Reservations: 65341 As Of 6/20/2017

[Charlie G]

All this P3 P4 scheduling talk highlights another thing that's perhaps obvious but I haven't seen anyone bring up yet.
More prototypes means more simultaneous events.
Currently they're touring with 2 vehicles, trying to cover the entire country.
Once they have the next prototype(s) done, they can cover much more ground.
It's going to be a media blitz when those are let loose.

 

[LockMD]

All this P3 P4 scheduling talk highlights another thing that's perhaps obvious but I haven't seen anyone bring up yet.
More prototypes means more simultaneous events.
Currently they're touring with 2 vehicles, trying to cover the entire country.
Once they have the next prototype(s) done, they can cover much more ground.
It's going to be a media blitz when those are let loose.

OH YES it will 'Cause I'm guessing that will be with part of the 20-25 "E" models and they will have drive events for Reservation (production nmber) holders.

 

[Norahsbed]

Baby has had 6 years to learn to walk. Baby steps don't last that long.

Okay Wayne, you got me there! But even the smallest amount of progress is better than none at all. My wife works for a company that has been in business for well over 100 years. They announced a change over on one of the lines about 18 months ago. The valve shop just got the specs on the new valves but they won't be shipped for another 4-6 months and they haven't even started taking out the old line yet, looks like another 12+ months before this new line is up and running. This is a company that has all the funding it needs and then some but something's just take time to work out. Oh and by the time the mechanics have figured out this lines idiosyncrasies, half of them will be ready to retire.

 

[Norahsbed]

OH YES it will 'Cause I'm guessing that will be with part of the 20-25 "E" models and they will have drive events for Reservation (production nmber) holders.

Goofyone is the E- model the same thing as the X- model? It was explained to us that once production starts a certain number of cars will be build with an xxxxx serial #. These will be used for performance and crash testing.

 

[goofyone]

All this P3 P4 scheduling talk highlights another thing that's perhaps obvious but I haven't seen anyone bring up yet.
More prototypes means more simultaneous events.
Currently they're touring with 2 vehicles, trying to cover the entire country.
Once they have the next prototype(s) done, they can cover much more ground.
It's going to be a media blitz when those are let loose.

That would be nice but the reality is that it will be a while before we see more than one simultaneous event on a regular basis. I would not expect two events simultaneously until we see the test drive events which are likely to take place in the final months before production as these will likely take place simultaneously with the normal tour.

What will likely happen quickly is that the P3 will be retired from touring however EM has told us we will not even see the P5/E0 on tour right away as it will be needed as part of the vehicle development program until there are enough E-Series vehicles for it to be moved to the tour. My guess is that some time in the first half of next year the P5/E0 will then replace the P4 on tour however EM will still not likely want to spend the money on having two entire tour teams before the test drive events as the most expensive part of the tour is the team members and their expenses.

 

[Charlie G]

however EM will still not likely want to spend the money on having two entire tour teams before the test drive events as the most expensive part of the tour is the team members and their expenses.

They don't need two entire teams, two cars means one can be traveling while the other is being displayed.
All you need is someone to tow the trailer from point A to B.

 

[wayne kemp]

You know it's really amazing that after all this time and Paul has only had time to get a couple Elio's on the tour.
Sounds like some aggressive management is needed.
I would love to see pictures in Michigan where they are building the prototypes and the two people building them.

 

[goofyone]

They don't need two entire teams, two cars means one can be traveling while the other is being displayed.
All you need is someone to tow the trailer from point A to B.

They could do that however right now the team currently travels in the white four-door pickup tow vehicle and an accompanying black van. They could do as you say and fly the team but that adds to cost and does not really allow for down time for the team between events.

I do believe we will eventually see a stepped up mass marketing campaign, including expanded test drive events meant for the general public and not just reservation holders as well as see more than one tour team, however all this will likely happen after production has started. We have to consider that after production begins EM will still have at least six months months of reservation holder and pre-ordered fleet vehicles to produce before they begin opening retail stores and delivery to retail customers. The last few months before retail stores open up is very likely when we will see the big marketing push.

 

[goofyone]

Goofyone is the E- model the same thing as the X- model? It was explained to us that once production starts a certain number of cars will be build with an xxxxx serial #. These will be used for performance and crash testing.

As far as I know they are not the same.

The E-series, or E builds, is the first pre-production run of about 25 vehicles which should start with the P5/E0 this fall. These will be built by Technosports in Michigan, who also built the P1-4 prototypes, and will be used to finalize all the vehicle hardware and software ahead of setting up production. Some of these will also be crash tested to verify the chassis performs as designed. These are supposed to be designated serial #'s E0, E1, E2, etc...

The X-series, or X builds, is a series of vehicles which will be built on the Shreveport assembly line both before and after production has officially started. The pre-production X-series should be the first vehicles produced in the Shreveport plant as part of the assembly line testing and worker training program. These will be tested to ensure the production line built vehicles are meeting all the performance and safety requirements and will eventually likely enter the marketing fleet as test drive and show vehicles. The X series will also likely continue after production officially commences, as needed, to verify vehicles are being built within specified tolerance and these could be crashed or tested to their limits. These vehicles are the ones which should receive the xxxxxx or xxxxx1, xxxxx2, etc.. serial #'s.

 

[goofyone]

You know it;s really amazing that after all this time and Paul has only had time to get a couple Elio's on the tour.
Sounds like some aggressive management is needed.
I would love to see pictures in Michigan where they are building the prototypes and the two people building them.

The number of prototypes really has nothing to do with the amount of time that has passed or what Technosports in Michigan could build but instead effectively using limited resources. There was really no reason to spend the money to build more than one of each generation of vehicle up until now as these vehicles where merely prototypes intended to test the current chassis and aerodynamic designs outside the computer before learning from the current design and moving on to engineering that information into the next generation of prototype.

Perhaps if more development funding had been available this process could have moved faster however it would still have taken several years to progress from the P1 to the P5 as between each generation it simply takes a good bit of time to test and analyze the prototype, process the results, then decide what will be done to improve the next generation of the design. Then these new designs are thoroughly tested on computers before before the subsequent prototype can be built.

Getting more thorough pictures of the Technosports facility in Michigan is something which, if everything works out, may just be arranged sometime in the not too distant future.