Oklahoma City Elio Or What I Learned In School Today

[H2odog]

I arrived well ahead of most of the crowd and waited for Elio to setup. The result of which was that I was probably the 5th or so to plant my carcass in the P4. Seats are comfortable front and back, and the fabric seats in this Elio were far better than I expected and are quite substantial. Getting in and out was not difficult and the seats adjusted easily and smoothly. This was all well and good as I was then able to spend the next couple of hours talking with and listening to Jerome Vassallo, who is vice president sales/marketing. Very early in this diatribe came the words that Elio was working hard to put together a list of options and prices, and it couldn't be too soon for him. Things I learned:
1. Tires on the P4 are 14's production will be 15's widths to be determined; rear wider than front.
2 Fenders: only they call them shrouds. Those seen on the P4 will be those standard for production. There will be several options for fenders but only 2 were mentioned. a. the hot rod fender with mags, and for those of you that have seen the retro Elio parked in front of the diner b. the Indian fender. Other fender notes: The black fender skirts are fairly thick at nearly an eighth inch and are not very flexible at all They will take standard paint and primer. The same material is used on the rear of the vehicle. Fender liners for the Elio are of the same material GMC uses in their SUV's
3. The instrument cluster that will be used in production is Paul's Elgin design. It is however digital with perhaps 1-1.25" high numbers for speedometer and tach. It is unknown at this time if there would be any other instrument options. I did remind him that Continental, the company providing the optional smartphone interface makes 5 levels of digital instrument clusters.
4. The P5: Will have the basic contours of the P4 with the exception of a raise of about 2" in the rear portion of the roof. Now before anyone gets their dander up, let it be known that the P4 is nearly 4" lower at this location than the P3 was. The other changes will be a reworked front end with the grill area being redesigned and made smaller.
5. Options of leather interior seating colors will only be limited by what Lear produces. If Lear makes it you can get it. Colors mentioned were Black, White, Brown, Gray, Tan. and probably several others.
6. Could the Elio be purchased with only primer? Yes, Credit: none
7. As it now stands, he pick it up in Shreveport option is a 3 day 2 nite stay affair and will be hosted and paid by Elio in conjunction with one of the Casino's upon presentation of your one way ticket stub. Day1 arrive in Shreveport, check in, Day 2, tour plant Day 3 pick up your Elio and head home.
8. Surprise... Just over 1/3 of all reservation holders are all in for $1000. The production numbers are now into the 5100's with 15,123 reservations.
9. Reservation upgrades, "cutoff" at this point don't worry about it. 30 days or so before that happens those all in for 500, 250, 100 will be notified and allowed to upgrade in that 30 day window. Those with refundable deposits will also be notified and allowed to go all in and upgrade if they wish.
10. Reservations will be cutoff at 40,000. Production at startup is expected to be 250/day.
If we need more we'll add another shift and or lines. Canada is the next market, that is the easy one with South America, Asia and Africa clambering to get in line.
11 Delivery is to be $750 to all locations. Paul would like to waive that for factory pickup. Others wish to apply it to all vehicles. Have to wait and see.

The only option price I heard mentioned was for the automatic transmission, and that was "less that $1000".
I did get to meet Silas Sunday. Great guy!
I have some pictures and they will follow. This is not an ideal situation for photo ops. Line was maybe 40-50 deep at 3pm and was down to maybe 25 by 6:30 when I left.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

and for those of you that have seen the retro Elio parked in front of the diner b. the Indian fender

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Other fender notes: They will take standard paint and primer. The same material is used on the rear of the vehicle.

YESSSS!

Could the Elio be purchased with only primer? Yes, Credit: none

Hope that brings down the cost of an aftermarket paint job.

As it now stands, he pick it up in Shreveport option is a 3 day 2 nite stay affair and will be hosted and paid by Elio in conjunction with one of the Casino's upon presentation of your one way ticket stub. Day1 arrive in Shreveport, check in, Day 2, tour plant Day 3 pick up your Elio and head home.

This detail may well have tipped the balance in favor of the factory tour for me.

Surprise... Just over 1/3 of all reservation holders are all in for $1000. The production numbers are now into the 5100's with 15,123 reservations.

So, about one months worth of production is spoken for already.

Reservations will be cutoff at 40,000. Production at startup is expected to be 250/day.

Hard numbers!


Thank you very much, this is the most useful gathering of information that I've seen in one place recently aside from the photo post the other day.

 

[HoofHearted]

Thanks for the info. Great Job!!

 

[Ty]

I arrived well ahead of most of the crowd and waited for Elio to setup. The result of which was that I was probably the 5th or so to plant my carcass in the P4. Seats are comfortable front and back, and the fabric seats in this Elio were far better than I expected and are quite substantial. Getting in and out was not difficult and the seats adjusted easily and smoothly. This was all well and good as I was then able to spend the next couple of hours talking with and listening to Jerome Vassallo, who is vice president sales/marketing. Very early in this diatribe came the words that Elio was working hard to put together a list of options and prices, and it couldn't be too soon for him. Things I learned:
1. Tires on the P4 are 14's production will be 15's widths to be determined; rear wider than front.
2 Fenders: only they call them shrouds. Those seen on the P4 will be those standard for production. There will be several options for fenders but only 2 were mentioned. a. the hot rod fender with mags, and for those of you that have seen the retro Elio parked in front of the diner b. the Indian fender. Other fender notes: The black fender skirts are fairly thick at nearly an eighth inch and are not very flexible at all They will take standard paint and primer. The same material is used on the rear of the vehicle. Fender liners for the Elio are of the same material GMC uses in their SUV's
3. The instrument cluster that will be used in production is Paul's Elgin design. It is however digital with perhaps 1-1.25" high numbers for speedometer and tach. It is unknown at this time if there would be any other instrument options. I did remind him that Continental, the company providing the optional smartphone interface makes 5 levels of digital instrument clusters.
4. The P5: Will have the basic contours of the P4 with the exception of a raise of about 2" in the rear portion of the roof. Now before anyone gets their dander up, let it be known that the P4 is nearly 4" lower at this location than the P3 was. The other changes will be a reworked front end with the grill area being redesigned and made smaller.
5. Options of leather interior seating colors will only be limited by what Lear produces. If Lear makes it you can get it. Colors mentioned were Black, White, Brown, Gray, Tan. and probably several others.
6. Could the Elio be purchased with only primer? Yes, Credit: none
7. As it now stands, he pick it up in Shreveport option is a 3 day 2 nite stay affair and will be hosted and paid by Elio in conjunction with one of the Casino's upon presentation of your one way ticket stub. Day1 arrive in Shreveport, check in, Day 2, tour plant Day 3 pick up your Elio and head home.
8. Surprise... Just over 1/3 of all reservation holders are all in for $1000. The production numbers are now into the 5100's with 15,123 reservations.
9. Reservation upgrades, "cutoff" at this point don't worry about it. 30 days or so before that happens those all in for 500, 250, 100 will be notified and allowed to upgrade in that 30 day window. Those with refundable deposits will also be notified and allowed to go all in and upgrade if they wish.
10. Reservations will be cutoff at 40,000. Production at startup is expected to be 250/day.
If we need more we'll add another shift and or lines. Canada is the next market, that is the easy one with South America, Asia and Africa clambering to get in line.
11 Delivery is to be $750 to all locations. Paul would like to waive that for factory pickup. Others wish to apply it to all vehicles. Have to wait and see.

The only option price I heard mentioned was for the automatic transmission, and that was "less that $1000".
I did get to meet Silas Sunday. Great guy!
I have some pictures and they will follow. This is not an ideal situation for photo ops. Line was maybe 40-50 deep at 3pm and was down to maybe 25 by 6:30 when I left.

Thank you. That is the best After Action Report (AAR)I've seen in a long time.

 

[zelio]

I arrived well ahead of most of the crowd and waited for Elio to setup. The result of which was that I was probably the 5th or so to plant my carcass in the P4. Seats are comfortable front and back, and the fabric seats in this Elio were far better than I expected and are quite substantial. Getting in and out was not difficult and the seats adjusted easily and smoothly. This was all well and good as I was then able to spend the next couple of hours talking with and listening to Jerome Vassallo, who is vice president sales/marketing. Very early in this diatribe came the words that Elio was working hard to put together a list of options and prices, and it couldn't be too soon for him. Things I learned:
1. Tires on the P4 are 14's production will be 15's widths to be determined; rear wider than front.
2 Fenders: only they call them shrouds. Those seen on the P4 will be those standard for production. There will be several options for fenders but only 2 were mentioned. a. the hot rod fender with mags, and for those of you that have seen the retro Elio parked in front of the diner b. the Indian fender. Other fender notes: The black fender skirts are fairly thick at nearly an eighth inch and are not very flexible at all They will take standard paint and primer. The same material is used on the rear of the vehicle. Fender liners for the Elio are of the same material GMC uses in their SUV's
3. The instrument cluster that will be used in production is Paul's Elgin design. It is however digital with perhaps 1-1.25" high numbers for speedometer and tach. It is unknown at this time if there would be any other instrument options. I did remind him that Continental, the company providing the optional smartphone interface makes 5 levels of digital instrument clusters.
4. The P5: Will have the basic contours of the P4 with the exception of a raise of about 2" in the rear portion of the roof. Now before anyone gets their dander up, let it be known that the P4 is nearly 4" lower at this location than the P3 was. The other changes will be a reworked front end with the grill area being redesigned and made smaller.
5. Options of leather interior seating colors will only be limited by what Lear produces. If Lear makes it you can get it. Colors mentioned were Black, White, Brown, Gray, Tan. and probably several others.
6. Could the Elio be purchased with only primer? Yes, Credit: none
7. As it now stands, he pick it up in Shreveport option is a 3 day 2 nite stay affair and will be hosted and paid by Elio in conjunction with one of the Casino's upon presentation of your one way ticket stub. Day1 arrive in Shreveport, check in, Day 2, tour plant Day 3 pick up your Elio and head home.
8. Surprise... Just over 1/3 of all reservation holders are all in for $1000. The production numbers are now into the 5100's with 15,123 reservations.
9. Reservation upgrades, "cutoff" at this point don't worry about it. 30 days or so before that happens those all in for 500, 250, 100 will be notified and allowed to upgrade in that 30 day window. Those with refundable deposits will also be notified and allowed to go all in and upgrade if they wish.
10. Reservations will be cutoff at 40,000. Production at startup is expected to be 250/day.
If we need more we'll add another shift and or lines. Canada is the next market, that is the easy one with South America, Asia and Africa clambering to get in line.
11 Delivery is to be $750 to all locations. Paul would like to waive that for factory pickup. Others wish to apply it to all vehicles. Have to wait and see.

The only option price I heard mentioned was for the automatic transmission, and that was "less that $1000".
I did get to meet Silas Sunday. Great guy!
I have some pictures and they will follow. This is not an ideal situation for photo ops. Line was maybe 40-50 deep at 3pm and was down to maybe 25 by 6:30 when I left.

Great report, H2odog. Thank you for your time and energy in doing all of this. It is all so exciting. I can't wait to see what pictures you have. Now, sit back, put your feet up and relax. You had a long day and did a great job. LOL :-) Z

 

[Rickb]

Thanks.........very informative.

 

[lafrisbee]

A very good interrogation.

 

[ecdriver711]

Great jog H2odog.

 

[kkitzhaber]

Great job, H2odog. Everything Mr. Vassallo said matches what I heard in Knoxville on March 4. Being an electrical engineering-type, I asked a few questions and this is what I found:
1. Throttle-by-wire (not mechanical).
2. OBD-II will be standard, although not as advanced as new cars. (There is not as much to monitor).
3. ABS will also have 'Traction Control.'
4. Headlights will be more like a motorcycle, because that's the licensing (meaning they will be a bit brighter).
5. Bulbs will be off-the-shelf, both for headlights, and taillights.
6. Interior lighting will have an add-on option for "Lighting up" the Elio logo on the front hood, as well as more advanced interior 'accent' lighting, with color options (if memory serves), vanity mirror, etc.
7. Optional advanced steering wheel controls, with bluetooth connectivity.
8. Cruise control add-on option will be about what you'd spend for an after-market system.

That's about all I remember at the moment.

Peace, Keith

 

[zelio]

Great job, H2odog. Everything Mr. Vassallo said matches what I heard in Knoxville on March 4. Being an electrical engineering-type, I asked a few questions and this is what I found:
1. Throttle-by-wire (not mechanical).
2. OBD-II will be standard, although not as advanced as new cars. (There is not as much to monitor).
3. ABS will also have 'Traction Control.'
4. Headlights will be more like a motorcycle, because that's the licensing (meaning they will be a bit brighter).
5. Bulbs will be off-the-shelf, both for headlights, and taillights.
6. Interior lighting will have an add-on option for "Lighting up" the Elio logo on the front hood, as well as more advanced interior 'accent' lighting, with color options (if memory serves), vanity mirror, etc.
7. Optional advanced steering wheel controls, with bluetooth connectivity.
8. Cruise control add-on option will be about what you'd spend for an after-market system.

That's about all I remember at the moment.

Peace, Keith

Thanks for the additional input, Keith. Every little bit of knowledge we get helps. :-) Z