Ekh
Elio Addict
Thanks for the good questions and the write-up. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and the effort.Trip Report for the Portland, Oregon Elio event at Washington Square on September 12, 2015.
I went to the Portland, Oregon Elio event at Washington Square today. My camera wasn't working so I may need to go back tomorrow to take pictures.
Unlike when they were here in July 2014, this one looked "done up right." In July it was just the P4 plunked down in the middle of the floor and one, very tired, person herding people through to sit in it. Today, they had the metal "beams" marking off a booth area, with monitors showing video, and posters showing the P5, engine, colors, etc. There were also four or five people manning the booth, answering questions, helping people sit in the car, and generally making it all look like a serious endeavor.
The P4 has changed from its July 2014 visit: it had the Elio springs and shocks, the hinge and weather strips of the "trunk" were fixed (falling off in July), and it had the Infinite Skyz system installed.
The poster showing the engine contained a surprise, the power has been raised to 60 HP.
They also had the production dash instruments on display.
Here are the questions I asked and the answers I received:
Q: What are the chances of a 2016 production start?
A: Very good. It is a commitment in the SEC filing.
Q: So, will any reservation holders be getting their vehicle in 2016?
A: Yes
Q: Will the IAV engine in the P5 have the two-step cam?
A: Yes, both the test engine we saw running in the video, and the P5 engine have the two-step cam.
Q: Which has higher priority, meeting the cost target or the MPG target?
A: Both. Paul has been adamant that we must meet all of the must-have items.
Q: How have the auctions to liquidate the excess machinery from the plant been going?
A: We don't know the details of that.
Q: When will the P5 be ready?
A: The P5 should be complete in October and the first public showing will be at the LA Auto show in November. That said, we will not be seeing the P4 in Portland again; the next visit will be the P5.
Q: When will work on E1 through E25 begin?
A: They should start work on them as soon as the P5 is finished. Work will progress in parallel.
Q: Paul has said that the engine going into the P5 is not the production version. What will the differences be?
A: The production engine will incorporate changes for things discovered from the test engine, running the P5, and the findings from the engineering engines. Basically the expected tweaks and tuning needed to get from the prototype engine to production.
Some observations:
- The test engine (from the video) and the engine for the P5 are essentially the same engine. Any differences will be minor.
- For a "first article", the engine is doing very well. It is meeting or exceeding the power target and only 3MPG below the mileage target. As they look at the wear patterns in the test engine, we will start to get an idea of whether the reliability will be there.
- In the P5, the roof line is being raised and the rear seat reworked to restore the rear seat headroom to P3 levels. Additional padding is going into the rear seat to make it more comfortable.
- Marker lights, on the front fenders, will be available as an option and aftermarket. One company will have LED lights for the front and rear of the fenders. Turn signals are already built into the headlights that will show both forward and to the side.
I forgot to ask the really important questions about whether Yellow will be available, what side the gas cap will be on - and why, alternative instrument cluster, and what day my car will be ready.
don't forget to let us know what you find out.