My Elio Alternate Project Is Underway.

[84mpg]

10,000 units with manuals would sell like hotcakes, there is zero worry there, I am sure.

I agree 100%. Heck, I bet there are 10K bikers alone, that would want a BEX for rainy days AND the BEX will cost 1/2 of many of their bikes. If the BEX had been available back in my bike days, I would have bought one just to deal with inclimate weather.

My first four cars (muscle and sports) were all manuals by choice. Then the last 4 decades have been nothing but automatics (sedans, minivans, SUVs and trucks). The BEX is for ME and I want a manual. I want the full driving experience with centered seating, responsive steering and brakes and a manual. I want it to shift when I want it to.

Things have a way of going in circles. "Old and retro" becomes hip, popular and in demand. I can see where many younger people would desire to be different and enjoy the full experience of driving. Especially any young bike rider....

 

[3wheelin]

I voted YES, and the only thing that would hold me back is my age at the time of purchase. I am now 80 YO,

I'm not quite there yet so it falls on Mark's as to his timeframe of actually producing and importing it.

 

[johnsnownw]

I agree 100%. Heck, I bet there are 10K bikers alone, that would want a BEX for rainy days AND the BEX will cost 1/2 of many of their bikes. If the BEX had been available back in my bike days, I would have bought one just to deal with inclimate weather.

My first four cars (muscle and sports) were all manuals by choice. Then the last 4 decades have been nothing but automatics (sedans, minivans, SUVs and trucks). The BEX is for ME and I want a manual. I want the full driving experience with centered seating, responsive steering and brakes and a manual. I want it to shift when I want it to.

Things have a way of going in circles. "Old and retro" becomes hip, popular and in demand. I can see where many younger people would desire to be different and enjoy the full experience of driving. Especially any young bike rider....

Until I bought an EV, every single vehicle I owned was a manual, including the first (91' BMW 318i). I absolutely miss it.

 

[84mpg]

I see your point. However, consider this. He sells the 10k "Founder's Editions" and say 2,000 go to the U.S.. Now we have 2,000 BEX running the streets and thousands of people asking about them. "Why didn't you buy an automatic?" "It was not available in an automatic." "Oh, well, too bad." And that's that. Now most of the people will only remember that they can't get an automatic and they'll tell other people etc. When the car comes out later with an auto it's too late, the damage is done. Don't try to sell something that has a problem and tell people it's ok, you'll fix that problem later..... that doesn't fly. It really needs to be offered with an automatic option from the start.

I see your point... and no doubt some people would walk away and never look at it again – But....

If this vehicle is as successful as many of us believe it can be – I'm sure Mark will make an auto available in short time. Sure, waiting for an automatic may not be attractive or practical for some folks. But for many people, a few months or a year isn't so long to wait for something like the BEX with an auto, especially coming in at $10K. (Auto might be slightly more?) There's enough folks out there that will prefer a manual (like myself) to help get the vehicles on the streets and in the view of millions of potential buyers. And, those manual drivers will be quick to pass the word about the coming automatics. It could actually drive the interest and demand.

 

[Mark BEX]

I will refresh this to each new page over the next couple of days, so no one misses it.

ATTENTION PLEASE:

Ok, the testing videos from the last 2 days have had quite a positive impact with a couple of production companies I have in hand, one wants me to fly to them ASAP to talk.

One of the first questions they always ask is: "How many orders do you have?", so now I have to seek some numbers, and this will be the first step;

Please go here and say "YES" or "NO". I understand that there are variables, but this is based on the most basic of manual gearbox models with air conditioner (a must), and if that's not good enough level for you at this time, then please say "NO".

Please DO NOT click "YES" just for support, I have a tiny manufacturer who now makes less than 500 vehicles a year interested, and a large manufacturer interested, so a false vote has the potential to make things difficult for me, even if you meant in the best interest for me.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Poll:

Would you be an interested purchaser of a "BEX Mongrel", 3 wheel car, gasoline engine, manual gearbox, with air conditioning for under $10,000, that otherwise the vehicle meets your general criteria?

The vehicle is of similar concept to Elio Motors overall, but with 2 doors being the main difference.

This poll does not commit you to anything, but helps me to understand manufacturing possibilities based on interest, so please answer honestly, as answering "YES" just for support, while appreciated, is not factually helpful, I would prefer you to answer "NO" if that's the case.

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I just wanted to mention something about the price of sub-$10,000 that I have always maintained I will adhere to.

Today I see yet another case of a product that was promised at a price, an EV electric car to be sold in Australia, and now announced as it's getting closer, that it will be more expensive, and the customer base is quite angry about that.

I have a good idea the price point I can meet, but would be silly to go about making price claims and then come in at a higher price, so I won't put myself in that position, but lets just say for argument's sake, that I am keeping myself safe by a wide margin.

 

[Crazydog]

ATTENTION PLEASE:

Ok, the testing videos from the last 2 days have had quite a positive impact with a couple of production companies I have in hand, one wants me to fly to them ASAP to talk.

One of the first questions they always ask is: "How many orders do you have?", so now I have to seek some numbers, and this will be the first step;

Please go here and say "YES" or "NO". I understand that there are variables, but this is based on the most basic of manual gearbox models with air conditioner (a must), and if that's not good enough level for you at this time, then please say "NO".

Please DO NOT click "YES" just for support, I have a tiny manufacturer who now makes less than 500 vehicles a year interested, and a large manufacturer interested, so a false vote has the potential to make things difficult for me, even if you meant in the best interest for me.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Poll:

Would you be an interested purchaser of a "BEX Mongrel", 3 wheel car, gasoline engine, manual gearbox, with air conditioning for under $10,000, that otherwise the vehicle meets your general criteria?

The vehicle is of similar concept to Elio Motors overall, but with 2 doors being the main difference.

This poll does not commit you to anything, but helps me to understand manufacturing possibilities based on interest, so please answer honestly, as answering "YES" just for support, while appreciated, is not factually helpful, I would prefer you to answer "NO" if that's the case.

EasyPolls voting

Create free online polls using the intuitive and easy-to-use EasyPolls.net from ObjectPlanet. You can share your polls on Facebook, Twitter, or embed the poll on your page. You can create web polls for free in minutes.

vote.easypolls.net

Yes

 

[Mark BEX]

No for me too because of no auto trans. I would venture to guess that in the U.S., where I understand 94% of cars are automatics, your sales would be dismal. By not offering an auto you are shooting yourself in the foot before you leave the gate. The U.S. could be a huge market, don't blow it....!!!

First read this reply to another ....

----------------

I'm not asking for orders, money or commitment. There are no names or emails being taken, nothing.

This is about how many believe they are seriously interested in the vehicle type, with my notation; "that otherwise the vehicle meets your general criteria" ... so I can decide my next step in terms of minimum production numbers, to decide which company I should concentrate on, and why I am asking people to say "NO" if unsure.

Lets say there it caps at 50 "YES" votes, then I will build them myself locally.

100+ then a small manufacturing company, who I doubt make more than 500 units a year, and who already have sent a couple of vehicles to the USA, who are very excited to join up with me.

1000+, I feel very unlikely at this point, I have a larger manufacturer who is keen.

I am reasonably confident that the 100+ company will be the result, and if more are required, easy to move up to the 1000+ company.

So this vote is merely telling me, 100+ company, or me to begin with.

-------------------------------------

and then for you JohnJ ...

I haven't secured an auto YET, so at the time of writing the Poll, it would be dishonest of me to say I have one to offer, but it will happen, they are out there, I'm merely still shopping and comparing, so that with regards to the Poll ....

.... There appears to be a 60/40 manual/auto split, and no auto at the moment simply means to me that I will mentally add 66% to the total of "YES", but please say "NO" for the moment if you want an auto because that is the honest choice, and I respect that.

 

[JEBar]

I just got word that Mark has been called away for a few days to take care of an urgent matter .... accordingly, he may or may not be posting about advances for a little while

 

[AriLea]

...if more are required, easy to move up to the 1000+ company....

And that could easilly be the case, given there is no competition in this unique category, and considering the current oil production insecurities...
Consider the following stats and historical details;
(and the possiblity of getting even a small percentage of the numbers shown below)

See how charts below match up to the time-line of geo political oil issues down farther.
As best I can detect, Ford Fiesta from 1976 to 1983 directly competed with and strongly offset other sales in this category.
My own family bought two of them in those years. And they also bought a Ford Cortina earlier in the 70's, that also competed.

1980 marked the end of the Pinto's production run to make way for its replacement, the front wheel drive Ford Escort, which largely overtook the role of the European-imported Ford Fiesta as the smallest vehicle in the Ford model line in North America. Successor to the Ford Escort? Ford Focus.

American Oil Production Decline;

By 1969, American domestic output of oil was peaking and could not keep pace with increasing demand from vehicles. The U.S. was importing 350 million barrels (56 million cubic metres) per year by the late 1950s, mostly from Venezuela and Canada. Because of transportation costs and tariffs, it never purchased much oil from the Middle East. In 1973, US production had declined to 16% of global output. Eisenhower imposed quotas on foreign oil that would stay in place between 1959 and 1973. Critics called it the "drain America first" policy. Some scholars believe the policy contributed to the decline of domestic US oil production in the early 1970s.

1973 Oil Crisis;
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The initial nations targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States with the embargo also later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen nearly 300%, from US$3 per barrel ($19/m3) to nearly $12 per barrel ($75/m3) globally; US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or "shock", with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy. It was later called the "first oil shock", followed by the 1979 oil crisis, termed the "second oil shock".

1979 Oil Shock;
The 1979 Oil Crisis, also known as the 1979 Oil Shock or Second Oil Crisis, was an energy crisis caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four percent, the oil markets' reaction raised the price of crude oil drastically over the next 12 months, more than doubling it to $39.50 per barrel ($248/m3). The spike in price was connected with fuel shortages and long lines at gas stations similar to the 1973 oil crisis.

1980's Oil Price Shock;
In 1980, following the onset of the Iran–Iraq War, oil production in Iran fell drastically. Iraq's oil production also dropped significantly, triggering economic recessions worldwide. Oil prices did not return to pre-crisis levels until the mid-1980s.

 

[Hog]

Ah yes, the days of the Pinto, Chevette, Yugo, all the original econoboxes. I remember them well. I personally had 3 Vegas, excellent body design, poor engine design. I had three because thats how many you needed for a 5 year run. At least they could be bought for 300 bucks used. And disposed of when the engines invariably threw a rod.