Prepped And Ready For E-series Assembly

[WilliamH]

I definitely didn't mean that sub-$100k earners wouldn't be interested. I just meant it seems much more likely that people with more disposable income would be more likely to put money out on a hope and a dream and a promise.

Well, the lottery tends to favor the less well to do. But, $1,000 would seem to be a lot more to someone making $30,000 than to someone making $100,000.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2014 that: U.S. real (inflation adjusted) median household income was $51,939 in 2013 versus $51,759 in 2012, statistically unchanged. In 2013, real median household income was 8.0 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the latest recession.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States ]

I think your $100K figure must be your opinion based on your income. Or just totally wrong?

 

[Sethodine]

Yes, $1000 is a lot more when it is 1/30th of your yearly pay, versus being 1/100th. But $100 is just 1/300th the yearly income of a $30,000 wage earner.
So, while somebody earning $100k is more able to put down $1,000 on an Elio reservation, it's also not an undue burden for the person earning $30k to put down $100 on a reservation. From what I've seen, Elio reservationists span the gamut of income levels.

 

[Martin Brock]

The line is already built. They are moving some of the equipment around but it's there. One of the LEAST critical thing right actually now is hiring assemblers. Those people would be sitting around doing nothing for the next several months. That wouldn't make sense. They'll put out an ad for assemblers probably a month before they need them and then hire the bulk of what they need a week or two ahead of time.

I doubt that a week or two is enough time to hire and train the bulk of employees assembling this car, but I thought they were building the first 100 cars now. Thanks for the clarification.

The typical buyer right now is probably a six figure earner. Typically, lower earners can't afford/don't want to put money out there without having something in return. Once the Elio is out, I'd expect the average earnings of an Elio buyer to drop once they are available.

With 50,000 reservations starting at $100, I suppose many people with reservations don't earn six figures. Even at the $1000 level, quite a few people with reservations presumably earn less. For a young, single man earning $50k, $1000 is not a large bet. Stats on the reservation holders would be interesting.

 

[Ty]

I doubt that a week or two is enough time to hire and train the bulk of employees assembling this car, but I thought they were building the first 100 cars now. Thanks for the clarification.


With 50,000 reservations starting at $100, I suppose many people with reservations don't earn six figures. Even at the $1000 level, quite a few people with reservations presumably earn less. For a young, single man earning $50k, $1000 is not a large bet. Stats on the reservation holders would be interesting.

I could easily train 20-30 employees myself in a single afternoon. The jobs are very simple by design with not a single job taking more than 52 seconds. (I was an industrial engineer at that very same assembly plant a while back) Wait, there were a couple of jobs that were "double station" length. The cross-body harness installation was one of those stations. So for those, we had 6 people in 3 teams doing the job till I fixed the station at which point we only needed 5 people (should have been 4 but the union pushed back hard).

 

[Martin Brock]

I could easily train 20-30 employees myself in a single afternoon. The jobs are very simple by design with not a single job taking more than 52 seconds. (I was an industrial engineer at that very same assembly plant a while back) Wait, there were a couple of jobs that were "double station" length. The cross-body harness installation was one of those stations. So for those, we had 6 people in 3 teams doing the job till I fixed the station at which point we only needed 5 people (should have been 4 but the union pushed back hard).

You know the business better than I, but I'm still skeptical. Maybe if you have 20-30 intelligent, reliable people with some experience lined up for the training, you can train them in an afternoon, but we're discussing a line never before staffed for a car never before built. How many resumes did you toss in the bin before you found a 100 people worth interviewing, and how many of those 100 showed up, and how many of those who showed up did you hire? I'm a newbie here and had never heard of Elio until last week, but I understand the frustration of folks who reserved in 2014 and now hear that production is delayed again. I'm not surprised that it takes years to realize this vision, but excessively optimistic schedules definitely have a downside.

 

[Ty]

You know the business better than I, but I'm still skeptical. Maybe if you have 20-30 intelligent, reliable people with some experience lined up for the training, you can train them in an afternoon, but we're discussing a line never before staffed for a car never before built. How many resumes did you toss in the bin before you found a 100 people worth interviewing, and how many of those 100 showed up, and how many of those who showed up did you hire? I'm a newbie here and had never heard of Elio until last week, but I understand the frustration of folks who reserved in 2014 and now hear that production is delayed again. I'm not surprised that it takes years to realize this vision, but excessively optimistic schedules definitely have a downside.

Overly optimistic schedules certainly have downsides. Customer confidence being one. The thing is, I know they could be delayed again. I think it'll come from the finance side of the house more than the production side though. I don't think they'll have a problem finding some managers and through them, assembly line workers. You just don't want to hire them too early. Think about 100 people NOT producing viable goods while being paid $10-$30/hour. We aren't talking about just 100 people though but more like 600. 600 X $10 is $6,000 an hour in actual pay plus however much else is required for benefits, taxes, etc.
I don't see anything that would stop them from being able to assemble Elios starting in the first part of 2017 though. I have some thoughts on possible bad actors though. I'll rank them by which I think is most likely to cause delay from most likely to least likely. This list is absolutely correct and is NOT wrong. (because it's what I think and even if what I think is wrong, it's still what I think )

1. Financing (no money, no building the Elios)
2. Engine production (Who? Where? When?)
3. Frame production (Probably the most difficult/tool intensive process)
4. Single vendor support (Say, if the window motor vendor suddenly can't get the motors there in time, it'll cause delay)
5. Logistics FROM Shreveport. They don't have a set way to get the Elios OUT of Shreveport. Sure, they have that one company set to deliver them but you are talking about needing a shipping company that is currently sitting on the capability of moving 52 vehicles per hour.
6. Too much coffee sends Paul to an early grave.
7. Dinosaurs roam the earth
8. The Election... scratch that... no politics here. Nothing to see here. Move along.
9. US institutes a policy that gasoline is now free to all.

 

[Elio Amazed]

Even if #9 comes true...
Most of us will still buy the Elio.

 

[bunchathrees]

Even Saudi Arabia couldn't make it free.

 

[Ty]

Even Saudi Arabia couldn't make it free.

Right. So, you see the humor at least.

 

[W. WIllie]

Probably most of the assemblers will be from the Shreveport area, With prior experience in the same building when the hummers were built there.
I don't think there will be much "training" needed.