My Elio Alternate Project Is Underway.

[3wheelin]

I don't believe that at all. It would seem like it because if you like something and it never comes to fruition, then it's easier to believe in the boogyman as to the reason why it failed. Case in point, Elio. It would be easy to think that the powers at the "Big 3" were going to make sure he was never going to succeed. Yet no evidence of that. Yet all of the other evidence is disregarded. Think about it, the same "Big 3" would have shut down Tesla a long time ago, yet it never happened. Funny part is, Tesla is now part of the Big 3 as Chrysler has not been American owned since 2011. Tesla is American owned, the HQ is in America and they produce vehicles in America. They even moved their HQ to Texas and are building a new plant there. Tesla even got an old GM plant and turned it into their flagship plant. Tesla literally did what Elio was set out to do. Main difference, one was wealthy and the other was not. One was able to get real investment and the other did not.

The BEX is not going to have any problems with the boogyman or the Big 3. Yes, social media is a tough gig. Elio embraced it 100% and when things didn't go well, they initially tried to control the narrative and when that backfired, they just went silent. Case in point, coming up on the 4 year anniversary of the last time we heard Paul speak.

We all know ELIO's story so let's give it a rest. It's not a BEX period except they both have 3 wheels and has ICE. Mark has said he's got the resources to upscale if the demand calls for it. We should trust him and leave it at that. Let me say this, if a product is good enough and well accepted by the public, not even the so called big 3 can stop that.

 

[Sonoran Sam]

I showed my girlfriend your picture of the BEX Mongrel and we are both excited about the idea of traveling all over the US in it. She did ask about storage. Will there be a trunk area?? We travel "light" -- just two small duffel bags and maybe a small cooler, so we don't need a lot of storage. She also asked about colors, personally color isn't all that important to me, but I told her I would ask in the next post.

I also wanted to just add some words of encouragement and thank you for your continued efforts.
It is going to be great to travel the US and get in excess of 84mpg. Rest assured, your BEX Mongrel will NOT be a toy or sit in my garage. We are very much going to use it, there is so much of the US we want to see. The reduced gasoline costs will allow for more trips/adventures!!

 

[Mark BEX]

I showed my girlfriend your picture of the BEX Mongrel and we are both excited about the idea of traveling all over the US in it. She did ask about storage. Will there be a trunk area?? We travel "light" -- just two small duffel bags and maybe a small cooler, so we don't need a lot of storage. She also asked about colors, personally color isn't all that important to me, but I told her I would ask in the next post.

I also wanted to just add some words of encouragement and thank you for your continued efforts.
It is going to be great to travel the US and get in excess of 84mpg. Rest assured, your BEX Mongrel will NOT be a toy or sit in my garage. We are very much going to use it, there is so much of the US we want to see. The reduced gasoline costs will allow for more trips/adventures!!

Appreciated, you may have missed my previous posts on storage.

I am aiming for the right hand side of the driver to be a very large storage capacity, as well as the left side of the rear passenger to a lesser degree (because the car tapers inwards). This is to keep the weight forward as often as possible for improved stability.

If you can imagine it, the red boxes are available area with rear passenger, blue box additional area with no passenger (golf clubs, fishing poles, rigid dead bodies etc), and large yellow pockets to the right of driver, and left of rear passenger. That's the general idea, but always more complicated.

The red box to the right of the rear wheel will likely have to be move'able or removable for tire changes for example. The red box above the wheel won't be very deep because of wheel travel upwards.

I would like to make the yellow pockets as large as possible to encourage people to keep weight forward for stability.

 

[Sonoran Sam]

That's perfect!! I was also thinking about how to run a small power cord to the back seat for my girlfriend's phone. (as long as she has her phone to play with, she is entertained and I can drive in peace) That driver's area Yellow Box looks perfect for that task... unless you are already planning for USB or 12 Volt outlets for the back passenger seating area??

 

[RSchneider]

One thing to look into is to include something for a rear receiver hitch. For example a Jeep is really easy to do as they literally designed it where it's pretty much a piece of channel that's welded to a 2"ID square tube. The channel just bolts on with 4 bolts. On;y reason I say this is that with the options for receiver hitches, then people could use it for more storage. Same thing for attachments in the roof for a roof box. That way, people can add things to it to take it for longer trips.

I bring this up because the CAN-AM is really popular in Canada and there are lots of those people that travel from Quebec to Florida and they tow trailers. So somehow it can be done even with them.

 

[Rickb]

Since we are talking about three wheelers, Vanderhall should be celebrated as a startup company that took an idea for a three wheeler, got it to production, selling it to everyone in the US along with service centers and dealers. Yet I see great love for a company that took about 2X as long to make a similar item. When it did come out, it was only for a select few that need to live in a special area of the US. They literally will not sell one to me.

Plus, the FUV is to be $11,900 but I seem to see that has magically disappeared as it's now $17,900. It would be nice to see FUV stop announcing products I can't buy but just start making them and set up areas in places where I live where I can test drive and see if I would really want one. The MSRP goes way up for me if I got to fly to the other part of the country and then schedule a drive. After that, then be put on a list for an unknown amount of time as to when they will actually sell me one. That whole part of the business plan confuses me. If you want to grow, you actually got to offer it to the rest of the country. From looking at the production numbers, they are suffering from a 16 year old startup dilemma where they can't leverage themselves to get what they need for production. Thus announce new products all in hopes it'll work out in the end.

We could discuss in detail Arcimoto’s current implementation of their plans for production scale and setting up the new manufacturing plant, but this is the BEX thread. The $11,900 base model target pricing becomes a reality with production scale. Getting to production with a low volume production roll out while setting up the servicing network to allow expansion is phase one. Sounds like BEX is thinking along those same lines…….start small and expand. Smart! I’ve test driven the FUV (a blast to ride/drive) and can’t wait for the fully enclosed FUV iteration unveiling in May/June and sales/service to expand to my home State of South Dakota. Also, I’m eager to see the BEX styling and an opportunity for a test drive.

 

[RSchneider]

We could discuss in detail Arcimoto’s current implementation of their plans for production scale and setting up the new manufacturing plant, but this is the BEX thread. The $11,900 base model target pricing becomes a reality with production scale. Getting to production with a low volume production roll out while setting up the servicing network to allow expansion is phase one. Sounds like BEX is thinking along those same lines…….start small and expand. Smart! I’ve test driven the FUV (a blast to ride/drive) and can’t wait for the fully enclosed FUV iteration unveiling in May/June and sales/service to expand to my home State of South Dakota. Also, I’m eager to see the BEX styling and an opportunity for a test drive.

I look forward to the BEX. I do ask you, since you can get a free test drive in a Vanderhall, when are you going to do that? You are a three wheeler fan and wouldn't it be nice to drive one. I'd love to test drive a FUV but I can't as I'm not allowed as I live in a state that they will not sell too or even offer free test drives. I took two test drives in a Vanderhall. It's ICE and has 194hp. Trust me, it's super fun.

Vanderhall is expanding into 4 wheels with the Brawley. Another market that will just expand this startup.

 

[Rickb]

I look forward to the BEX. I do ask you, since you can get a free test drive in a Vanderhall, when are you going to do that? You are a three wheeler fan and wouldn't it be nice to drive one. I'd love to test drive a FUV but I can't as I'm not allowed as I live in a state that they will not sell too or even offer free test drives. I took two test drives in a Vanderhall. It's ICE and has 194hp. Trust me, it's super fun.

Vanderhall is expanding into 4 wheels with the Brawley. Another market that will just expand this startup.

I appreciate the Vanderhall, trust it would be fun to drive, and respect the team that got it to production, but the Vanderhall simply doesn’t meet my needs, so not compelled to test drive it. I likely couldn’t get in and out of it. The FUV sits high, easy Ingress/egress and driver comfort compares to my SUV. When I lived in Coeur d’Alene, ID I traveled the 500 miles to Eugene, OR for a free test drive to determine post production interest on pulling the trigger on a purchase when available in my neck of the woods. I’m a fan of ‘enclosed’ three wheelers and the BEX concept checks that needs box.

 

[3wheelin]

I look forward to the BEX. I do ask you, since you can get a free test drive in a Vanderhall, when are you going to do that? You are a three wheeler fan and wouldn't it be nice to drive one. I'd love to test drive a FUV but I can't as I'm not allowed as I live in a state that they will not sell too or even offer free test drives. I took two test drives in a Vanderhall. It's ICE and has 194hp. Trust me, it's super fun.

Vanderhall is expanding into 4 wheels with the Brawley. Another market that will just expand this startup.

It is definitely at another level in 3wheelers and also cost almost 3 times the estimated price of the BEX so if you've got the money, you should buy the Vanderhall. No sense for me to test drive a car I can't afford.

 

[84mpg]

One thing to look into is to include something for a rear receiver hitch. For example a Jeep is really easy to do as they literally designed it where it's pretty much a piece of channel that's welded to a 2"ID square tube. The channel just bolts on with 4 bolts. On;y reason I say this is that with the options for receiver hitches, then people could use it for more storage. Same thing for attachments in the roof for a roof box. That way, people can add things to it to take it for longer trips.

I bring this up because the CAN-AM is really popular in Canada and there are lots of those people that travel from Quebec to Florida and they tow trailers. So somehow it can be done even with them.

"One thing to look into is to include something for a rear receiver hitch."

I agree 100%. There's a ton of "nuts and bolts" that have to be worked out in the coming months... but I really hope provisions for a receiver hitch can be be included. I plan to do some traveling with my BEX and having a small, light weight luggage (bike) trailer would be ideal for my longer tours.
My fingers are crossed.....