A Powertrain Press Release

[Grumpy Cat]

https://www.eliomotors.com/a-powertrain-press-release/

Elio Motors signs MoU with Automotive Fortune 500 OEM to Provide Powertrain – Projects $120 million Research and Development Cost Savings
September 27, 2018

Elio Motors signs MoU with Automotive Fortune 500 OEM to Provide Powertrain Projects $120 million Research and Development Cost Savings



PHOENIX, September 27, 2018 — Elio Motors, Inc. (OTCQB: ELIO), developer of the ultra-high-mileage, low-cost three-wheel Elio vehicle, announced that they had entered into a memorandum of understanding with a Fortune 500 OEM, to provide the engine foundation as part of a new powertrain for the Elio vehicle. Elio currently projects that the new powertrain will result in $120 million in research and development cost savings. The company is working with the engineering team at Roush to develop a new Elio prototype employing the OEM powertrain.

“Purchasing an OEM’s existing powertrain has an enormous impact on the project, it helps both expedite the timeline, and it directly reduces our capital requirement by about $120 million dollars”, said Elio Motors CEO, Paul Elio. “This powertrain will also greatly enhance the Elio’s performance by nearly doubling its horsepower while still maintaining class-leading fuel economy at an affordable ultra-low price”.

Roush will integrate the new powertrain into Elio’s prototype in order to begin preliminary testing procedures. These testing procedures will prepare the Elio for production, which will occur at the Elio Motors manufacturing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The new powertrain will push the Elio’s performance specifications far beyond prior consumer expectations. The engine should offer nearly a 100% increase in horsepower rating when compared to initial Elio prototype vehicles. When combined with the Elio’s low curb weight, the new powertrain is expected to deliver excellent driver response and a highly improved acceleration time. Even with the Elio’s substantial increase in performance, the advanced technology in the new powertrain should enable Elio Motors to achieve their promise of ultra-high fuel efficiency.

About Elio Motors

Founded by car enthusiast Paul Elio, Elio Motors Inc. represents a revolutionary approach to manufacturing an ultra-high-mileage vehicle. The three-wheel Elio is engineered to attain a highway mileage rating of up to 84 mpg, while providing the comfort of amenities such as power windows, power door locks, air conditioning and cruise control, accompanied by the safety of multiple air-bags and an aerodynamic, enclosed vehicle body. Elio’s first manufacturing site will be in Shreveport, Louisiana.

About Roush

Roush, a full-service product development supplier headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, has over 4,000 employees in facilities located throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Widely recognized for providing engineering, testing, prototype, and manufacturing services to the transportation industry, Roush also provides significant support to the aerospace, defense and theme park industries.

Roush is a subsidiary of Roush Enterprises, Inc., parent company of Roush Fenway Racing; Roush Performance, developer and manufacturer of performance vehicles and products for the automotive aftermarket; and Roush CleanTech, developer and manufacturer of propane-powered trucks and vans for the fleet vehicle market. For more information please visit www.roush.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements related to anticipated commencement of commercial production, targeted pricing and performance goals, and statements that otherwise relate to future periods are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made and based on information available to the Company on the date of this press release. Elio Motors assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release.

*MSRP for non-refundable reservations only and applies only until non-refundable and refundable reservations total 65,000. Total current reservations can be seen at: www.eliomotors.com. MSRP excludes destination/delivery charges, taxes, title, registration, and options/installation.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Holy crap. Double the power and same fuel mileage!

 

[Ty]

I don't think they said it would get the same mileage but double the power is wonderful!

 

[Grumpy Cat]

I don't think they said it would get the same mileage but double the power is wonderful!

Sure seems to me like double the power and get the same mileage to me:

Even with the Elio’s substantial increase in performance, the advanced technology in the new powertrain should enable Elio Motors to achieve their promise of ultra-high fuel efficiency.

 

[Trusting]

Whoa there! Let's keep in mind a couple things.

1. EM has made statements before that proved to be less than factual.

2. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is.

 

[Made in USA]

The English language has been manipulated into a words meaning different things depending on usage. For instance, I found out that my understanding of the words "up to", means to me that like a speed limit, it can be less than or equal, but not greater. However, escrow accounts for property taxes are defined by the government (FHA) to mean that when they say "up to two months", they are saying it must be exactly two months, but not less than two months. (When the bank pays your escrow taxes there must be two months of taxes held in reserve after the taxes are made, meaning that they have eight months of escrow before paying your six month property tax bill.)

So when Elio says "up to 84 mpg" I consider this to mean it can be less than. How much less? Who knows. Besides, what exactly is considered "ultra-high fuel efficiency"? Without clarifying words, like "for its weight", then they are just worthless words. They could easily say they are "best in class" as an autocycle that is gasoline powered, once they start production. All words that are basically meaningless and just used to sell things. We will just have to wait until they have a data sheet showing the actual performance before making an informed decision. It's one reason why I am not all in for $1000. To many changes can happen before production (like the powertrain being changed) to commit.

Other things that could happen is that Elio will finish developing their own design after production starts as a way to better control costs and supply. Or, it could buy them time to make/buy a electric version.

 

[Maurtis]

The English language has been manipulated into a words meaning different things depending on usage. For instance, I found out that my understanding of the words "up to", means to me that like a speed limit, it can be less than or equal, but not greater. However, escrow accounts for property taxes are defined by the government (FHA) to mean that when they say "up to two months", they are saying it must be exactly two months, but not less than two months. (When the bank pays your escrow taxes there must be two months of taxes held in reserve after the taxes are made, meaning that they have eight months of escrow before paying your six month property tax bill.)

So when Elio says "up to 84 mpg" I consider this to mean it can be less than. How much less? Who knows. Besides, what exactly is considered "ultra-high fuel efficiency"? Without clarifying words, like "for its weight", then they are just worthless words. They could easily say they are "best in class" as an autocycle that is gasoline powered, once they start production. All words that are basically meaningless and just used to sell things. We will just have to wait until they have a data sheet showing the actual performance before making an informed decision. It's one reason why I am not all in for $1000. To many changes can happen before production (like the powertrain being changed) to commit.

Other things that could happen is that Elio will finish developing their own design after production starts as a way to better control costs and supply. Or, it could buy them time to make/buy a electric version.

Yeah, I remember when they went from saying "84 MPG" to "up to 84 MPG", we discussed it a bit here on the forum. It makes sense since they (at the time) were working with simulations of an unproven engine and overall design still in development. The goal was 84 MPG, but we all knew it could be less.

Personally, as long as my Elio gets 30 MPG or better, I will be happy. The high efficiency is not the draw for me, but the unique design and driving experience is. The low price helps, but as I have said in the past I would be willing to pay a good deal more than the $7500 for it. But then again, I drive a Miata so clearly value driving experience over practicality or efficiency, LOL.

 

[RSchneider]

You can thank Byrne for this. I guarantee you that he didn't understand why Elio needed to spend $125M and have a long timeline when it wasn't necessary. I bet Elio and Byrne were in a meeting and it went like this:

B - Can we just buy a motor from someone else?
E - We could but we already spent all of this money on our motor and it's perfect for what we need
B - How much can we save if we just buy an off the shelf unit and how much time will it save?
E - I'd have to call Roush because we talked about this a few times
B - Lets get them on the phone right now
E - OK
At this point there is a conversation which was done before but Roush confirmed that X amount of weeks will be saved in the timeline and X amount of money would be saved. In the end, give better performance with equal efficiency. Conversation ends.
B - Sounds like this is the way to go then.
E - We did spend all of that money on our own motor.
B - Those are sunk costs, get over it. If you want the $2.5M and for me to secure the rest of your funding, then doing what Roush said will get me to agree right now.
E - Sounds good to me because I really need to get this going.

Trust me, this is what happened. Having a person not from the automotive industry and not an engineer, is what Elio needed. Byrne did two things, make a 2019 production happen and reduced the funding needed by $125M. It might not what Elio really wanted but it gets Elio to the finish line as opposed to sitting around at the 50% mark. Honestly, nobody cares if it gives 84 mpg or not. If it gave 70 mpg but with double the power, I bet people would not mind at all. There are times you have to sacrifice something to get the job done. This is one of the many sacrifices that Elio has had to make and I bet it won't be the last. It's better than sticking to your guns and not progressing at all.

 

[Rabrandt99]

I found this exchange on the Jalopnik article on Elio’s powertrain.

Whether the person in question was being honest or not, I don’t know, but this sounds reasonable as to why Elio tried doing their own engine and then abandoning it. As no doubt clout from associating from Dr. Byrne and Rousch helped.

—

So Shiney. So Chrome! So FrunkyJason Torchinsky
9/27/18 11:41am


Jason, I worked on the Elio engine at IAV so let me give you a little background on why they decided to develop it in the first place. Elio had always wanted to just buy an engine but turns out it’s really hard to get someone to sell you one when your a startup. Most companies in that situation want the money up front and most start ups can’t tie up that much in engines sitting around. Standard is payment on delivery. They had something lined up and from what I understand that company went under. They had an analysis done on the Geo motor by another consulting firm and that firm assured Elio the Geo motor with minimum modification would give them the fuel economy needed. When IAV did their own analysis they concluded more changes would be needed to achieve 84 mpg. So IAV started making changes and in the end their engine only shares 1 seal with the Geo motor. You are right that it was not the best route but it seemed it was the only way at the time. O, and for how much they spent well they got the deal of a lifetime for a complete engine development but I can say it was still a couple million and taking it into production would have needed another $10 million in development.

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Reply

• HC111So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
  9/27/18 2:42pm
  So once they got a bunch of pre-orders and buzz, and a factory, they didn’t have the clout to try and work a deal with a manufacturer?
  
  Reply
  
  
  
• So Shiney. So Chrome! So FrunkyHC111
  9/27/18 3:10pm
  No. It’s also not just clout. There is a whole number of reasons but most of it comes down to capacity and money. The combination of a engine manufacturer, like say Ford, who had a suitable engine, enough manufacturing capacity to meet the demands of Ford and Elio at the same time, and a price both could work with was rare to say the least. But since Ford is phasing out their cars selling in the US,selling the Fiesta’s 3 cylinder engine might to Elio might be a way to recoup sunk costs and will therefore now be a deal they are willing to make. Times and conditions changeReply
  
  
  
  
• Not_another_kinja_accountSo Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
  9/27/18 3:59pm
  Wait, Elio has real employees?Reply
  
  
  
  
• So Shiney. So Chrome! So FrunkyNot_another_kinja_account
  9/27/18 4:02pm
  Had. I worked for IAV solely on the Elio engine. When they ran out of cash my position was terminated so I guess you could say Elio both gave me and cost me the best job I ever had.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

Whoa there! Let's keep in mind a couple things.

1. EM has made statements before that proved to be less than factual.

2. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Could you go into a little more depth on these two statements please?