Things Still Up In The Air ...

[acamara]

6. Instrument Panel options.

I thought best to change my numbers from 1, 2, 3 to 6, 7, 8 to follow booboo's numbering to make it less confusing when others want to respond to any of the items posted.

So I was wondering if you would consider changing your number to 9 please?

 

[John-b-gone]

The tour group will be in Colorado Springs at the Tiny House Festival on Aug 5-7
Who's going?
They can take the list right to them.

Just my luck I've moved to Oregon, sorry. So far I like it here but I'll wait for winter to pass full judgement. I like my precipitation in the form of snow.

 

[Horn]

There's quite a list. I'll start with a handful, then see what you guys come up with.

1. Plastic or Metal body panels? (officially in the air, but I'll give 10 to 1 it's metal)
2. Windshield washer type
3. Formal selling price of the base car (needed before ATVM can proceed -- DOE needs this to evaluate the financial self-sufficiency of the company)
4. ATVM itself, of course.
5. Battery capacity and location

OK, over to you.

I would say it goes in this order:
1. EM Funding (MAJOR)












2,3,4,5, etc - All very small details and don't matter without the funding.

 

[Ekh]

You know, guys, I wasn't expecting commentary on each issue -- but rather to see what OTHER unsettled issues remain -- hood latch or pins, for instance. All the comments are interesting, but I'm still wondering what else is out there.

As for Seth's question about how did we get from experimenting with metal to 10:1 it's happening, that's based on language used in press conferences and movies. Only the official blog, so far as I remember, says it's about "experimenting." Everybody else sounds like it's a definite done deal. Engineering test and validation isn't about design choices still to be made. It's about seeing if the choices you made actually work. The body skin materials question doesn't fit here; unless there was a technical problem, plastic should work just fine. That in turn tells me that for some reason, quite late in the game, EM made a 90 degree turn. Either something was actually wrong with the plastic body panel choice in the first place, or the costs were simply too high. I'm thinking costs.

The possible trade-offs in choosing metal panels over plastic are 1. Weight 2. Cost 3. Durability 4. Repairability 5. Difficulty of installation 6. Availability. I have no idea how either choice would score against these questions, but those are the major questions involved. Pretty clearly, something in that list went BEEEEEP and Elio has changed its mind.

 

[bunchathrees]

I would only add Safety to your list Ekh. Given there are no real standards yet, there is an opportunity here for Elio to create a deep moat around this design in this new auto classification. Making it extremely hard to compete on as many levels as possible.

 

[wizard of ahs]

People....we are still in the Engineering stage......................

NOTHING, other than the engine and trans is chiseled in stone

It's still a waiting game

 

[Joeker88]

I would say it goes in this order:
1. EM Funding (MAJOR)

So true everything will be for naught if there's no funding.












2,3,4,5, etc - All very small details and don't matter without the funding.

 

[Coss]

We also have new people and companies that were hired / signed on; with those people and those with depth of knowledge in different areas can see something that no one else has noticed, or (worse) assumed.
So maybe a new light is shining in what was a dark corner before.

 

[skychief]

Fender lights will ruin the drag coefficient numbers. And wires to power those lights will be flapping in the breeze. And of course, that'll raise the base price of the Elio, and hurt the MPG numbers. Thanks, but no thanks.

That's one of those mods that the owner should do if he/she is so inclined.

 

[champsman]

Fender lights will ruin the drag coefficient numbers. And wires to power those lights will be flapping in the breeze. And of course, that'll raise the base price of the Elio, and hurt the MPG numbers. Thanks, but no thanks.

That's one of t
hose mods that the owner should do if he/she is so inclined.

Maybe so, but they should be offered as an option.