RSchneider
Elio Addict
Legitimate suppliers don't take stock as payment. People use the word "supplier" very loosely. For example, I could be a supplier of engineering services or someone else is a supplier of legal services or supplier of accounting. For real suppliers, they know better. Plus they are running a business and need to pay their employees on a typical 2 week basis. Thus if you have to sit on stock for a period of time, there's no cash to pay those employees and your own suppliers. This is why in the gig economy, it's easier to pay in stock because you are working for 10 other companies at the same time but you are just supplying a service which is typically just time and very little hard items. Even at that, I learned a long time ago, not to take stock as payment.
With Elio, they are stuck because for their plan to work, they will need to produce at a minimum, 250K units per year and make sure they are sold. Since they went the unibody route and steel body route, that means the up front costs are huge due to the tooling and equipment to make the chassis and body. Best way to look at it is look at how hard it was for Tesla in the early days with the Model 3. Up until that point they were a mid volume manufacturer. When they went to high and used typical steel unibody and body, they got an education. At least they got it solved and all of the anti Tesla people out there are eating crow. For what Elio wants to do, their existing plan will be just as hard and with Elio not having the resources and leadership like Musk, they will have it much harder to do this.
This then becomes an issue where they have to lower expectations. Make less and charge more. Only way to do that is to start another company and then not have to honor the existing contracts. Just let Elio Motors Inc. just stay dormant all while Elio Trykkes Ltd. makes a $20K Elio. Maybe start with the Signature edition that costs $60K and make 20 of them. Then turn around and make the Evergreen version for $20K. If production goes up, thy can lower the prices later. If not, then they stay expensive. Since it will be fun to drive, give 49/84, able to drive it in any conditions and be safe, the market will determine the price and volume.
My imaginary week end toy Cybertrakk supplement to my imaginary everyday FUV would sure look good in my garage providing they both fit.