Is There Any Physical And Substantial Progress Towards Production Of The Elio?

[JEBar]

Self unemployed for all but 2 years of my life...entrepreneurial background...started my first company with a couple of thousand dollars...been involved in several start-ups ...200 plus employee's at one point...retired early...love all matters relating to commerce & manufacturing...

outstanding .... just curious, when you were starting your businesses, did you publicize your plans and their implementation to the world or did dispense it on a need to know basis based on what you felt was the best interest of your operation .... did you take every step following the perceived norms for developing a company or did you take the steps that you determined from your experience were the best for your operation .... did you always have unlimited financial resources or did you have to make decisions as to how best to maximize their benefit to your company .... I'm sure you get my drift and that I don't need to go further down that line .... point being I'd bet that nobody outside your organization knew more about your company than you .... I'm not one of those who only wants to hear from cheerleaders .... I'll be the first to say, I believe that EM has made and will continue to make some mistakes .... the bottom line is, its their company and while I'd do some things differently, I recognize that they have the right to make those discussions ....

 

[TexasElio]

outstanding .... just curious, when you were starting your businesses, did you publicize your plans and their implementation to the world or did dispense it on a need to know basis based on what you felt was the best interest of your operation .... did you take every step following the perceived norms for developing a company or did you take the steps that you determined from your experience were the best for your operation .... did you always have unlimited financial resources or did you have to make decisions as to how best to maximize their benefit to your company .... I'm sure you get my drift and that I don't need to go further down that line .... point being I'd bet that nobody outside your organization knew more about your company than you .... I'm not one of those who only wants to hear from cheerleaders .... I'll be the first to say, I believe that EM has made and will continue to make some mistakes .... the bottom line is, its their company and while I'd do some things differently, I recognize that they have the right to make those discussions ....

I certainly understand your drift...very logical comments!

But in my case...from day one...I absolutely publicized my intentions to my potential customer base...and focused on meeting the promised delivery schedules...if we missed a delivery projection...I always offered to return all affected customer deposits immediately...taking a non-refundable deposit never entered my mind...a good business reputation is based on creditability that comes from under promising...and over delivering...it's always best to amaze your customer base!

Taking non-refundable deposits with an opened ended delivery schedule is beyond my comprehension...

So yes...in my opinion...Elio Motors has a moral responsibility to be transparent to the 38,000 customers who have placed per-orders...

The Elio story seems to be based on a endless marketing campaign...without urgency to communicate R&D progress to their customer base...

 

[JEBar]

point taken .... question : does EM force anyone to make a nonrefundable reservation ? .... do they give folks who are interested in their product an opportunity to make a Refundable reservation ? .... have they promised anything in connection with either type of reservation that they haven't been delivered ? .... do people interested in EM have a right to make or not make a reservation under the terms given by EM ? .... in short, when it comes to the legal relationship between a company owned by someone else and their customers, your choice is of no consequence .... just as your company's relationship with your customer's is of no consequence to someone outside of that relationship .... as best I can tell, EM is up front with what they offer and the conditions that apply .... I see no moral issues .... as to the amount of info they release, when its released and the manner they choose to release it, its their prerogative to handle as they wish .... folks who disagree, need to take their business elsewhere

 

[TexasElio]

point taken .... question : does EM force anyone to make a nonrefundable reservation ? .... do they give folks who are interested in their product an opportunity to make a Refundable reservation ? .... have they promised anything in connection with either type of reservation that they haven't been delivered ? .... do people interested in EM have a right to make or not make a reservation under the terms given by EM ? .... in short, when it comes to the legal relationship between a company owned by someone else and their customers, your choice is of no consequence .... just as your company's relationship with your customer's is of no consequence to someone outside of that relationship .... as best I can tell, EM is up front with what they offer and the conditions that apply .... I see no moral issues .... as to the amount of info they release, when its released and the manner they choose to release it, its their prerogative to handle as they wish .... folks who disagree, need to take their business elsewhere

Point also taken...well written!

 

[JEBar]

now, from the stand point of a person with a minimal amount of money invested but big interest in the company's future, do I wish they would release more info .... ABSOLUTELY .... but, in today's world where skeptics dedicated to bringing down the company (reference all too many Facebook comments) I can well understand the valid need to tightly control inside info

 

[TexasElio]

now, from the stand point of a person with a minimal amount of money invested but big interest in the company's future, do I wish they would release more info .... ABSOLUTELY .... but, in today's world where skeptics dedicated to bringing down the company (reference all too many Facebook comments) I can well understand the valid need to tightly control inside info

Agreed...we're on the same page!

Damn...we're running out of topics to arm wrestle about!

 

[Silverbullet]

I've been following Elio since Feb of 2013. Upgraded to the $1.000 reservation level after I drove 4 hrs one way to see it in Minneapolis in may of 2013. I'm sure behind closed doors Elio can say they've made leaps & bounds in their progress toward getting this built. They've done an excellent job in marketing this. Where they failed is in keeping their supporters interested. Instead of progress reports in their blog as it was suppose to be....We get color contests & tour updated.

Now we are seeing 2015 as the year Elio will be built. I would love to say YIPPEE & be on my way down to pick mine up. Been down this path four times already with Elio.....Why is this time frame different than the others? Elio has not produced any progress reports to think differently.

No I'm not negative or a naysayer. I've seen to much in the past 2 years to get my hopes set to high again.
Please Elio give me reason to actively support you once again!

 

[TexasElio]

I've been following Elio since Feb of 2013. Upgraded to the $1.000 reservation level after I drove 4 hrs one way to see it in Minneapolis in may of 2013. I'm sure behind closed doors Elio can say they've made leaps & bounds in their progress toward getting this built. They've done an excellent job in marketing this. Where they failed is in keeping their supporters interested. Instead of progress reports in their blog as it was suppose to be....We get color contests & tour updated.

Now we are seeing 2015 as the year Elio will be built. I would love to say YIPPEE & be on my way down to pick mine up. Been down this path four times already with Elio.....Why is this time frame different than the others? Elio has not produced any progress reports to think differently.

No I'm not negative or a naysayer. I've seen to much in the past 2 years to get my hopes set to high again.
Please Elio give me reason to actively support you once again!

I tend to agree with you...Elio certainly needs to be more transparent with regards to on going R&D progress...it's an obligation they have to their existing customer base...based on your 2013 deposit time frame...2 to 3 years is a long time for you to be patient...

If there are any further delays...Elio Motors reputation might be at risk...

 

[Rickb]

I've been following Elio since Feb of 2013. Upgraded to the $1.000 reservation level after I drove 4 hrs one way to see it in Minneapolis in may of 2013. I'm sure behind closed doors Elio can say they've made leaps & bounds in their progress toward getting this built. They've done an excellent job in marketing this. Where they failed is in keeping their supporters interested. Instead of progress reports in their blog as it was suppose to be....We get color contests & tour updated.

Now we are seeing 2015 as the year Elio will be built. I would love to say YIPPEE & be on my way down to pick mine up. Been down this path four times already with Elio.....Why is this time frame different than the others? Elio has not produced any progress reports to think differently.

No I'm not negative or a naysayer. I've seen to much in the past 2 years to get my hopes set to high again.
Please Elio give me reason to actively support you once again!

I've been following Elio since 2008. I feel they have made excellent progress as a new startup company developing a new concept vehicle. I remain enthusiastic and will have no problem with Elio's reputation whether delivery is 2015 or 2016. The Elio will be built when it's good and ready. Hang in........sounds like you have good personal reason for continued support of Elio Motors with a $1K reservation deposit.

 

[EZ]

A big problem I see with the opinion you have expressed is that you do not have a good understanding of what Elio Motors has been doing since 2008. As with many start-ups Elio Motors has not had a straight path to get here but instead has had many ups and downs and some dead ends along the way so while you are trying to look at Elio Motors as one continuously flowing ongoing project since 2008 what you really need to understand is that what you see today is not the same plan and vehicle which existed even five years ago.

The evolution of Elio Motors so far can be broken down into four stages:

1. Paul Elio uses $5 million of his own money and his engineering firm to develop his vehicle idea into the basis for the viable product. This includes building the P1 in 2008 and finding investors interested in backing the project.

2. Elio Motors production plan 1.0 began in 2009 with EM applying for funding via the original ATVM program. In 2010 the P2 was released and Elio Motors was working towards securing a closed GM plant in Pontiac, MI to build their vehicle then named "Trikke". After EM failed to win over community support for the project and were also forced to withdraw their ATVM loan application, when it became apparent that program was a dead end at that time due to issues with program, EM was forced to abandon this 1.0 plan.

3. Elio Motors transitional period from 2010-2012. This is the period Paul Elio has been quoted several times as saying was the most challenging of the entire project so far as EM had failed in their first attempt yet had to find funding to continue on. During this time the entire business plan was re-evaluated and the vehicle was re-engineered from the ground up including replacing engine design firm McLaren Performance/Linamar with IAV on a new engine designed specifically for this vehicle.

4. Elio Motors production plan 2.0 goes public in January of 2013 with the release of the completely re-engineered P3 prototype and plan to secure the former GM assembly plant Shreveport, LA. Reservations are accepted for the first time at this time. Work also continues on the new chassis design which eventually results in the P4 a year later in January 2014.
Due to outside interference in the process of leasing the plant, lawsuit and state officials involvement, Elio Motors suffers an eight month delay (Sept 2013-May 2014) in actually having a signed lease on the plant. This delay causes the funding deals EM had lined up to complete the vehicle development and enter production to collapse thus leaving them with limited funding which slows the vehicle development process considerably. However during this time gap Elio Motors is fortunate enough to have the undersecretary of the Department of Energy see and sit in the P4 and this initiates a series of conversations which leads to EM being invited to apply for the revamped ATVM loan program. Along with that EM comes up with a plan to pay for the engine and vehicle development program by selling off the unneeded equipment in the Shreveport plant. This plan allows EM to hopefully enter production without the need for additional outside investors however that option is still available as a backup plan.

EXCELLENT ARTICLE …

Thank You !!

em