Delay To 2017 And Beyond

[Ty]

Unions in trucking are almost completely gone. They were one of the first industries to really go against unions. There may still be some union car haulers, but all the major freight companies are non union.

Why even worry about car haulers that aren't set up for 3 wheelers anyway? With some tail to tail overlap, 6 to maybe 8 Elios will fit on a flatbed or in a standard dry van.

Heck, once the regional centers are set up, transport racks (that fold for return) might get as many as a dozen Es into a van

Elio said there would be dollies for the rear wheel to make them compatible with existing car haulers.

 

[Chris F]

True. Well said. I'm still thinking they'll have it done early while acting like they aren't and then surprise! See, we CAN make a deadline... everything is going smooth here. Hey, look, there's E-01 ready to be run into a wall or something. Hey, there's E-02 ready for real world mileage tests... Hi there, E-03, ready for some acoustic test

Fit and finish is not important in crash testing. It IS important as an evolutionary step and to make sure the Elio is right for production of course.

Rather that assume the P5 has been started, take it from Elio:
http://www.eliomotors.com/elio-momentum-v6-2015-milestones/ This one says they "launched the build" for the P5 June

Then here, they say "Earlier this week, we announced to the media that we started work on our fifth generation prototype, the P5." This was June 10th.
http://www.eliomotors.com/elio-momentum-v5-announcing-the-fifth-generation-elio-prototype/

I saw activity at the plant with my own two eyes. I've been trusting them for 45 years now... except for that Penn and Teller show...
Paul himself said it would take less time to build the P5 than the P4 which took 20 weeks.

From their press release on 08 June:
June 8, 2015
SOURCE: PR Newswire
Elio Motors today announced it has begun work on its fifth generation prototype vehicle following a successful supplier summit meeting here last week. The P5 will include Elio Motors’ recently unveiled 0.9 liter, 3-cylinder engine prototype and a manual transmission.
Elio Motors is targeting a launch date mid 2016 for a vehicle that will get up to 84 MPG and is expected to retail for $6,800. The P5 is being developed using funds raised in a recent 506 (c) offering. The 506 (c) offering is made possible by the Jobs Act of 2012, and allows accredited investors to buy in to Elio Motors.

http://www.eliomotors.com/press-rel...2C3RQmsgq4IGR6pRrgEhZPpXHaq--Q&_hsmi=18783436

Looking back at your post. I agree with you that Elio needs to hit their target for the P5. I think it's important. There has been too much "Elio misses another deadline" type of press. I used the "IF the P5 were finished tomorrow" line merely because I needed to have a starting point. I guess I should have said "Whenever they finish the P5, it shouldn't take them more than 2 months to finish the entire E series." or something along those lines. I did not intend anyone to take the date I put there are a rumor or guess. If I were to guess, I'd say that Elio will have the P5 ready in time for their Summit and that's only a couple weeks away. I'll most likely be wrong but from the CAD drawings they've provided and the Tech Talk and Momentum which talked about the changes, it doesn't seem like they are changing much about the frame or the equipment that bolts to it. The existing jig (they should still have that ready) would only need minor tweaks. The body panels look like they changed. Well, the nose did at least and the back a bit so those will require new molds and I haven't done any of that kind of work.

I didn't mean to insinuate that you were starting rumors but it was the first time I heard "By Thanksgiving" and it threw me off. I've been keeping pretty close tabs on Elio because while I know what went on INSIDE the Shreveport Assembly building, I'm curious to the process that brings the vehicle to that point of assembly.

I think you've nailed the reason Elio hasn't given a build time for the P5. They don't want to be wrong again.

Its always better to under-promise and over-perform.

 

[Sam]

I thought I had heard every thing! I've got an old friend (we'll call him Joe) who has been deep into sports cars all his life and is a "very" sharp guy. He also is the type who can find the downside in every thing. I mentioned I had bought into the Elio and what came next was a lecture on all the problems Elio will have and what a sucker I am. You have all heard the usual reasons so no need to go in to that. But, he came up with a new one.

It seems that after the cars are actually built we are going to have to pay a sky high delivery charge. The reason is there is a union for the guys who drive the transporters and this union is like the mafia. They are going to take advantage of a new company and screw us all to the wall. According to Joe there is absolutely no way to get delivery without the transporters union; they are stronger than GM,Ford, etc. They will hold up shipments until they get the contract they want and it's going to cost us all dearly.

Now, I know nothing about this and am just mentioning it because I thought you all might find it interesting. Anyone have any hard info?

Union demands AKA extortion.

 

[BADBOY]

I'd like to see how you'd load 6 Elios on a standard, enclosed semi bed. The maximum inside width of a standard "wedge" trailer is 99 inches. The inside height is 110 inches at the read and 109 at the front. Length varies from 45 to 53 feet. The width of the doors is 93 inches.

Each Elio is a trapezoidal solid with the following dimensions: Overall Length: 160.5″
Overall Height: 54.2″

Front Wheel Track: 66.8″ (let's assume that's the widest part, ignoring the wheel covers which make the width actually a couple of inches wider)
(center rim to center rim)

I don't know the body width at the rear but it can't be less than 30 inches.

So: how many Elios can dance on the floor of a truck? You can't stack them, they're too tall. Taking the largest trailer, 53 feet, you have room for three Elios -- actually 3.975, but sorry, you can't squeeze that extra little bit in unless you were tail-to-tail as you suggest. But even so, my guess is that the max load on the longest trailer is only 4 Elios. To really answer this, you'd need to know how quickly the rear quarter of the car tapers down to minimum width, because that gives you the amount of overlap you could have. Maybe you or one of our good gear head guys could really work this out accurately, but I'm willing to bet 5 would be the absolute upper limit, and that's pretty unlikely. 4 is the probable upper limit.

Don't forget, you have to have working room to secure the vehicle in the trailer and then get in the thing to unload them. If they're overlapped, that might be hard to manage.

Thanks a lot my head now hurts

 

[Adamant]

Agree that California is a beautiful state and wonderful place to drive your Elio. Born, raised, and lived there for 57 years. Unfortunately, politics and taxes drove me out.

Yeah, I love all there is to do, but with idiotic laws, politics, taxes, etc.... I'm thinking about leaving myself. This place is nuts. Beautiful, but nuts.

 

[Quilt4us]

I agree with CompTrex - better to ask in a forum like this - where a LOT of people are getting answers all the time. I'm sure people from Elio (all 11 or 12 of them?) watch this along with other blogs/forums/facebook etc. But there are a lot of people very active in these groups that also might have heard some of this information. This way it gets us all thinking and asking the question.

People should never be afraid to ask these types of questions here.

 

[CompTrex]

I agree with CompTrex - better to ask in a forum like this - where a LOT of people are getting answers all the time. I'm sure people from Elio (all 11 or 12 of them?) watch this along with other blogs/forums/facebook etc. But there are a lot of people very active in these groups that also might have heard some of this information. This way it gets us all thinking and asking the question.

People should never be afraid to ask these types of questions here.

And come to find out, it was fairly accurate.
Go figure.

 

[Adamant]

So now the subject of this thread seems a little more likely than not.

 

[Hotscoots]

I'm really starting to regret that I started this thread...

You should not be .....This is a discussion group . Sharing information is really the only thing we can do . Even asking a legitimate question about a ( Gasp ) rumor , adds to the dialog and typically brings truth to light .
For those that get douche chills every time a negative statement is made about Elio , remember statistically , 50 % of all rumors turn out to be true .

 

[Ekh]

You know, since they still owe IAV $1.3 million (luckily at a trivial interest rate), I bet no new engines are built until that bill is paid (unless it was spaid from Se.c 506 investment). Which means in turn that the P5 will have to use the original test engine (assuming they didn't run it to destruction, as they said they would) and causes a stretch-out on the E machines -- contributing to a further production delay. They need money now, not in 6 months, if they are to have any prayer of opening the doors before mid-2017. Argh!