100 Preproduction Elio's To Be Built In December!!

[Rickb]

Both of those stories quoted above were in the online version of the mag only. As far as waiting until the Elio starts rolling off the line, Pop Mech ran its first story on the flying car in the April 1906 edition. As far as I know no practical flying cars have rolled off any production lines in the intervening 120 years. The flying car in the April 2016 edition will cost $200,000. I don't think that that will change much of anything and certainly will not be a big game changer.

Speaking of flying cars.......as a PAL-V Fan, I got this email yesterday.

 

[pistonboy]

Most of what the media produces is not journalism.

They produce entertainment disguised as journalism.

True journalism is on the "dry" side and does not make for good entertainment.

 

[Ty]

So I guess you mean they would have miniature assembly lines at the marshaling centers to make the changes?
Interesting. These "assembly lines" would be much less expensive than in Shreveport and probably doable.

That is correct. They could almost just roll the cars through but truth be told, they'll probably pull your Elio into a bay, put the parts on it and move it out. It would be a lot faster if they'd just move the Elio down the line and assemble as it goes by. Shoot, if they could find old car wash places, they'd be able to use the track that pulls cars through the car wash to do the trick for everything except wheel swaps.

 

[Ty]

It seems like a lot of UNDOING to me also. I originally thought all switchable items would be installed at the marshaling centers. That is, all seats would be installed at the marshaling centers, but this is not so. I talked to Paul Elio in LA and he said what was wanted the most would be installed at Shreveport, and changed at the marshaling centers. As an example, if most people wanted leather seats, that is what would be installed at Shreveport and cloth change at the marshaling center.

I assume there would be a lot of items sent back to Shreveport which requires packing, shipping some container holding these parts back to Shreveport, then sending the empty container back to the marshaling centers. This requires extra shipping. Also, I can see these returned items easily being damaged which would be a lot of waste and loss.

Installing all switchable items (like all seats, all fenders, etc.) at the marshaling centers would entail no undoing and no extra shipping, but I guess there is a problem with this.

You are missing something vital in Logistics.
Example time using only one marshalling center and only seats. This works for all parts and all centers though.

1. 80 customers in a row ordering from store A that gets its Elios from Marshaling center B wants leather seats. Of course, the Elios are already in place and the Marshaling center takes each Elio in and removes the cloth seats and installs leather. Elio does NOT send the seats back.
2. Elio Logistics sees that Marshaling center A has 80 cloth seat sets in their warehouse. The next 80 Elios sent to that station get leather seats set in place at the factory.
3. The seats can simply be placed on the bolts that will secure them in place without installing the nuts. In fact, it may just be easier to do that with all the Elios if seat swaps are common.
4. The truck that delivers Eli is will be going back empty. They Could make a car sized container for each truck that would displace one Elio on the delivery leg of the trip but could be swapped for a container of cloth seats if need be.

I don't see that as being an issue though. As for the backup camera, Skyz, lighted sill plates, etc., Paul said the Elio would be plug and play and that you could get it stock and then add on as you want. That, to me, means it'll be wired for everything already. At GM, they used 27 or so cross-body wiring harness configurations. If someone didn't want fog lights, they didn't get the wires for them. You were screwed if you changed your mind after you bought it. I hated that and I hated how that design decision affected those work stations.

By wiring the Elio for future upgrades, Paul will make the Elio into an enthusiast's dream. They are putting electric points and blind structural nuts every few inches on the frame. Man, this is going to be fun.

 

[Muzhik]

By wiring the Elio for future upgrades, Paul will make the Elio into an enthusiast's dream. They are putting electric points and blind structural nuts every few inches on the frame. Man, this is going to be fun.

So it would be an easy task to mount a machine gun or rocket launcher on the frame. Installing the ejection seat might take a little more engineering.

 

[ImOnabus]

So it would be an easy task to mount a machine gun or rocket launcher on the frame. Installing the ejection seat might take a little more engineering.

And I can finally have on the Elio what I have always felt I needed when riding a motorcycle, surface to idiot missiles!

 

[Coss]

And I can finally have on the Elio what I have always felt I needed when riding a motorcycle, surface to idiot missiles!

But then you have to install the optional HD Brush, clear debris away bumper and wheel guards.

 

[pistonboy]

So it would be an easy task to mount a machine gun or rocket launcher on the frame. Installing the ejection seat might take a little more engineering.

Don't forget the stealth.

 

[BaldGuy]

Think it will be interesting to see if the 100 get delayed. Only 9 short months to go. Are they building the motors at the plant for the 100? What is the earliest they would have to start to get them done by 12-31-16? Is there any activity there yet?

 

[Coss]

Think it will be interesting to see if the 100 get delayed. Only 9 short months to go. Are they building the motors at the plant for the 100? What is the earliest they would have to start to get them done by 12-31-16? Is there any activity there yet?

Call Paul and ask him ............