Manufacturing Rate

[RUCRAYZE]

Got my collection when Lime wire (free shared tunes and video) was up.
Speaking of free, I installed a 10' dish years ago, and had access to EVERYTHING! free. Had weekly magazine subscription , gotta have been a hundred pages of the WEEK offering, arranged by satellite (with each had about 24 stations- first pic I saw was Das Boot - still one of my favs

 

[John-b-gone]

Got my collection when Lime wire (free shared tunes and video) was up.
Speaking of free, I installed a 10' dish years ago, and had access to EVERYTHING! free. Had weekly magazine subscription , gotta have been a hundred pages of the WEEK offering, arranged by satellite (with each had about 24 stations- first pic I saw was Das Boot - still one of my favs

Good ol C-band my dish was only 8'

 

[AriLea]

I just don't see the reality of the Elio ever being a fleet vehicle for smaller municipalities...most employees would refuse to operate such a small vehicle...just is not in our cultural behavior...there's a reason the F150 is best selling vehicle in America!

This is a silly blanket statement. Most? It's a threshold issue. What is too small and what is not?
Frankly Aprilia, you obviously feel the car is too small to drive, why the heck are you here?

I do agree, given an equal choice Americans want bigger. But avoiding it completely is a stretch. And things are not equal. There is definitely a notable number who remain skeptical about size, including my wife. But plenty who are all for it.

EM has been very astute to the size issue since the Smart car. IMHO, they have tucked a couple extra inches on to the Elio just for that reason. More than I would have wanted to.

If the organization feels the safety issue has been met to a legal level, and the car makes budget sense, even reluctant employees will have to give it a try. For the most part, they don't have that kind of choice. Now the question is once they try it, how then will they feel? Will the euphoria from center seating make a difference? It does for some. Ridding the diamond lane? Easer parking?

Organizations will definitely give one or two a try. Then decide about more. I'm optimistic about that result.
IS the car too small or not? This is why I hang out at the Elio shows for 4 to 6 hours when I can. To see how people are. Most people getting sit-in demos seem pretty darn happy with it. I used to watch people do the same thing at the Smart car dealership we had in Mesa (yes doing research for my Atlantric). Some people definitely were shying from the size (and don't as often from the Elio) and some people were there because of the size.
My conclusion? At least 4 times as many people (by percentage of viewers) react to the Smart-Car size compared to the Elio once they sit in it. You have to also consider that the Smart context were people going in to see a Smart and Elio were partly people who happened to be there.

There were plenty of people who say the Elio is surprisingly big inside. I didn't hear much of that talk for the Smart.

What I see is a high percentage of acceptance after experiencing the Elio. The rest will only accept a Hummer.

 

[Maurtis]

There were plenty of people who say the Elio is surprisingly big inside. I didn't hear much of that talk for the Smart.

I cannot comment about the actual interior size of the Elio since I have not seen one in person yet, but have test driven Smarts. They are not surprisingly roomy inside, they are pretty much exactly as you would expect. That may be because we are used to the side-by-side seating configuration and it is easy for us to visualize what the inside of the Smart is like from just seeing the exterior.

Since the Elio's setup is so foreign maybe it is harder for us to envision the interior so are pleasantly surprised?

 

[AriLea]

Now I can't help but wonder what it would take to put the new Elio engine into a Smart Car, and what the results would be.

For a good result there, you would have to chop the frontal area by half. They made the Smart just a bit tall because of the perception of too small.
The Smart shines for me because it's less weight on the road. I like it, but is has a aerodynamic shaping for city driving. Not so much on the freeway at speed. If the Smart were a hybrid it would be awesome in the city. For the freeway you must optimize aerodynamically, and they didn't so much.

 

[bowers baldwin]

This is a silly blanket statement. Most? It's a threshold issue. What is too small and what is not?
Frankly Aprilia, you obviously feel the car is too small to drive, why the heck are you here?

I do agree, given an equal choice Americans want bigger. But avoiding it completely is a stretch. And things are not equal. There is definitely a notable number who remain skeptical about size, including my wife. But plenty who are all for it.

EM has been very astute to the size issue since the Smart car. IMHO, they have tucked a couple extra inches on to the Elio just for that reason. More than I would have wanted to.

If the organization feels the safety issue has been met to a legal level, and the car makes budget sense, even reluctant employees will have to give it a try. For the most part, they don't have that kind of choice. Now the question is once they try it, how then will they feel? Will the euphoria from center seating make a difference? It does for some. Ridding the diamond lane? Easer parking?

Organizations will definitely give one or two a try. Then decide about more. I'm optimistic about that result.
IS the car too small or not? This is why I hang out at the Elio shows for 4 to 6 hours when I can. To see how people are. Most people getting sit-in demos seem pretty darn happy with it. I used to watch people do the same thing at the Smart car dealership we had in Mesa (yes doing research for my Atlantric). Some people definitely were shying from the size (and don't as often from the Elio) and some people were there because of the size.
My conclusion? At least 4 times as many people (by percentage of viewers) react to the Smart-Car size compared to the Elio once they sit in it. You have to also consider that the Smart context were people going in to see a Smart and Elio were partly people who happened to be there.

There were plenty of people who say the Elio is surprisingly big inside. I didn't hear much of that talk for the Smart.

What I see is a high percentage of acceptance after experiencing the Elio. The rest will only accept a Hummer.

For the record, I would accept a Hummer right now..

 

[Aprilia]

For a good result there, you would have to chop the frontal area by half. They made the Smart just a bit tall because of the perception of too small.
The Smart shines for me because it's less weight on the road. I like it, but is has a aerodynamic shaping for city driving. Not so much on the freeway at speed. If the Smart were a hybrid it would be awesome in the city. For the freeway you must optimize aerodynamically, and they didn't so much.

I've owned 3 new Smart Cars...they have far more interior room than the Elio...

The Smart is great little vehicle for low speed urban driving...but they're not a joy to drive on the freeway...

 

[WilliamH]

This is a silly blanket statement. Most? It's a threshold issue. What is too small and what is not?
Frankly Aprilia, you obviously feel the car is too small to drive, why the heck are you here?

I do agree, given an equal choice Americans want bigger. But avoiding it completely is a stretch. And things are not equal. There is definitely a notable number who remain skeptical about size, including my wife. But plenty who are all for it.

EM has been very astute to the size issue since the Smart car. IMHO, they have tucked a couple extra inches on to the Elio just for that reason. More than I would have wanted to.

If the organization feels the safety issue has been met to a legal level, and the car makes budget sense, even reluctant employees will have to give it a try. For the most part, they don't have that kind of choice. Now the question is once they try it, how then will they feel? Will the euphoria from center seating make a difference? It does for some. Ridding the diamond lane? Easer parking?

Organizations will definitely give one or two a try. Then decide about more. I'm optimistic about that result.
IS the car too small or not? This is why I hang out at the Elio shows for 4 to 6 hours when I can. To see how people are. Most people getting sit-in demos seem pretty darn happy with it. I used to watch people do the same thing at the Smart car dealership we had in Mesa (yes doing research for my Atlantric). Some people definitely were shying from the size (and don't as often from the Elio) and some people were there because of the size.
My conclusion? At least 4 times as many people (by percentage of viewers) react to the Smart-Car size compared to the Elio once they sit in it. You have to also consider that the Smart context were people going in to see a Smart and Elio were partly people who happened to be there.

There were plenty of people who say the Elio is surprisingly big inside. I didn't hear much of that talk for the Smart.

What I see is a high percentage of acceptance after experiencing the Elio. The rest will only accept a Hummer.

" most employees would refuse to operate such a small vehicle" Quote from Aprillia.

If you are my employee and I provide you with an Elio for use on the job and you refuse to drive it I will terminate you for cause.
For those who don't understand what that means, I'll make it clear.
No unemployment compensation!

As a taxpayer, if you are putting people in a $25K F150 that gets 20 mpg combined I will be going after you for not putting them in a $7K Elio that gets 60 mpg combined.
If you are elected I will campaign against you.
If you are an employee (not elected) I will do what ever I can to take you out of a decision making job.

 

[AriLea]

I've owned 3 new Smart Cars...they have far more interior room than the Elio...

The Smart is great little vehicle for low speed urban driving...but they're not a joy to drive on the freeway...

Apples and oranges. Perception and Art. The front of the Elio has a lot more room for one driver than the back passenger. The Smart has a lot of room in the front for one person, but two? I haven't sat in it with two. So you got me there.

But I'm looking at how people react in the shows. The case in point, will 'normal' people buy it even considering the size, will 'normal' people drive it in fleet uses? The jury is out until we get real responses from these 'normal' people. Are any of our current 50k reservationists normal? At least some.

And the test drives by reporters? What have they said? Surprisingly roomy, but not excessively. Are these 'normal' people?

The smart is obviously for two person transport. The Elio isn't meant for that. The back seat is just-in-case you must.

Then there is the whole outside perception issue. Reactions of too small, to the Smart have been stronger than the Elio, when in person, as best I can measure.

I must address the thought, EM is trying to sell more Elio's than Smart was trying to sell. So how big is this commuter niche anyways? That's the $64k question.

 

[Aprilia]

I must address the thought, EM is trying to sell more Elio's than Smart was trying to sell. So how big is this commuter niche anyways? That's the $64k question.

In the States...the Smart has a tough time finding buyers...real world gas mileage is not that impressive...it takes premium fuel...and Smart Car pricing is too high to be competitive...

In truth...most consumer's have the perception that the Smart is a "Death Trap"...

As for Elio...250K annual units is certainly an aggressive projection for a unproven niche vehicle...