Texas State Fair

[zelio]

Not going to throw mud at Elio. The purpose I thought of touring the country such as booking the Texas State Fair was to get the Elio concepts out there to the public to drum up some media and public attention. OK...paperwork/Fair politics is what it is. The booth at the fair would have been a hit regardless of what the promoters could or could not say. The Elio sells itself! There would have been plenty of enthusiasts out there with their Elio shirts on answering questions and showing their spirit for their soon to be produced Elios . ( I had my Elio shirt on and had not heard they were cancelling and walked all over the Auto Show looking for the booth) The cost of the set up would have been easily offset by the new folks that could have put in their reservations after going on the net and looking up the Elio like we all did....word of mouth, news, promotions, Facebook, etc..... Am I a little disappointed in the no show/decision not to show. Well, yes. Will this change my opinion of the Elio I have come to learn about through the forum NO. But it sure would have been nice to see it, touch it, sit in it, and finally be able to share a physical site picture and feel of the concept.

-ElioTony

Don't give up. You never know when they might set up another event even for just one day. They did that in Columbus, OH I think it was. They were scheduled for the weekend but were going to have to have the P3 for that so they had a one evening event with the P4 in a motel parking lot on Wednesday. We got very short notice, but we did get notice. In fact I think it was the day or evening before when they let us know. Z

 

[Neal]

Don't give up. You never know when they might set up another event even for just one day. They did that in Columbus, OH I think it was. They were scheduled for the weekend but were going to have to have the P3 for that so they had a one evening event in a motel parking lot on Wednesday. We got very short notice, but we did get notice. In fact I think it was the day or evening before when they let us know. Z

well, as I post in the Texas Thread, they did actually set up an event in downtown Dallas last week. They just didn't give any notice or let anyone know. The person who posted pics on FaceBook said the only way he knew was that it was at the building he works at.

 

[ElioTony]

Thanks Z for trying to cheer me up. I'm not really dogging the man. Just thought the Elio would have outshined a majority of the makers that bit the bullet and paid/filled in the squares to put their wares on display. I have always and still do admire your limitless enthusiasm for this project coming to fruition. I'll continue lurking in the shadows with my tshirt and bumper sticker on standby to drum up conversation and enthusiasm amongst those I come across with an open mind.
-ElioTony

 

[Steve Sparks]

I agree I am very disappointed that they are not going to be at the State Fair Texas I had a lot of people pump up about seeing the car. And I was looking forward to seeing it again up close.

 

[Jambe]

I agree I am very disappointed that they are going to be at the State Fair Texas I had a lot of people pump up about seeing the car. And I was looking forward to seeing it again up close.

Steve, have you read the reasons they are not at the Texas State Fair? (By Jerome Vassallo)

 

[Steve Sparks]

no I have not have you?

 

[Steve Sparks]

For all who are reading the State Fair of Texas last a month not a week as stated by someone else that wood a lot of people seeing the car building entrust. I would like to see this be the larges start for a new car ever. There is a big following here at my work of people wanting to see my car when I get it before looking at getting one for them self's. It can't come soon enough for me.

 

[Neal]

For all who are reading the State Fair of Texas last a month not a week as stated by someone else that wood a lot of people seeing the car building entrust. I would like to see this be the larges start for a new car ever. There is a big following here at my work of people wanting to see my car when I get it before looking at getting one for them self's. It can't come soon enough for me.

I agree. Huge missed opportunity. I hate that state government bureaucracy and red tape prevented this from happening.

 

[goofyone]

no I have not have you?

The Elio Motors VP of Government Affairs, Joel Sheltrown, posted this more detailed explanation of the Texas State Fair situation on Facebook today:

Just to set the record straight, Elio Motors was forced to cancel because of the completely detailed agreement TX wanted before they would allow us to display at the fair. Among the restrictions were: "If anyone asks you what the retail price is on the Elio, you will respond: ""It is against the law for me to discuss the price" If anyone ask about reserving we were only to say: "It is against the law for me to discuss reserving the Elio and what amount might be required to reserve." If anyone asks about our website..or if we have one. "Can't tell you that either" Soooooooo, about the only thing that our product specialist can do is stand there and look dumb. We have the VP of Governmental Affairs doing that already. Bottom line, you know where to squarely place the blame and it isn't with Elio. We spend a lot of money on lodging, travel, many times airfare, and event costs of course. I suspect most of you would agree, these regulations are certainly over reaching and you should know what to do about them.

We COULD tell you what the MPG is... though. We COULD tell you that TX doesn't have a helmet or endorsement requirement(while we were at it) but you can already get that information from me at no cost. Being Elio Future Owners, I would imagine you to be quite frugal with your funds.

He then followed up with post post:

Any event .. any place we show the Elio, even in a parking lot, requires a number of things to work out... insurance for that location (each seems to have their own requirements) and a loss payable clause added to the contract to the owner of the premises.. sent to the right people for approval. I'm sure we will circle back again. I hope we do.. I want you and other Texans to be able to see the Elio upfront and personal. Events also have to .. or should be held where we get the most exposure. Not my area of expertise.. we have a VP and a tour crew that handle that quite nicely without me being involved, (Thank God) but I have set up two events now myself. It requires planning and a little time to get the approvals. Just can't pop in and set up. We had other locations that did not have the restrictions the fair did. We didn't know until late about these restrictions... and we suspected the State of TX may not get this worked out nearly in time. So the tour with all its expense would have set idle if the fair wasn't approved. I don't want to get into too much detail on this right now. Just wanted to comment that it is completely unfair that some are casting the blame on Elio for the cancelation. The original paperwork (got it very late ..too late to comply) contain NUMEROUS requirements that were impossible, completely impossible for us to meet.. especially in that short of time frame. That paperwork, even if we had sent it in, would have been denied. Period; In addition, there was a $2,000.00 application fee which is non refundable ... even if you can't address every requirement and your app is denied. The state did react rather quickly (surprise) to come up with another doc that they wanted us to agree to... some of the terms in that doc I explained already above. It's my job to get these things done... It's my job to provide guidance in what I think may or may not happen. I didn't think we could count at all on getting this resolved in time for the fair. Based on that information, the tour team had to rebook immediately. We are all disappointed in the cancellation.

 

[Lil4X]

It seems EM needs some local input on locating their roadshows. Worse, they need to reconsider their store locations, particularly in Houston.

Let's start with our commuter population, one of the largest in the US. Every day, hundreds of thousands of single-occupant cars clog our freeways - the vast majority coming into the city from our western suburbs. The congestion on I-10 (the Katy freeway) is monsterous, only exceeded by the crush on Hwy 290. Although we have single HOV lanes on both, it doesn't help, and there's a good reason for that. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation, and it is by far the largest without zoning laws. That means there are no real corridors for freeways or light rail to bring workers into the city, and it's getting much worse. I'm convinced that if EM brought a roadshow to Houston two or three times a year, those autocycles would be snapped up as fast as they could be assembled. So far, only the P3 has been shown here, and that a year ago last July. There's an enormous market down here for a small, efficient commuter - let's get some Elios down here to show a powerful market!

But there's more . . . So far dealerships are planned for Sugar Land (Southwest), and Baytown (East), but that's a long way from their real market. Commuters in Baytown largely travel to jobs in the refinery communities in Baytown - or at least the satellite communities along the ship channel. Plant automation has cut deeply into the working population in this area. Until Elio develops a pickup bed for their vehicle, I don't expect many to be sold in this strong blue-collar neighborhood. Drives are usually short, and the demographic just isn't there. On the other hand, Sugar Land is a fairly strong market as it is mostly an upscale bedroom community of West Houston. West, including Cinco Ranch and Katy are fast-growing medium to upscale tech communities that will provide a huge market for Elio, as will the Tomball area (Northwest). If you pull out a map of the city, particularly if you investigate the growth patterns of the area, you'll find that there's practically NO growth East of the West Belt.

Ten years ago a group from our church began to expand our footprint in the Houston area, building large new campuses (now up to six) in the city. All of the experts predicted a boom for the far west side, and that has proven to be the case. The geographical center of the population here is no longer in the city's center but well west of the 610 Loop. Communities like Sugar Land and The Woodlands are well-established upscale communities that desperately need some kind of commuter service. As proof, there are many auto dealerships on I-10 about six miles West of the loop. There are similar "autoplexes" located a few miles beyond the North Loop. You go where the trade is.

Forget Baytown. There's nothing over there. Downtown Houston is largely a ghost town, except for office buildings. There are hardly any retail stores in the downtown area, and the few that remain are struggling. Look instead North and West. Southeast, down I-45, near the NASA community, there is a large population of professional men and women - and an established automotive community. The only thing iffy about this area is that although strong, it is almost wholly dependent on NASA contracts for jobs. That could be a problem in years to come.

I'm almost a Houston native, having moved here at the age of 1 and lived in the area most of my life. I think the location of EM's marketing here deserves some additional thought.