Anticipation is palpable for this week's blog postings on Wednesday and Friday night.
Part of me wishes there will be hard, raw, crucial, meaningful news concerning funding, production, expected/anticipated customer delivery forecast, and overall corporate fiscal standing of Elio Motors.
The other part of me is expecting a meaningless canned blog post about some irrelevant topic (more design changes incorporated into the E1c that we already knew about, or more humble bragging about autocycle legislation or motorcycle endorsement and helmet laws, or questions answered from a recent blog post about more cushioning in the passenger seat or more headroom being made available).
Honestly, I'm really not holding my breath on any significant funding or production news via their dormant social media accounts or bland blog posts. Their Facebook page hasn't even had a new posting since May. Their last notable press release was from early April concerning a signed agreement with AISIN to manufacture the transmissions.
I'm just waiting for the automated email notification as an ELIO investor news subscriber that there's been a new document filed with the SEC. I believe that's the only way we're going to receive anything substantial from Elio Motors at this point.
... That's how we learned of the July 31st deadline to raise $25 million dollars.
... That's how we learned about the deferment/forbearance agreement inked with RACER Trust that culminates in regular monthly installment payments resuming this month (August 2017) of an amount that Elio Motors cannot presumably afford to cough up the liquidated cash flow for even one on-time payment.
... That's how we learned of the 76-week time-to-production ramp-up schedule that was premised upon attaining a minimum of $33 million to resume testing and finalize design changes. If you count backwards from 12/31/2018, in order to be still publicly targeting customer deliveries to occur in 2018, that timeline would have had to have been ignited no later than 7/17/17, which has unfortunately already come and gone without any fanfare.
I'm not a troll or pessimist, just a realist. Believe it or not, I still hold out hope.
... The notable Woodward Dream Cruise enthusiast event is in 2-3 weeks and I hope Elio Motors has a presence. They have been for the past few years, and the cost overhead for participation in such an event is far and below the cost of entry into the L.A. Auto Show or North American Int'l Auto Show in Detroit each year. The travel costs, assuming the E1c and a few remaining Elio employees are still in the Metro Detroit area, are minimal. There is no formal speech to prepare or stage to decorate or floor area to pay to reserve. All they need is to place a few phone calls to find a business willing to allow them to setup camp with a static display in their parking lot along the parade route, as has happened in past years. Marketing cost is also negligible; we're all aware how the Elio vehicle tends to draw interest and attention all on its own. It just needs public visibility at the curbside and people will naturally flock to it.
... At the Annual Shareholders Meeting in Phoenix, a few key decisions and changes were made. The State of Incorporation was moved from Arizona to Delaware for more favorable treatment under corporate structuring and tax code laws. Steps were taken to pursue getting ELIO stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). There haven't been any public notices concerning any new developments in this arena.
... After meeting with a number of Caddo Parish (Shreveport) commissioners under non-disclosure agreement, obviously nothing has leaked concerning details about what was said behind those closed-door meetings, for good reason. But I find it reassuring that after the meetings were held, attempts by the local Parish government officials to insult, downplay, ridicule, chastise, obfuscate, or otherwise hamstring the Elio Motors endeavor to bring vehicle production and jobs to the GM plant have all but seized. It's been mostly silence since Paul Elio and company invited representatives to sit down and hear him out. Whatever they heard was convincing or Earth-shattering enough to warrant their legislative body taking a more favorable position towards Elio Motors rather than sinking their teeth in further.
[Caveat: I totally discount the fines assessed on Elio Motors by the statewide Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission in making my above remarks, since that's an entirely different legislative/executive governmental body with a broader focus and wider jurisdiction than that of the Caddo Parish commissioners whom Paul and company have worked so diligently to establish working relationships with.]
But, as they say, time will tell...