250,000 Units Per Year ?

ecdriver711 said:

I'm not sure we can see the 60,000 goal being met unless EM gives us (Elio followers) and potential consumers a shot in the arm with some biggish news like the new engine is doing great and/or a look at the final body design. Something along those lines.

Click to expand...

I'll bet there will be some news by the end of October... Engine testing, transmission picked, P5, something big.

Ty said:

I'll bet there will be some news by the end of October... Engine testing, transmission picked, P5, something big.

Click to expand...

We all hope so.
But what are you basing your 'bet' on? Hope like the rest of us and like every other month, or some pattern you're seeing?

There has to be news on progress by the end of October or Elio may have jumped the on track to 2015 production schedule. Details on the engine, final Elio specifications, and options should be finalized or very close to finalized. The time has come for news.

Keep in mind, a really low base price, holds the volume up, but also it discourages competitors. Who's only way to compete is to be cool (in some way) enough to justify a higher price, then their volume drops off, loosing some production efficiency.

Making your more lucrative profit off of options is the better business model for Elio.

Now the trading of 'points' for fleet mpg's, that aspect actually encourages competition to jump in to get their own 'points'.

Ty said:

I'll bet there will be some news by the end of October... Engine testing, transmission picked, P5, something big.

Click to expand...

Yep.

Couple of things, one, the average startup business shows little or no profit in its first two years. Two, the average startup business doesn't make it to its fifth year. Three, if the price is $6800 or $8000 it will still be the lowest priced vehicle on the market. Four, if the Geo Metro could get 50 MPG almost 20 years ago, why can't the Elio get 80+ today, with all the advancements in engine technology. Five, no one promised me anything, not a set price, not a guaranteed MPG, not even a vehicle, I bought into a dream, that I hope and dream materializes!

I don't want to rain on the parade, but it seemed to me upon reading this string that the next milestone would be some word on the DOE loan guarantee, e.g. lock-in of a funding source to get production timing settled. So I did some googling and came up with the following from Wiki:

Unsuccessful applications[edit]

• A loan request under this program was denied for Carbon Motors Corporation in March 2012 after the latter had spent 2 years prior addressing the DOE's concerns.[7]
• Aptera Motors' initial application was denied because its product was a three-wheeled vehicle; the wording on the program was modified to allow high-mileage three-wheelers and Aptera reapplied, however the company went out of business before the DOE responded to their second application.
• Bright Automotive, who filed their application in 2008, went out of business in March 2012 after waiting 4 years for the DOE to respond and being unable to sustain continued operations.[7]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Technology_Vehicles_Manufacturing_Loan_Program

(I did a quick search here for "Carbon Motors Corporation" and didn't find it so am assuming that this has not been posted before - forgive me if it has).

This tells me that EM is most likely not going to be able to rely on DOE loan to get production going owing to the time lag it takes to look at applications, revising this application/addressing DOE concerns, etc., and that they'll have to attract private capital to fill the gap. If new news slows to a trickle, my guess is that lack of funding progress is at the root of that. This was the program they applied for, right???

Paul Elio also stated he wasn't relying on the loan, but it would be irresponsible as a CEO to not apply. Also, the funds wouldn't be used to get started, but rather to jump start things in high gear instead of building up - or such is my impression.

ecdriver711 said:

I'm not sure we can see the 60,000 goal being met unless EM gives us (Elio followers) and potential consumers a shot in the arm with some biggish news like the new engine is doing great and/or a look at the final body design. Something along those lines.

Click to expand...

That's basically what I have been trying to say, ecdriver.

We ALL need to see that one , really BIG news release on the Elio. Don't really care what it is about, but PLEASE make it new.

All we are seeing is the SAME information, same words, being rearranged and "reframed" to look like a new "Blog."

So what we are saying is Elio step up to the plate for US who have put up money.