Where's Paul?

[RSchneider]

That video excerpt of Paul on the news article wasn't current. Not sure I seen new video of Paul for sometime now.

In the video the announcer does say that it was an interview with Paul Elio two years ago.

The last video I have seen of Paul was in May of 2017 when he was in Shreveport at his plant. Other than that, only investors and Darth Vader have seen him in the flesh (at least what has been reported). Many have conversations with him regularly, so he's still around, just doing the behind the scene thing.

 

[Samalross]

That video excerpt of Paul on the news article wasn't current. Not sure I seen new video of Paul for sometime now.

Could have been any year, I am sure he has been saying this for ten years now.

 

[Travelbuzz1]

Jim Deforest in AZ. He looks like a nice enough guy. His name & numberS do not show up on Harold's list. Just tells me he has never been proud of his decisionS. And yes it is obvious he bought at least two reservations. He has a green smiley face T-Shirt & the first green elio T-Shirt. And HE, himself thinks HE is dumb. I feel for the guy ... poor guy. But, that is it. That is all the compassion this old broad has for this guy. I am Celebrating !!! YES, CELEBRATING !!! The title of this forum is "Where's Paul". Well, we know Paul is Alive, still looking sexy and healthy and PAUL SAID FOR "US TO BE PATIENCE. THIS YEAR IS BE EXCITING". And what have I been saying? Be Patience, Spring is coming. Nothing happens in the dead of winter. Ground Hog is coming (maybe after hearing in March though). We have so much to be thankful for.

Was this a recent video? I can only read what was written because my browser will not open the video content.

 

[xtspode]

Keep up the good work LillyMay. We are having a hard time staying optimistic and we all know that it gets darkest before the dawn. Pretty dark and foreboding on the Elio stage. I look forward to the day they deliver mine, but am not holding my breath. I know the probability of driving mine in the future is still fairly remote. But, There is Still a Chance! I am all for rooting for the chance.

Thanks.

 

[Thomas Malkin]

Just when we thought the cars we reserved were going to be built in 2018 sound like it's never going to happen.
You would think Paul and his team would address the news that is going around that their broke and secretly closing offices up.
I thought he was a stand up guy but now I may have miss read him this is sad for the people that believed in him and his dream.

He didn't do anything wrong. He and his crew worked their asses off.

The Department of Energy's ATVM loan people led him on a long, long joke. They never intended to loan him a penny, as we can deduce from the June 2016 message from Elio saying the ATVM loan people mandated a new requirement: 66,000 verfied purchase orders instead of reservations (please, it was emailed to us as an update, I'm not looking it up again). At that point, all he could do was pray for a NASDAQ listing and a sale of stock, which apparently isn't going to happen. My guess is they ran out of money and can't pursue it now.

That loan was the goal, the lone goal. For no reason, it was withheld.

No one is interested in funding a car that can't make anyone as much money as simply investing in financial markets. No, not even with a trillion loosed by a tax cut. They aren't interested.

He gave up his marriage, his fortune, and his professional life, and I would think he's experiencing an emotional catastrophe, larger than people just waiting for a car. He hasn't hurt any of you, only himself, by trying to give you a car you could afford. So have some pity, people. You're not victims. He was and is your hero.

He tried, and he tried for you all. He wanted to build a cheap car for normal, non-rich people, and no one was interested in financing it because they couldn't begin to make a fortune doing that. The ATVM people stopped loaning money eight years or so back. They have billions to loan. They apparently aren't interested in doing any work.

This is a disaster for normal folk, because the trend is to build expensive cars for expensive people. The e-cars of the future are not going to be repairable by anyone but the manufacturer, and will be obsoleted by lack of software updates.

Three cheers for our champ. He gave it everything he had.

 

[RSchneider]

That loan was the goal, the lone goal. For no reason, it was withheld.

If you read the Elio SEC filing, it tells you why they have not got the ATVM loan:

The ATVM application process is comprised of 4 stages:
1. Application – Part I: Determine basic eligibility
2. Application – Part II: Confirmatory due diligence
3. Conditional Commitment: Negotiate term sheet
4. Loan Guarantee: Negotiate final agreements

In August 2014 we completed the first stage by submitting an application for a loan of approximately $185 million, the proceeds of which would be used to partly fund the purchase and installation of equipment into the Shreveport facility prior to and after the start of production. As of January 15, 2015, the DOE has confirmed that we achieved the technical criteria for the loan. Due diligence has been pending upon the confirmation of our financial backing.

If they don't get the ATVM loan, they have a plan as stated in their SEC filing:

If we are unable to obtain a loan under the ATVM Program, we will rely on funding through the issuance debt and/or equity securities, customer reservations, and possibly CAFE credits.

The ATVM people stopped loaning money eight years or so back.

That is true and many other companies have been rejected. Aptera, Bright Automotive, Next Autoworks, Coda, Think, Carbon Motors, XP Vehicles etc... So, it was known that they rejected many even before Elio went about the ATVM loan process. Elio knew it was a high risk loan program and has accepted that it probably was never going to happen due to the amount of others that never got it either. No need for anyone to complain because doing that makes someone sound as bad a non refundable reservation holders that now want their money back. They all knew the risk and should accept it. Go on.

 

[Thomas Malkin]

If you read the Elio SEC filing, it tells you why they have not got the ATVM loan:


If they don't get the ATVM loan, they have a plan as stated in their SEC filing:



That is true and many other companies have been rejected. Aptera, Bright Automotive, Next Autoworks, Coda, Think, Carbon Motors, XP Vehicles etc... So, it was known that they rejected many even before Elio went about the ATVM loan process. Elio knew it was a high risk loan program and has accepted that it probably was never going to happen due to the amount of others that never got it either. No need for anyone to complain because doing that makes someone sound as bad a non refundable reservation holders that now want their money back. They all knew the risk and should accept it. Go on.

But those terms for the loan are meaningless. Read them. It's pretty much up the the ATVM board to determine if the company met the terms. I see nothing that precluded their loan. They had the car, the reservations, the deposits, the factor, the talent, the suppliers, the new laws for autocycles, the distribution channel, the factory workers.

At the very least, the ATVM people drew out the agony for most of a half-decade, adding tens of millions of dollars of debt to the company so to keep the lights on. The ATVM loan people acted as a black box that didn't share their thought process, and specifially demanded that we not try to talk to them or influence them. That's not how this works. They are our employees.

The added June 2016 new requirement for 66,000 *full purchase in advance* orders of all Elios was not required of Ford or Tesla or any of the others loan recipients. It was breathtakingly impossible, a clear signal that Elio was being played with.

Even if they had magically handed over the money in 2017, the debt piled up from the years of waiting would have killed the company. The WAIT killed them, sure as a bullet. The loan board ruined people. They clearly did not care.

Now that the cloud is passing, I want some damned answers from the DoE, and a tell-all from Paul or any of the others. Unless of course they were forced by the ATVM people into an NDA, which I think likely at this point. The silence of Paul Elio and the others has been, up to this point, forced by the ATVM loan people by implying heavily that any public discussion of the loan process, especially to drum up public support, would be penalized by permanent lack of consideration for the ATVM loan. Elio was muzzled. He straight out said he was.

This is not how it works.

 

[RSchneider]

Look at the other company failures that happened before Elio went down the ATVM loan route. When you read, you'll see that applying for the loan was risky by the time 2014 came around. When Elio did it, it was known that the chances of getting it were slim but there was a possibility. Using it as the reason for Elio's failure, is not correct. Even when they did apply for the loan and even today, Elio does not have a finished car (they have a prototype and they state, it needs another $85M worth of work today), the suppliers are literally a letter of intent and the same for the distribution channels. As for the talent, that was farmed out which anyone can do. The autocycle laws have pretty much been a licensing issue taken up with the states. Even at the time of 2014, it had a way to go.

I agree, the ATVM loan program is a disaster and should have been shut down back in 2013 but for some reason it keeps getting funded. That's a politics issue. Using federal, state and local cheap loans as the basis of your business is not a good way to go. The chances are, it's cumbersome and not well run. If Paul said that the ATVM loan people are muzzling him, I'd like to see where that is posted because it makes no sense because they were not muzzled all the way up to mid 2017. I doubt that after the NASDAQ announcement that the ATVM loan people made him stop talking.

With just these examples of people not getting the loan or getting strung along for a long time, it's obvious that the chance of it happening again is pretty good. So, for Elio to bank the business on a program that already had a bad rap, was either him just taking a huge risk or a way to make future reservation holder more confident about non refundable deposits since working on that loan obviously takes a long time and people kept thinking it was going to happen.

Here's carbon motors (the car went up for auction in 2013):
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/11/14/carbon-motors-cop-car-auction/3540387/

XP Motors (story from 2013):
https://jalopnik.com/meet-the-inflatable-car-inventor-suing-the-u-s-for-504488747

Bright Automotive (story from 2012):
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...-automotive-shuts-down-slams-doe-loan-process

Next Autoworks (story from 2011) These guys got rejected twice and they had a Billionaire investor):
https://www.4wheelsnews.com/auto/ne...-after-failing-to-secure-320m-loan-19130.html

 

[Coss]

And they are not done trying. Some how or another they have said that we will see Elio's in 2019 and they are sticking with that.
What they have going on, no one knows for sure, but that is the plan they're sticking with.
And until 2019 has passed, I'm not going to argue with them. They set the deadline.

 

[Samalross]

And they are not done trying. Some how or another they have said that we will see Elio's in 2019 and they are sticking with that.
What they have going on, no one knows for sure, but that is the plan they're sticking with.
And until 2019 has passed, I'm not going to argue with them. They set the deadline.

They said it would take 72 weeks for production. Will find out in July if 2019 is a possibility.