The Elio Automatic Transmission

[Ekh]

If the AMT is $1200, that's 18% of the base price of the car. Ridiculous. At $800, it's about 11% of the base price. Still high, but perhaps acceptable. Particularly if it costs EM $600 to build the thing -- that's a 25% gross profit margin.

 

[slinches]

It's possible they might be considering changing to a dual clutch automatic. Certainly not for the first 100 pre-production fleet vehicles, but I'm sure they're looking to evaluate options for full scale production and the 2nd model year.

 

[Ekh]

Very few cars now sell with standard shifts. This 2014 story is relevant.
Manual transmissions getting rarer in the US

 

[RUCRAYZE]

I just got a survey emailed to me from Elio. Asking if I would consider upgrading to automatic transmission for $1400 (no), then $1200 (no), or $1000 (no). Then it asked me why, and I stated I prefer a manual transmission.

interesting the ONLY option I had was $1500.00- so much for the $700 -$800, and at one point no difference ( but that was just us doing the math) kiss 10k out the window, and see the ease of E M holding the base price @ $6800!!, yep, no need to "bundle" the options as per other manufacturers, if you make each option profitable enough, E M will be in the driver's seat.
guess they're testing the water.??

 

[WilliamH]

Very few cars now sell with standard shifts. This 2014 story is relevant.
Manual transmissions getting rarer in the US

If they go to automatic only, I will walk away.

 

[slinches]

Agree, manual should always be an option.

 

[Ekh]

Of course, the average cost of an AT isn't $1,000. That's the price. The cost is what the builder has to pay for it. And Elio already stated that the cost was about $600.

 

[Kuda]

That means that some are more and some are less. Elio is supposed to be for the budget-conscious -- that's me. And it's also worth bearing in mind that only a small percentage of American drivers have a clue about driving a stick shift. So if Elio over-prices the AMT, they may sharply limit their attractiveness to the intended market.

As a percentage of the total price of the car, $1,000 is extravagant.

This type of mind set strikes me as counter to Paul's original intentions. If the
bean counters are gaining ground he may only have the Elgin left for a legacy.........

 

[Ekh]

This type of mind set strikes me as counter to Paul's original intentions. If the
bean counters are gaining ground he may only have the Dash left for a legacy.........

Exactly right. It shows a certain callousness towards the intended buyers of this car ... most of whom need automatics because they've never driven anything else -- and who can ill afford $1,000 extra. It's a very bad decision from all sorts of viewpoints.

 

[Ekh]

I sure hope the Configurator has a space for comments.