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"powers To Be" In The Auto Industry Are Keeping 10k Priced Products From Coming To Market
- Thread starter Dewey
- Start date
Ty
Elio Addict
Fair enough. Good point.
BaldGuy
Elio Addict
The Can-Am Ryker base model is under 10K. I am seriously considering getting one someday. Very cool and nice looking machines.
I know this don't count, but I see used Leaf's on Carvana all the time for well under 10K, and IMHO, would be one heck of a bargain.
Only thing the Elio would have over one, IMHO, is it don't have the "cool" looks the Elio would have had. Plus, of course, you can't just fill the gas tank up and continue on.
There is an old but true saying, that if something seems to good to be true, it mostly is. I think I would think of that some ahead of conspiracy theories.
I know this don't count, but I see used Leaf's on Carvana all the time for well under 10K, and IMHO, would be one heck of a bargain.
Only thing the Elio would have over one, IMHO, is it don't have the "cool" looks the Elio would have had. Plus, of course, you can't just fill the gas tank up and continue on.
There is an old but true saying, that if something seems to good to be true, it mostly is. I think I would think of that some ahead of conspiracy theories.
Made in USA
Elio Addict
Word of warning about the Leafs. The older ones are starting to have issues with the batteries running out of charge. The only solution is to replace. This may cost from $2,000 to $6,000 depending on where you are. For an around town car it might be fine. I drive 30 miles to work and then 30 back. Afraid I might run out of juice by then. Depending on the charger they might also take a long time to charge. I would look at used Prius's instead.
Michael Casey
Elio Fan
I'd be interested if you can name at least 1 current brand new car for sale here in the US for that price. See that's what I mean, it does not matter what you or anybody's opinion is, we as consumers don't dictate or have the power how cars are priced- it's the manufacturer! Paul Elio had a good thing going with the ELIO but he priced it so low no investors dare touch.
RSchneider
Elio Addict
That's because at $7500, it will lose money. There's no way Elio Motors can make money at that price. Paul bit off more than he can chew on this one and the investors know it. This is why the private funding ran out in 2012 and he turned to public funding after that. Think about it, the whole thing from 2013 onward was funded by reservations, the IPO, putting off debt and over a year ago, a nutcase CEO (who was told to leave and is living in Indonesia) threw $2.5M at Elio. Elio wants to have a three wheeler with ABS, TC, Stability, electric door locks, electric windows, three airbags, 120 company owned stores, shipping the cars to a contractor to distribute and customize them, provide all of the training and knowledge to Pep Boys for service, then a 3yr/36K warranty. All of this for $7500. Then everything except for the powertrain are all custom and not off the shelf parts. This is all in hopes to sell 250k per year. I know they backed down to 125K/year but that's even worse for the business plan.
To top it off, it's a single product company, unlike Nissan, they can vary the profit margin per product (just like the rest of the world does). So the Versa is going to be a small profit while an Armada will be a huge one. They can take a hit and survive. Plus, every other company has their existing service, warranty, supply chain and training all figured out. Then the dealers are franchises, so they pay the manufacturer to sell the product, not like Elio that will have to pay. Then when a Nissan dealer is slow on sales, they can use service to boost profits if needed, they have used cars and typically you rarely see a dealer that sells only one brand. If Nissan sells bad, maybe their Chevy side will help out. Elio does not have that luxury.
I think that there are some that just want their Elio and then after they get it, don't care what happens to the company or think it'll magically take off. Investors are looking at the whole picture, not just when you get your Elio. Plus, it doesn't help what he set the price, spent the reservation money and gave discounts on the first 65K units, when many got that smokin' commit to buy deal in 2016. At the earliest, those would be delivered starting mid 2021 or 5 years after that price was set. This is why the people that will only have to write a $5500 check to get their Elio, will wait forever. The longer, the better the deal. Problems is, the investors look at it differently. Imagine going into a Ford dealer and they quote you $50K on a F150 today. Then in 2024, you show up to buy it for that price.
That's the LONGER version of my whole point....but I'm sure by now everbody knows that's the reason behind the ELIO's eventual fall from reality.
RSchneider
Elio Addict
If you look at it. FUV, SOLO and Sondors are all struggling. FUV is trickling out the product, SOLO seems to all of a sudden acted like they needed to make a change and Sondors is dead in the water. People need to realize, that the money is not going into ICE but something else. Then the EV industry figured out that the footprint of a pickup, van or SUV makes sense for them as they can put in lots of batteries to make the distance on charge to appeal to the consumer. Three wheelers just lack that footprint and in the end, you get the sub 100 mile range. Down the road technology will make a three wheeler attractive to the average consumer but that same technology will make the pickup or SUV to be way better. All of a sudden those pickups will be able to tow and get a decent distance. Then again, it comes down to the footprint.
What it comes down to is where you see today where EV's literally need to exploit every form of efficiency they can. If three wheelers were the way to go, they would be here. As we have seen, there are none (in reference to high mileage).
For Elio, time is not on their side. From the fixing of prices, to the lack of ICE development to the generation that will be making the money and buying product, will go for a big EV for the whole family. The Elio generation is getting older. From what I've seen, most are in their plus 60's and many complain about health issues. Where investors go for that, is for healthcare and housing, not a new car to buy.
At this point, If I was Paul, I'd look into solid state batteries and team up with someone to make it an EV. Being on the leading edge of the solid state batteries would be a way for investors to be interested. Then they could do Elio 2.0 which would be a four wheeler. I'm afraid that Elio is broke and the companies looking to make that a new go to technology, need customers with money, not promises. Elio reminds me of the high end CRT business in the early 2000's. Great product but technology is deeming it obsolete within a few years.