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

[Ekh]

I suspect whoever is paying for the 100 preproduction vehicles is also paying for all of Roush and there is no expense to EM.

And where are you getting this feeling? Any basis in fact?

 

[Ekh]

Sounds like a no brainer for the rental companies; purchase the elio for half the price of the cheapest economy car, pay far less on insurance, and give the customer 25% discount on rental fee (remember the rental company is saving more than 50%). The rental company makes more profit than they would with their previously cheapest rental and the consumer saves money, enjoys the coolness factor and feelings of moral superiority that he's saving the planet.

The obvious drawback for many is that it won't handle luggage other than a carry on.

Well, actually it will handle more than that -- with the rear seat down. Golf bag lengthwise, small to medium duffel across it just behind the driver ... that works. Much more than a carry on!

Definitely room for a carry-on, laptop, and a couple of other items. In my case, it does hold a tripod, a large duffel, and a medium camera back pack. I think I can squeeze in my laptop, too, which fits in a very compact case (if not, i can separate the laptop from its plugs, etc, and stuff those into the duffel; the laptop itself will actually fit in the camera pack).

All I need for a couple of weeks on the road! But I DON'T get instant access to a camera while driving along (and I will really miss that access, because I frequently shoot from the road as in the attached.

 

[Muzhik]

Sounds like a no brainer for the rental companies; purchase the elio for half the price of the cheapest economy car, pay far less on insurance, and give the customer 25% discount on rental fee (remember the rental company is saving more than 50%). The rental company makes more profit than they would with their previously cheapest rental and the consumer saves money, enjoys the coolness factor and feelings of moral superiority that he's saving the planet.

The obvious drawback for many is that it won't handle luggage other than a carry on.

BION, that's still not a big drawback for the business travelers I know. Back when I had a real job, I'd go on long trips for two reasons: to be trained; or to train and/or set up a system for the customer. When it was a set-up trip, everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- was shipped out to the customer location ahead of time. Can you imagine what the airlines would charge for you to ship a box of manuals to take with you? If it was just me getting trained for a week, I could easily pack what I needed into an overnight bag. That and a laptop would easily fit into the back of an Elio. If it was two of us going out, that would be different. But given the way airlines charge for baggage now, I think it's safe to say that most companies are starting to adopt the policy that if it can't go carry-on, it gets shipped out ahead of time.

After filling the registration orders, I can see the biggest market for Elios coming from those business travelers who rented an Elio at their destination.

 

[3wheelin]

Not sure if this is of any importance but about a year ago I discussed the Elio with my son. He works for Enterprise. He forwarded information to the CEO about the Elio vehicle. Over the last year he has been keeping the CEO appraised on the status of the company. There is definite interest. Don't know if Enterprise is the possible fleet supplier but they own numerous smaller rental car companies that service the economy end of the business. It kinda makes sense.

This ought to start a unique conversation. Converse away.

There's gonna be a wait list to rent an ELIO when this happen! I would need at least a week to assess it's plus and minuses....and another week to just drive it all around to tell everyone...hey fellas, look, I made a deposit for two of this!

 

[3wheelin]

Again, at this time, there is no specific buyer.
If there were, EM would have said, "We ARE going to sell 100 vehicles to a specific un-named fleet customer".
And not, "We intend to sell..."
Big difference.

Yep, I've got a lot of stuff I'd like to sell too.

Very true! Things can change again between now and Dec. 2016! So, first tings first, what's up with the 25 E's???

 

[3wheelin]

Your stuff is probably not a good comparison to a revolutionary autocycle at half the price and twice the mileage of any ICE automobile in existence. I suspect it won't be difficult to find buyers. Look at the excitement of the people on this forum to get their hands on one. I suspect out of the nearly 51,000 reservation holders and especially out of the nearly 17,000 SIL holders, they could find 100 who would be willing to purchase one of these preproduction vehicles. I would be one of them.

Same here...bugs and all!

 

[3wheelin]

I just thought of something. What if 100 of the All-Ins formed a corporation with the specific intent of buying those 100 pre-production units? That way, you get your Elios right away (faster than you otherwise would), and at the same time it could help EM accelerate their production plans by enabling them to secure additional VC or ATVM funding. Anyone game?

I'm in! We will most probably be FORCED to sign a waiver not to SUE if something bad happen! Regardless, I'M ALL IN!

 

[bowers baldwin]

Wiki got updated recently :

As of January 12, 2016, current production target date is "late 2016" [17] Production has since been delayed on most vehicles until 2017, although 100 are expected to be on the road before that.
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/11/elio-motors-delays-trike-deliveries-2017

 

[RUCRAYZE]

I could see a Govt. agency as a fleet buyer. Permanent registration would eliminate a lot of civilian requirements.
I could see the Postal service supervisors using them to chase/spy on Carriers or Express deliveries.
Stranger vehicles have been tried... over the years. Wasting money has never been a problem,when buying vehicles.
They even tried the
Segway
scooters,for Carriers. Not every limited experiment proved adoptable.

wasn't there a recent time they used enclosed 3 wheelers for deliveries?

 

[Coss]

wasn't there a recent time they used enclosed 3 wheelers for deliveries?

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Tell you one thing, I would hate to be in an accident with one