The E-series Build.

[Frim]

Is that a subwoofer opening, right behind the doggy-door below the rear window?

WOW!! Its got a doggie door!! I need that.

 

[Karnaj]

With the look on your face in your avatar and the emoji, I laughed my donkey off.

 

[outsydthebox]

I wonder if they might be prepping us for their final cost-saving measure: "Some Assembly Required"

What you get when you buy an Elio is a rolling frame and a crate full of pieces, then you put it all together at home.

I am going to venture a guess...It would take more time and expense to carefully pack and crate the individual assemblies, that to bolt them into the rolling chassis.
just my 2 cents.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

So don't quote me on it, but yes. The tool stamp sets can be shipped. But I think this run of 25 has been stamped by a contractor, just my guess. Typically for this size company like EM, they contract their first tools to be made by a contractor business. This is done using a 'build plan' which includes the graphic solids files, possibly even post-process cutter paths etc. EM will eventually need more than one tool set per part, and those will be made the same way, but possibly with the target presses in mind. Building a few of the 25 Elios proves-out the tooling build plan is complete. And of course proves quite a bit toward the rest of the Elio assembly/build plan.
I expect right now EM has only one stamping tool set for each part, and that's enough tooling to get the 25 built in ? Detroit ? plus the 100 where ever that gets built. I do hope they ship the tooling to Shreveport to stamp out for the 100 lot run right there.
Someone else here worked at the Shreveport factory when it was making Hummers. And he can likely say how many tool sets are needed for 1000 Elios per day. (probably did say already)
At some point in time EM would evaluate the costs of making their own tool stamp sets. I suspect they won't find that cost effective until there is a full production online and generating cash flow.

I've been in metal stamping for 20+ years. Yes, the tooling is fairly easy to transport, and usually built to common standards and able to run in many companies' equipment.

Die sets are long lived - millions of parts per tool generally. There would be little need to have more than one tool per part - some tools may even make left or right parts with a small component change. Our tooling generally runs between 100-4000 pieces per hour, depending on size and how much manual handling the parts require, easily enough to support production volumes, given enough presses to support it (and that's the real expensive part.)

Hard tooling costs can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a small, simple flat part (say a washer or something like it) to upwards of $100,000 for a complex large part.

I'm unsure (see below) if the E series chassis is fabricated (laser cut, formed with brake presses or other means) or fully stamped. Our normal process is to fabricate short runs/prototypes, and build "hard tooling" as the customer requests or the volume justifies. Really, the parts will meet the same specs either way, but the cost per part is much higher for fabricated due to multiple processes and slower process speeds.

They might not have the actual dies. According to this :
"...CNC punching and forming equipment can make a vast array of parts with minimal or no investment in part-specific tooling...." *

Taken from the article posted by AriLea. (post #552)
It occurred to me that this might be a process that Roush Racing brings to the table, since they seem to do a bunch of "one-off/prototype" work.

Most of what I see in the pic Ekh posted below would be easy to make for a company like Roush, without needing to be hard tooled (yet).

Momentum blog carried this pic of an e-series frame a-building. Doesn't this look a heck of a lot beefier than P5? Some of that effect is because it's stampings, not tubing, and I know that the black coating contributes to that effect, but just the same:

View attachment 9474

I know it's not your pic, but if you have any tricks to getting a really good close up of the cut edges, forms, etc., I could pretty easily tell what process made them, unless they've put a lot into metal finishing - not likely given the E series intended uses.


***I haven't been around much, but I'll check in more for a little bit and try to answer any questions you guys (or gals) may have.***

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Forgot to add, it's much cheaper to make changes to fabricated parts than to change a stamping die, normally the dies are built after all the bugs are worked out and the design is completely finalized and approved.

Some companies don't work this way however, and we've more or less rebuilt tools 4-5 times as they make changes to a brand new part. They pay that cost.

 

[KD]

Teasers from today's blog!!! Squeeee!!!

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I see those two and a third in the background

Wow, these look so much more polished, professional, and refined from the previous builds!

I am wondering what the holes behind each of the rear windows are for. Almost looks like 2 more small windows, but I don't believe that would quite work. Maybe to lighten the weight. Or for some upgraded speaker locations!

 

[Coss]

Wow, these look so much more polished, professional, and refined from the previous builds!

I am wondering what the holes behind each of the rear windows are for. Almost looks like 2 more small windows, but I don't believe that would quite work. Maybe to lighten the weight. Or for some upgraded speaker locations!

More like it just worked out that way; I don't think they were planned for anything.

The reason these frames look so much more "Professional" as you put it is because they aren't all tubing welded together like you would build in a well equipped small shop; more like a production frame than a one-off custom frame.
These are stamped box sections like you would see in a typical mass produced vehicle.

 

[Ty]

Wow, these look so much more polished, professional, and refined from the previous builds!

I am wondering what the holes behind each of the rear windows are for. Almost looks like 2 more small windows, but I don't believe that would quite work. Maybe to lighten the weight. Or for some upgraded speaker locations!

I know it wasn't the intent, but I think the frame kind of looks bad ass!