Anyone Else Think It Wont Happen?

[wayne kemp]

"50% decline in daily reservations means trouble" = BS

Ever try looking at the WHOLE PICTURE?
And some can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[JEBar]

This word "scam" is driving me up a wall. Is anyone really suggesting that a dozen or more talented reputable executives and engineers are sitting around an office hatching a plot to extort money out of the public with no intention of delivering a product? That's crazy talk.

the first time I heard of Elio Motors and was told that they were taking nonrefundable payments to hold a place in line for a vehicle that they may or may not ever build, the word scam did cross my mind .... when I learned that they had delayed their projected build date by a year and kept actively seeking folks to go all in, it flickered through again .... if that's about all I knew about Elio Motors, that may well be my belief .... it was only after I joined and started reading comments on this forum that I learned what the whole concept is about and the steps they are taking to make it happen .... I no longer believe its a scam but I also am not a blind believer .... guess I'm somewhere in the middle where I want it to work and I sure hope it works but the bottom line its totally out of my control .... I'm pretty much in a wait, watch and read mode .... projections have been made that there will be news of some major positive things this month and I hop that will be correct

Jim

 

[AriLea]

I would love to see this work. The idea and concept are great.
Being on a fixed low goverment salary.
I do however have many reservations about 1k in non refundable faith in it.
To much here reminds me of a high rise condo scam in norfolk va. A few years ago.
Here are my concerns.
Out of everthing I have read. The prototype is running an old metro motor. And nothing other than a mock up of the motor has been seen. At this point not even a single whole concept has been made.
The factory in the video is emply except for a few guys pushing buttons on old gm machines. And even some of them have been sold to raise money. Outsorcing of bodypannels ? Thats not making sence to me eather with all the tooling and machines in the old gm plant.
Not trying to rain on the parade here. But just saying things imho are not adding up to the point I would drop 1k on.
Show me a finished concept . Show me your own motor running .
Tell me about whats working and what needs work still...the silence only feeds the sceptic in me.
Just sayin.
Again I sure would like to see this happen.

I loved hearing from Harlan. This is a perfect match to the silent majority of people we theorize are waiting in the wings.
And from my sales-ethic point of view Harlan says exactly what it is that will swing him into joining.
He wants a running engine, some solid progress reporting, and some measure of things that physically shows him production is imminent.
Yep we can relate to that.

 

[EZ]

For $6800. it worries me !

For $9999.00 I would be willing to put down 50% !

For $15,000. I would make three payments of $5000.00 each ! deposit, when my number came up for manufacture, balance COD before it leaves the factory !!

As I have said many times, I have been involved with three wheelers for over 20 years.

Mike Corbin had the SAME VISION as Paul Elio, if you find an old brochures they speak identical language about commuters in big SUV's , etc. CorbinMotors made 275 Sparrows, and had the battery technology been ready the idea was awesome !

three wheels
one door
"motorcycle"
etc

at THAT TIME, California was pushing automobile manufactures they had to have a percentage of their product sold in California to be HOV Capable. So the "plan" was someone (GM, Ford, etc) would buy up Corbin and the Sparrow would fill that requirement. The stock would make all of us RICH !

Now I live in the Caribbean, driving on narrow roads on the left side, and the center position of the Elio will be perfect. I have Grinnall Scorpion three wheeler here with a 135 HP BMW engine, it is flawless…

there is NO WAY they can get mass production up fast enough to overcome the individual production costs of the first few thousand units !

the concept is PERFECT !

the TIMING is right on !

the technology plans concern me, I would rather have a choice of a bare-bones KISS for $6800. (simple semi-enclosed motorcycle) with an option to upgrade on "stuff", such as a/c, airbags, ABS, etc ...

motorcycles do NOT have a/c, heat, airbags, etc etc etc

look at the Can Am Spyder, which (to my surprise) has made it, and now are upwards of $25,000. !!

I expect next year there will be announcements that the price has been increased to $15,000 and they have already calculated the percentage of people who will bitch but keep in , those who will walk away and lose their deposits, and then those who will jump in immediately to take over those deposit positions at the new increased price !

Look at TESLA !! The new Model S !! those prices are constantly moving !

just look at the Yamaha TW200 Motorcycle, which has been in production since 1987 ! it is the PERFECT simple motorcycle concept, and the difference between $5000. to $6800. , this is the most popular motorcycle in the Caribbean ...

200cc
18 HP ?
two wheels
current list price about $5000. !!

fully enclosed a/c airbags, etc Elio for another $1800. ????

not possible, UNLESS ….90% is manufactured in CHINA, and simple robotics assembly down in Louisiana !!

the average NEW Harley leaves the shop with an additional $3500. in accessories put right on ! Those "accessories" are

MADE IN CHINA !!

would anyone really care if the parts were made in China ??

Paul Elio is NOT STUPID ! He has a PLAN, it has gotten him this far ! I truly believe this three wheeled motorcycle will be manufactured !

the "REST OF THE STORY " ??

 

[Norahsbed]

Just told my daughter and son in law about the Elio yesterday, naysayers from the get go! To small, to cheap, to dangerous, not in production ........ect, we've all heard it before!
Harlan, I agree with the others, if your not sure, please don't gamble on the Elio! At the same time please don't diss Paul Elio and Elio Motors. There is enough negative energy already and more just feeds the fear some are feeling! This is a site where a lot of us are believers, We've seen it, touched it, sat in it, and fell in love with it, hook, line, sinker, and $1000.

 

[Charlie G]

just look at the Yamaha TW200 Motorcycle, which has been in production since 1987 ! it is the PERFECT simple motorcycle concept, and the difference between $5000. to $6800. , this is the most popular motorcycle in the Caribbean ...

200cc
18 HP ?
two wheels
current list price about $5000. !!

fully enclosed a/c airbags, etc Elio for another $1800. ????

not possible, UNLESS ….90% is manufactured in CHINA, and simple robotics assembly down in Louisiana !!

On the other hand, look at something like the Honda Grom, street legal and at $3199 brand new.
Yes, it's smaller than the one you linked - but they're still making profit at the 3k price point.

I'm not convinced they'll actually be making money with the ~7k base Elio, I'm betting nearly all their profit will come from options - but I don't think it's an impossible price point.

 

[Jeff Porter]

I would love to see this work. The idea and concept are great.
Being on a fixed low goverment salary.
I do however have many reservations about 1k in non refundable faith in it.
To much here reminds me of a high rise condo scam in norfolk va. A few years ago.
Here are my concerns.
Out of everthing I have read. The prototype is running an old metro motor. And nothing other than a mock up of the motor has been seen. At this point not even a single whole concept has been made.
The factory in the video is emply except for a few guys pushing buttons on old gm machines. And even some of them have been sold to raise money. Outsorcing of bodypannels ? Thats not making sence to me eather with all the tooling and machines in the old gm plant.
Not trying to rain on the parade here. But just saying things imho are not adding up to the point I would drop 1k on.
Show me a finished concept . Show me your own motor running .
Tell me about whats working and what needs work still...the silence only feeds the sceptic in me.
Just sayin.
Again I sure would like to see this happen.

It's ok to have reservations about our reservations. Doop! I'll be here all week, be sure and tip your waitress...

Seriously though, I'll take a shot at addressing your concerns... the prototype is running an old metro motor. The alternative is to have an example of the production engine in the prototype. But the production engine isn't done yet. So do you feel that they should have waited on the marketing tour, to have the production engine done? Hmm, not sure that I agree. Then we'd be at a point right now, 6 yrs after founding the company, that no one would know about the Elio, whilst we wait on an example of the engine. Which very few of us have any idea how long it takes for design, build, test.

Not even a single whole concept has been made. 'Tis true, but it would be really difficult to get the timing of everything done at the same time, to have a complete concept, full functioning, etc. I don't see this as a problem.

The factory in the video is empty. No, it's got alot of robots and machinery and lights and everything. What were you wanting to see in the factory? They are not ready for production, not ready to hire employees, not ready to move suppliers in just yet.

Outsourcing of the body panels doesn't make sense. Why does that not make sense? Outsourcing most everything else on the vehicle. I mean, NONE of us are privvy to information about what machines are there and what Elio Motors plans to make there and what they don't.

Tell me about what's working and what needs work still. Yes, in a perfect world, EM would keep us up-to-date on every facet of the plan, every item that's behind schedule, on schedule, ahead of schedule. They'd let us know what they plan to do about every little detail and question that we can think of. But that's not going to help them be successful. Keeping the public updated on every little thing will only raise more and more questions about when and why and how and what and who and why not sooner and why not a different location, etc.

The silence feed the skeptic in you. Yes, it feeds the skeptic in me too. But this interview breaks the silence. So many folks complain about no video of what's in the plant. Now that we have video from in the plant, some of us are not happy with what we see. See the previous paragraph.

It's ok to be skeptical, don't get me wrong. You can pull the trigger on a deposit when you're ready, but don't do it until your ready. :-)

 

[BaldGuy]

My personal take on it is a bit like Mr. EZ.

I personally think Paul Elio will use the Amazon.com business model. I think he will in fact start the plant in Shreveport, LA and will sell the base model to us reservation holders for the 6,800 promised.

But I feel we will be basically moving billboards. Which I'm 100% fine with, specially if they are chick magnets, as that girl says they will be, in that youtube video.

Amazon got there name out there by selling products cheaper then there competition and offering free shipping due to they wasn't making a profit. Once a long time ago, a girl was visiting me and I told her how i bought everything thru amazon and she said "I thought that was just for books". Now since they are established, prices are getting more competitive and they are not as generous with free shipping. Its a business model that works if you have very patience investors and patience upper management running the company.

I feel like pretty much any other company, operations will gradually move more and more oversea's or in Mexico (see cannondale/biederlack, or a million other company's) or the plant will get more and more automated where it don't need many American workers or most likely both.

At the same time, the price will go up. Overtime, if people like the car, it will make a profit much like amazon. I think people are too concerned it has to have a profit day one. Investing money is seldom like that. But would be nice if it was.

Anyway, that's the business model I feel Paul Elio is going with. But that's just what I believe. I could be very wrong. If you disagree, feel free to express your opinion, but don't take it personal.

 

[harlan stephens]

Just told my daughter and son in law about the Elio yesterday, naysayers from the get go! To small, to cheap, to dangerous, not in production ........ect, we've all heard it before!
Harlan, I agree with the others, if your not sure, please don't gamble on the Elio! At the same time please don't diss Paul Elio and Elio Motors. There is enough negative energy already and more just feeds the fear some are feeling! This is a site where a lot of us are believers, We've seen it, touched it, sat in it, and fell in love with it, hook, line, sinker, and $1000.

Were did I dis anyone?
Pease re-read what I wrote.

 

[Norahsbed]

Were did I dis anyone?
Pease re-read what I wrote.

Bringing up High Rise Codo scam ( in MHO your comparing one to the other, I don't think its a scam ) Metro Motor ( Elio motors engine isn't ready, what did you expect, rubber bands and mice? ) no whole concept vehicle ( their not done designing it, they have listened to people and are addressing comments made ) empty factory ( not by a long shot, a lot of equipment there will be used ) out sourcing body panels ( like most auto factory's this is an assembly plant, not manufacturing plant, parts come in, assembled and vehicle comes out ) why do you think so many parts are off the shelf?