Two More Cents

[RogWild]

To maintain credibility and to convert deposits into sales, they definitely should maintain the $6800 price for those who put down initial deposits. Mr. Elio said they plan to build 250k per year, so the 20k who put down deposits should be rewarded by maintaining the $6.8k price. Delivery cost of $400 is reasonable, especially if they offer a no-cost factory pick up as speculated.

Keeping the $6.8k price would be 'nice'; but 'Terms & Conditions" clearly state that no sale price is 'guaranteed'! (even for those that already have 'early' reservations)

 

[Ekh]

Perhaps Elio will ship cars by rail the same way Ford and Honda move cars across the country in specially designed rail cars called auto racks..........saving 30-50% in transportation fees.

There are rail transport companies on line claiming $429 to ship a vehicle anywhere in the USA.......why not from the Shreveport Factory to the regional Elio Stores across the country?

You still have to get the vehicles from the railhead to the distribution center by -- guess what -- truck. Unless, of course, Elio is going to build distribution centers straddling rail tracks across America ....

 

[Rickb]

You still have to get the vehicles from the railhead to the distribution center by -- guess what -- truck. Unless, of course, Elio is going to build distribution centers straddling rail tracks across America ....

The Shreveport Plant has rail access. Rail is more efficient moving more vehicles per rail car. Trucking vehicles from regional railheads to Elio Stores is still cheaper than trucking across country. I guess you could pick your Elio up at the railhead to eliminate trucking..............saving on those additional delivery fees.

 

[Ty]

The following is just my opinion. If you have better information feel free to disagree.

Several threads have briefly mentioned transportation of Elios from the Shreveport factory. I would like to discuss this in more detail. (I have Class A CDL so I am familiar with the industry and that is why I have an interest in discussing this topic.)

I believe production is expected to start out at around 250 Elios per day. Later they expect up to ramp up to 500 per day.

Typically an auto transport truck carries nine to twelve vehicles. For ease of discussion lets say they can carry ten Elios. That is twenty-five truck loads per day at the 250 per day rate. Assuming an average four-day turnaround, a total of 100 trucks would be needed. These trucks will have to be specifically modified/built to be able to load the Elios, or, as I read in a post today, dollies may be used. 100 times 10 is a lot of dollies, and a lot of work for the drivers. I can't see that happening.

Of course, when production increases to 500 per day the numbers will double.

It is very likely that Elio Motors (EM) will sub out the transporting to private, auto transport companies. EM will negotiate with the carrier for the lowest price but the carrier(s) will have an investment of 8 to 10 million dollars (if new equipment) so will not be inclined to charge less than the going rate. I haven't bought a new car lately but I believe car dealers are charging over $800 for the delivery fee.

EM could exclude a transportation fee for factory pickups in their contract with the carrier(s). I hope that will be the case but it will be determined by the contract negotiations. Realistically, I expect there will be a reduced transportation fee for factory pickups, but a fee nevertheless.





I found this on movecars.com .

Regions
Average Price*

Midwest to Northeast
$753

Northeast to Southeast
$832

Southwest to Northeast
$1067

Southeast to Southwest
$1251

Southeast to Midwest
$856

*These prices reflect the average market cost of shipping a standard car during March 2014.

It makes more sense for.Elio to just install the rear dolly instead of a single.wheel for vehicles.being shipped via truck. The drivers shouldn't have to have any special equipment to haul around the Eli is. In fact, it should be a bit cheaper to haul Elios since they'll be lighter than most other vehicles. In fact, I'd be surprised if most of them weren't shipped without even seats installed... well, maybe they'll put some seats in there.

Say, they are shipping to Albuquerque and the ABQ distribution center needs leather seats but no cloth seats. It may be cheaper to put at headsets inall 10 being transported and letting the distro center remove them as needed to build cars to order. That way, if the leather seats are wildly popular, you'd prevent a buildup of the standard cloth seats at a particular distro center.

 

[Folks]

My plan is my 17 year old son and I to fly to Shreveport, pick up the Elio and have a cool road trip back to Maryland. I was going to ask my girlfriend, then realized not even her cosmetic case would fit in the trunk, much less everything else she would have to pack. With my son and I we can pack everything we both need for a 3 day trip in a plastic grocery bag.

Three days? Are you sure you'll be able to carry that much beef jerky? And don't forget a bar of soap.

 

[Folks]

Hi Goofyone,



Maybe the warehouses are the 7 hubs Elio is talking about, with the idea that a auto mover would bring a load of Elio's from the warehouse/hub to the store each morning... or 24hrs, you order it at 3:00 pm get the next day at 3:00 pm...

All the upgrades are at the warehouses not at the stores, so they can have low cost over head for the stores, no big store is needed for just for a computer stand an a lot of pictures of upgrades and 3 Elio's, one to look at the store and 2 outside to test drive... kind of like having a fast food menu to choose from, but for Autocycles...

The Autocycle sales are going to be on-line, so when you pick out everything you want, and click... the order goes to the warehouse and they start heating up the buns and melting the cheese, your Elio is on it's way... it's fresh, they don't make it until you order it, just the way you like it.... no extra's...

He may not have used those words, but that is what I heard... just have to wait and see...

Proud to Be... an Elio owner #2225...

I thought Fred Smith solved the problem by having only one distribution center not 7. Those 7 hubs would only be a way to get the word out and a source for information.

 

[Ekh]

The Shreveport Plant has rail access. Rail is more efficient moving more vehicles per rail car. Trucking vehicles from regional railheads to Elio Stores is still cheaper than trucking across country. I guess you could pick your Elio up at the railhead to eliminate trucking..............saving on those additional delivery fees.
View attachment 1989

I've been wondering how Elio can build a base car, ship it to the distributor, and have all the options attached within 24 hours of your order. The only way I can see to do this is stock a number of Elios with both transmissions at each distribution center, in all of the colors, then take the 24 hours to install all your options. Personally, I don't think they're going to meet this target ... they'll be out of some part you ordered, or don't have Licorice, or some such ... the number of permutations involved in even a dozen "available" options pretty well guarantees they'll be out of stock on some items some of the time.

But we'll see! Or maybe I'm missing something, like the 7 hubs ... whatever they are.

 

[RogWild]

Paul Elio made the 'ridiculous' statement (IMO) on a radio program, to the effect; 'You can order your Elio at an Elio Store by closing time (9:00pm).... and pick it up the next day..... with ALL options installed". His plan was to have 7 regional 'marshaling centers' (within 'overnight' driving distance of a group of Elio Stores), with several vehicles in all colors and transmissions, and 'stocked' with ALL the available 'Upgrade Options'. Local workers would 'modify' the vehicle overnight, load it on a truck, and have it delivered to your Elio Store the NEXT day (I believe he even said, 'by the time the store opens'). Sounded 'interesting', BUT seemed more a 'pipe dream' than a serious, thought out, BUSINESS plan. JMO

 

[goofyone]

As this is causing some confusion on this thread here is a quick and easy overview of the Elio Motors plan:

1. The production line in Shreveport will only produce some sort of base vehicle in 14 known variations (7 colors x 2 transmissions).
2. These base vehicles will then be delivered to a series of distribution centers/marshaling hubs/finishing centers throughout the country
3. At these hubs Elio Motors will keep various quantities of the 14 combinations of base vehicles and parts for the available options in stock waiting for someone to place an order.
4. When a retail order for a vehicle is placed from an Elio store, or directly online by consumers, the team of technicians at the nearest distribution hub will take the requested vehicle, install the ordered options, and prepare it for delivery to the retail store or other delivery location.

A few details to consider:

- The 14 base vehicles being shipped out of Shreveport do not necessarily need to be complete base model vehicles. These vehicles could be missing items or even have various items such as seats only installed temporarily with these items to be replaced or installed at the distribution hubs.
- The 14 base models will not be produced and delivered to distribution centers in equal numbers. I am sure EM will have a good idea of what combinations are most popular in various regions of the country and plan production and delivery accordingly
- The Shreveport plant complex will host one of the distribution centers to service factory delivery orders and retail stores in the surrounding states

I am sure there will be an asterisk on the next day delivery to account for times when the requested color/transmission combination and/or options are not in stock at the nearest distribution point. I think most of us understand that no matter how good the computer models and supply lines are there will still be times when they just don't have something in stock.

Elio Motors should have a pretty good idea of what color/transmission combinations and options are popular in different parts of the country based on the pre-order reservations and over time as they gather more data they will be able to plan the placement of the needed vehicles and components more accurately minimizing the times they are not able to hit the next day delivery goal due to not having the requested vehicle or options in stock.

 

[goofyone]

On the surface the plans Elio Motors has for their distribution and sales network may sound a bit out there however when you compare it to the current model being used it actually starts to makes a lot of sense.

Elio Motors is replacing large individual dealerships which are expensive to build, stock, operate, and staff with a network of very inexpensive retail locations with minimal overhead, minimal staff, and no inventory on hand other than test drive vehicles.

Instead of a huge plant that has to be configured and staffed to install endless combinations of options the Shreveport assembly facility will be very efficient and streamlined as the only variations between vehicles built will be what color the vehicle panels are painted, what transmission is bolted to the engine then installed in the vehicle which is typically done as a unit, and what shift linkage and shifter is installed to account for the transmission variation. This streamlined process will dramatically reduce the amount of parts preparation, number of assembly stations, and workers needed.

For those who don't know, or may not realize, the current auto distribution system also uses distribution hubs. When vehicles are produced at the various plants, or delivered from overseas, they are trucked and/or railed to regional/local distribution hubs where they are assembled into groups before being loaded onto trucks for final delivery to dealerships. Many of you have likely not even thought about this fact however when you see a truckload of new vehicles being unloaded at a dealership it generally does not contain just one model coming from one plant but a variety of models produced in different facilities. Because of this fact the actual transportation steps, and cost, for EM should not be different than the current factory to hub to dealer distribution system used by all major automakers.

Now what is really different from the current system is that the distribution hubs are also planned to have a facility where vehicles have options installed and the vehicles are prepped for delivery. What Elio Motors has realized is that building and operating these 7 or so advanced distribution hubs should be much less expensive than building and running a highly complex assembly plant and a network of large expensive dealerships. The added benefit to this system, on top of the cost benefit, is that the system also allows EM to offer vehicles customized on demand and delivered quickly which is something no other automaker in the US can do today.