design by constantly keeping production capabilities at the forefront when developing the vehicle design.

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=24b371802c83d81776b06aa68&id=e32f0f9f33&e

From my discussions with EM personnel what I understand is that after the E-Series comes X-Series, alpha production builds, beta production builds, and finally production builds.

The X-series are the final pre-production vehicles which will be built during the plant commissioning and initial plant worker training phases. These builds are used for testing and tweaking all the plant equipment to make everything ready for production. The X-builds also provide an opportunity to ensure each installation step is initially documented while allowing initial plant workers to receive training before actual production begins.

The alpha and beta production stages will consists of several thousand vehicles each. Unlike software development these terms are not necessarily indicative of engineering changes but instead denote how much QA will occur on these vehicles as they move down the line and/or after they are completed. Tweaks to the process will be occurring during this period to improve line efficiency and resolve any build issues discovered as well as develop the standardized post-build checklists which will be used during the production run. They will, of course, also be on the look out for any engineering issues which need to be addressed as well.

 

[Ekh]

The interesting thing to me is that, while this is news to many people, this has been the plan all along. The E series vehicles were discussed way back in Tech Talk v5 very early in 2014.


From my discussions with EM personnel what I understand is that after the E-Series comes X-Series, alpha production builds, beta production builds, and finally production builds.

The X-series are the final pre-production vehicles which will be built during the plant commissioning and initial plant worker training phases. These builds are used for testing and tweaking all the plant equipment to make everything ready for production. The X-builds also provide an opportunity to ensure each installation step is initially documented while allowing initial plant workers to receive training before actual production begins.

The alpha and beta production stages will consists of several thousand vehicles each. Unlike software development these terms are not necessarily indicative of engineering changes but instead denote how much QA will occur on these vehicles as they move down the line and/or after they are completed. Tweaks to the process will be occurring during this period to improve line efficiency and resolve any build issues discovered as well as develop the standardized post-build checklists which will be used during the production run. They will, of course, also be on the look out for any engineering issues which need to be addressed as well.

Wonder what happens to the alpha and beta vehicles. Maybe some lucky factory workers get to take home a door prize?

 

[Coss]

The alpha and beta production stages will consists of several thousand vehicles each. Unlike software development these terms are not necessarily indicative of engineering changes but instead denote how much QA will occur on these vehicles as they move down the line and/or after they are completed. Tweaks to the process will be occurring during this period to improve line efficiency and resolve any build issues discovered as well as develop the standardized post-build checklists which will be used during the production run. They will, of course, also be on the look out for any engineering issues which need to be addressed as well.

Several thousand? I doubt if they are just going to toss these away; and just as EKH asked, what happens to them?

 

[Thomas Maule]

I am hoping the first production cars are an R series, for reservation holders...