Elio Gauge Cluster - Lord Elgin? - Other Options?

[RogWild]

They 'wasted' a month of BLOG reports..... with a worthless "Color Contest"...... maybe they could hold a "Dash Contest"..... that would actually HELP develop what the buyers WANT!

 

[RogWild]

The current reporting IS based on their most recent progress.........at somewhat of a standstill until the new prototype builds start and finish with the new IAV engine dropped in. They have been marketing the heck out of the end of bonus day. Perhaps a new marketing direction after that Sept. 1 Deadline.

Let's 'HOPE' so! Back in Jun, Technosports Creative said that the 'next' prototype build would start in late Aug or Sep, but when Paul Elio was asked (earlier this month)

Q. Rumor has it, funds have been received for the 25 E models?
A. Waiting on next round of funding. Then will pickup 25 prototypes.

Hope this doesn't mean a further DELAY!

 

[Rickb]

Let's 'HOPE' so! Back in Jun, Technosports Creative said that the 'next' prototype build would start in late Aug or Sep, but when Paul Elio was asked (earlier this month) Hope this doesn't mean a further DELAY!

Hopefully, the one hand built production model needed for tooling up production is being built as we blog and the remaining 24 test Elio's follow in Sept. We will know for certain in 30 short days if they are moving ahead as planned.

 

[NN4S]

They 'wasted' a month of BLOG reports..... with a worthless "Color Contest"...... maybe they could hold a "Dash Contest"..... that would actually HELP develop what the buyers WANT!

Not to mention the fact that it appeared to be a contest that they had predetermined wouldn't change ANYTHING! They decide Yellow made it into the contest, then figure that they'll put it up against what they consider their "most popular" color ONLY? BALONEY!!! The original lineup listed eight colors, with Yellow being one of them & they had already decided against it from everything that I can find. This is in spite of the fact that yellow vehicles have the best resale value (mainly because of their rarity and the fact that yellow tends to be used on more exotic offerings) and that it really makes the vehicle stand out in a crowd!

Sorry, I suppose that was a bit off topic, but it is one of my pet peeves with this project so far... now back to your regularly scheduled discussion!

Simple analog gauges work for me- I could buy a nice set of aftermarket VDO instruments much cheaper than the fancy displays or the Elgin dash (which I really didn't care much for to begin with). I would prefer that money spent in the cockpit consisted of a comfortable leather wheel design and a layout where everything just falls nicely to hand as in the classic sports car. No need for bells & whistles here- this is a driver's vehicle!

 

[RogWild]

Hopefully, the one hand built production model needed for tooling up production is being built as we blog and the remaining 24 test Elio's follow in Sept. We will know for certain in 30 short days if they are moving ahead as planned.

Nice 'thought' Rick; BUT they said that their 'final design' will not be FINALIZED, until AFTER they build and test the "18-26 vehicles" (or 25 "E" Series). They cannot begin making "tooling up" decisions until they decide if they have to 'redesign' the crush zones, or make changes to the vehicle 'height', etc. in order to meet their GOALS.

 

[Ekh]

Nice 'thought' Rick; BUT they said that their 'final design' will not be FINALIZED, until AFTER they build and test the "18-26 vehicles" (or 25 "E" Series). They cannot begin making "tooling up" decisions until they decide if they have to 'redesign' the crush zones, or make changes to the vehicle 'height', etc. in order to meet their GOALS.

Rog, you're right that they cannot finalize the design. But many of the design elements can be finalized and tooling built from the P5 (non-public prototype). They don't have to have a running vehicle to tool for the trunk hinges, for example. They can take their final measurements for the roof and related elements, the windshield frame and supports, the cabin walls and trim attachment points, etc etc. They may or may not be able to get the doors finalized from the prototype.

I am certain they have very high confidence in the accuracy of their crash modeling software, and that the cage will not have to be redesigned, but I agree with you, they have to build one and whack it to be sure.

They absolutely have to get that engine machined, assembled, and bench tested before signing off on it. Unexpected problems there would delay the whole project significantly. I've heard that the engine parts are all there and the thing is waiting CDC (this as of about 3 weeks ago). But that may or may not be accurate.

 

[Ekh]

I could live with this dash.......but will take whatever best works based on form follows function & cost..........it's only a dash.
View attachment 2351

I doubt we'll get anything that cool and sophisticated.

 

[JEBar]

Rog, you're right that they cannot finalize the design. But many of the design elements can be finalized and tooling built from the P5 (non-public prototype). They don't have to have a running vehicle to tool for the trunk hinges, for example. They can take their final measurements for the roof and related elements, the windshield frame and supports, the cabin walls and trim attachment points, etc etc. They may or may not be able to get the doors finalized from the prototype.

I suspect the dash would fall into this area as well .... the creation of the mold, selection of gauges, design of the wiring harness are only a few of the things that need to be settled on way in advance so as to give suppliers the advance time needed to have the parts in-house when needed for assembly

Jim

 

[ClubJoe]

There is no way I could get used to the Elgin gauges. If they do install it as standard I will definitely look for a standard dial replacement for it.

ClubJoe
Sunny Brandon, FL

 

[Terrence]

I could live with this dash.......but will take whatever best works based on form follows function & cost..........it's only a dash.
View attachment 2351

I see yout point of whatever works including the function and cost factors. I am curious if it is typical to include a color vision test when designing a dash for the general population? I might think they will include a check off list when they are making their decision when they have the top three possible dash panels. I am curious if they include a color vision test for the illumination appearance (night dash light on) for comparison to persons with color vision problems? Building the Elio for the masses, is that a concern or am I in the miniority (8% males with color vision deficiency).
Team Elio are doing an outstanding job with our Elio! considering all efforts/engineering they must balance in this one Elio fits all and gets us 84 mpg! Fantastic!
Terrence