Elio Gauge Cluster - Lord Elgin? - Other Options?

[Mike W]

Elgin Dash, Yes or No.

If No, then what?

I see nothing wrong with it, but then again, as long as I can read the information I need from the dash board I'm happy. If it is inordinately blocked by the steering wheel or otherwise hard to read, that may be different. The dash style looks fine to me though.

 

[Ekh]

yes (and then some)

 

[Rickb]

I totally agree. Too bad Elio doesn't isn't as gifted for words, as our silver-tounged moderator. Goofyone for president. Put this thread to bed. Let's do another poll

Never bring up the Elio dashboard again until we see it first. Vote Yes No

Do you think 412 posts on this topic are enough? Vote Yes No

The discussion should continue right up until the very minute the real dash is unveiled!

 

[RogWild]

VERY TRUE, Elio Motors is their company and they can run it as they choose. They have decided to go a 'non traditional' path; instead of waiting in secrecy until they have a 'Production Vehicle' to put on sale, they have gone 'public' early with a website and FaceBook page, and a 'Tour of Prototypes', where they solicit public input and comment. They also started a 'Weekly BLOG' with the express purpose of "Each week we are taking you along on our journey by sharing some of our progress making your Elio."" Quote from 13, Sept, 2013! If they no longer want to uphold this 'pledge'..... all they had to do, was STATE it. Their 'actions', not their 'words' have given us the answer. They have gotten 'feedback' on the ELGIN, “Steel Boob” Dash..... and it is 3 to 1 AGAINST..... and they have so far seemed to disregard it. Even though a 'Custom Dash' appears to go against their 'core goal' of keeping costs down by using 'off the shelf' parts, instead of designing and procuring unique items! Guess we will see what is in the “E” Series. Hopefully there will be an OPTIONAL CONVENTIONAL DASH..... that they can make money on, by selling it at an increased price (to 'recoup' the funds expended on the 'Elgin Dash').

 

[goofyone]

VERY TRUE, Elio Motors is their company and they can run it as they choose. They have decided to go a 'non traditional' path; instead of waiting in secrecy until they have a 'Production Vehicle' to put on sale, they have gone 'public' early with a website and FaceBook page, and a 'Tour of Prototypes', where they solicit public input and comment. They also started a 'Weekly BLOG' with the express purpose of "Each week we are taking you along on our journey by sharing some of our progress making your Elio."" Quote from 13, Sept, 2013! If they no longer want to uphold this 'pledge'..... all they had to do, was STATE it. Their 'actions', not their 'words' have given us the answer. They have gotten 'feedback' on the ELGIN, “Steel Boob” Dash..... and it is 3 to 1 AGAINST..... and they have so far seemed to disregard it. Even though a 'Custom Dash' appears to go against their 'core goal' of keeping costs down by using 'off the shelf' parts, instead of designing and procuring unique items! Guess we will see what is in the “E” Series. Hopefully there will be an OPTIONAL CONVENTIONAL DASH..... that they can make money on, by selling it at an increased price (to 'recoup' the funds expended on the 'Elgin Dash').

Thanks for proving exactly why taking advise from random people on the internet is such a bad idea as most people just do not understand the processes involved in what they are commenting about. The fact is that there are no 'off she shelf' dashes but instead all OEM dashes are 'custom' designed and to save money they should be designed using off the shelf components which any Elio dash will be even the Elgin design. Whether you like it or not any dash EM uses will be a 'unique item' as dash designs are proprietary to each manufacturer and in many cases designed specifically for the requirements of a single model of vehicle.

By the way you really need to stop making things up as it leads people to take you even less serious than they do now! Not only are all OEM dashes 'custom', the fact is that there will be no need to 'recoup' any Elgin dash design funds as these costs would be built into the cost of the vehicle.

 

[skygazer6033]

Ok guys & girls I have been dead set against the "steel boob" cluster since I first saw it. However as Goofyone has pointed out this is the only rendering of the cluster we have and probably nothing like the production dash anyway. Hopefully we'll soon have renderings of the latest new and improved "steel boob" instrument cluster to bitch about. Personally I'll treat the Elio as a kit car that comes with MOST of the parts to suit me. If something really doesn't suit me I'll change it.

 

[JEBar]

Hopefully there will be an OPTIONAL CONVENTIONAL DASH..... that they can make money on, by selling it at an increased price (to 'recoup' the funds expended on the 'Elgin Dash').

from a profit standpoint, it would seem that Elio Motors would be interested in offering as many popular options as can be accommodated by their assembly line process .... as noted the more options ordered, the more money they can make on the unit .... any added options that lower the MPG would be at the hands of the owner, not that of the manufacture

Jim

 

[RogWild]

.... The fact is that there are no 'off she shelf' dashes but instead all OEM dashes are 'custom' designed and to save money they should be designed using off the shelf components which any Elio dash will be even the Elgin design. Whether you like it or not any dash EM uses will be a 'unique item' as dash designs are proprietary to each manufacturer and in many cases designed specifically for the requirements of a single model of vehicle..... no need to 'recoup' any Elgin dash design funds as these costs would be built into the cost of the vehicle.

Please don't start your 'rebuttal' by MISSTATING what I said! I never stated "'off she shelf' dashes"...... I said, "'off the shelf' parts".
Sure DASHES are composed of many 'components'..... didn't think I'd have to enumerate that to you. Show me ONE 'off the shelf' speedometer or tachometer, that has a rotating dial with numbers, viewed through a small slot at the top! You can't, because they don't exist. No company was ignorant enough to think that this would make a good, readable, and safe gauge to use in a moving vehicle...... Therefore, the 'Elgin' gauges are UNIQUE, and NOT 'off the shelf', and Elio engineers had to 'design it' (and use their PAID hours), and some company will have to manufacture it (and get paid for their relatively small orders). All these expenses are over and above what Elio Motors would have had to spend on a Dash, using common, already available components. If they don't use the Elgin Dash, all these 'expenses' are LOST, and will have to be 'recouped' AS YOU SAID, "built into the cost of the vehicle", as in any business. (Thank you, for proving my point) There is no way that they can make a 'cheaper' dash by using unique, low volume components. It is against their 'core principles' of keeping cost low, by using 'existing' parts. If you can't see and understand this, further discussion is futile.

 

[wheaters]

Thanks for this thread. I like to read it in bed because it helps cure my insomnia. Over the last six months I almost got to the end of page two on one occasion......

I did begin to wonder how can people get so wound up over something that so far only exists in the imagination. Then I remembered about all the strife caused by the differences in the world's religions.

Peace to all!

 

[goofyone]

VERY TRUE, Elio Motors is their company and they can run it as they choose. They have decided to go a 'non traditional' path; instead of waiting in secrecy until they have a 'Production Vehicle' to put on sale, they have gone 'public' early with a website and FaceBook page, and a 'Tour of Prototypes', where they solicit public input and comment. They also started a 'Weekly BLOG' with the express purpose of "Each week we are taking you along on our journey by sharing some of our progress making your Elio."" Quote from 13, Sept, 2013! If they no longer want to uphold this 'pledge'..... all they had to do, was STATE it. Their 'actions', not their 'words' have given us the answer. They have gotten 'feedback' on the ELGIN, “Steel Boob” Dash..... and it is 3 to 1 AGAINST..... and they have so far seemed to disregard it. Even though a 'Custom Dash' appears to go against their 'core goal' of keeping costs down by using 'off the shelf' parts, instead of designing and procuring unique items! Guess we will see what is in the “E” Series. Hopefully there will be an OPTIONAL CONVENTIONAL DASH..... that they can make money on, by selling it at an increased price (to 'recoup' the funds expended on the 'Elgin Dash').

Please don't start your 'rebuttal' by MISSTATING what I said! I never stated "'off she shelf' dashes"...... I said, "'off the shelf' parts".
Sure DASHES are composed of many 'components'..... didn't think I'd have to enumerate that to you. Show me ONE 'off the shelf' speedometer or tachometer, that has a rotating dial with numbers, viewed through a small slot at the top! You can't, because they don't exist. No company was ignorant enough to think that this would make a good, readable, and safe gauge to use in a moving vehicle...... Therefore, the 'Elgin' gauges are UNIQUE, and NOT 'off the shelf', and Elio engineers had to 'design it' (and use their PAID hours), and some company will have to manufacture it (and get paid for their relatively small orders). All these expenses are over and above what Elio Motors would have had to spend on a Dash, using common, already available components. If they don't use the Elgin Dash, all these 'expenses' are LOST, and will have to be 'recouped' AS YOU SAID, "built into the cost of the vehicle", as in any business. (Thank you, for proving my point) There is no way that they can make a 'cheaper' dash by using unique, low volume components. It is against their 'core principles' of keeping cost low, by using 'existing' parts. If you can't see and understand this, further discussion is futile.

There was no misstating anything at all. Your rebuttal is simply an attempt by you to hide from what you just wrote. In your previous post you specifically labelled the Elgin Dash a 'custom dash' and said that designing and procuring such a unique item goes against EM 'core goal' of keeping costs down by using 'off the shelf' parts. If that is not what you meant then you should have written it better as that is how any intelligent person would read this line you wrote:

Even though a 'Custom Dash' appears to go against their 'core goal' of keeping costs down by using 'off the shelf' parts, instead of designing and procuring unique items!

Then after FALSELY accusing me of MISSTATING what you said previously you continue to use the rotating dial argument and increased costs arguments which YOU also KNOW is FALSE because I know this has already been explained to you several times.

View attachment 2261 NO, the Lord Elgin dash that was shown is NOT digital; it is an analog 'spinning dial', behind a LARGE useless round face.... and only shows the current speed in a SMALL window at the top. Tach is the same way. All the 'Idiot Lights' are clustered in the center (could be confusing). Just a BAD IDEA; If Paul Elio wants a 'tribute' to his father..... don't make his 'legacy'...... the most 'un-functional' instrument panel..... in automotive history!

The idea is to give the impression of dials under there however when I asked Jerome Vassallo about this directly he said the speedo and tack numbers will be digital and only simulate spinning dials. This can also be confirmed by a number of others who have spoken directly to Elio Motors people about this.

The speedo and tach displays are small LCD displays and as such are off the shelf and programmable. Using these displays is a practical off the shelf solution for building this dash design as using mechanical gauges would require having to use a more expensive custom gauge instead of the off the shelf displays. The idiot lights, the turn signals, segmented LCD fuel gauge, and the center odometer/tripmeter display are all obviously completely off the shelf and just arranged in a custom fashion.

The Elgin gauge cluster likely will not cost more than most other gauge clusters because there are no off the shelf OEM gauge clusters but instead there are off the shelf gauge cluster components. Each vehicle manufacturer designs their own gauge cluster layouts and has their suppliers manufacturer them to spec also meaning that gauge cluster designs are proprietary and specific to each manufacturer. No matter what the gauge cluster ultimately looks like Elio Motors will have to design their own cluster using parts from their supplier's catalog. This actually makes sense when you think about it as the size and shape of the gauge cluster varies widely from vehicle to vehicle, not to mention matching the vehicles entire design theme, making it virtually impossible for there to be large amounts of gauge clusters just sitting in warehouses somewhere waiting for vehicles to use them.

Personally I would likely prefer mechanical gauges however even if EM dumps the Elgin idea I doubt we will see many gauges, other than speedo, tach, and fuel, as idiot lights are less expensive.