Build It Already!!!

[Good Will]

I've never been so "hot" to buy a car in my life! When I first heard of the Elio (about a year ago), I couldn't get enough! Like many of you, I stayed up late into the night, reading everything I could, day after day.

This car makes sense! A low-cost, simple-to-maintain, "low tech" vehicle? What a deal!!

Like many of you, I was excited to finally see (and hear!) the engine being tested!

But now I'm, like, "What? Still marketing? Enough already! Build the dang car!"

Surely with something like $60 million dollars collected (or even half of that!) and 40k+ of reservations, someone would have thought of actually building a real prototype (not some mule that doesn't have virtually any of the features of the real "proposed" vehicle). Heck! I've never built a car in my life. But give me a couple of million dollars, I double-dang guarantee you I could get a car built to spec. So what's the hold up?

Until that car is built, running and tested, this whole thing is just marketing hype.

I don't understand it. I've seen TV shows where craftsman design and build motorcycles from scratch in a matter of weeks. This vehicle (except for the engine) is said to consist of mostly "off-the-shelf" parts. SO BUILD THE DANG CAR ALREADY!!! What's the hold up? (Unless this really is just a scam....)

 

[WilliamH]

I've never been so "hot" to buy a car in my life! When I first heard of the Elio (about a year ago), I couldn't get enough! Like many of you, I stayed up late into the night, reading everything I could, day after day.

This car makes sense! A low-cost, simple-to-maintain, "low tech" vehicle? What a deal!!

Like many of you, I was excited to finally see (and hear!) the engine being tested!

But now I'm, like, "What? Still marketing? Enough already! Build the dang car!"

Surely with something like $60 million dollars collected (or even half of that!) and 40k+ of reservations, someone would have thought of actually building a real prototype (not some mule that doesn't have virtually any of the features of the real "proposed" vehicle). Heck! I've never built a car in my life. But give me a couple of million dollars, I double-dang guarantee you I could get a car built to spec. So what's the hold up?

Until that car is built, running and tested, this whole thing is just marketing hype.

I don't understand it. I've seen TV shows where craftsman design and build motorcycles from scratch in a matter of weeks. This vehicle (except for the engine) is said to consist of mostly "off-the-shelf" parts. SO BUILD THE DANG CAR ALREADY!!! What's the hold up? (Unless this really is just a scam....)

One Autocycle is easy.
40,000 not so much.

 

[Good Will]

Build ONE! Show everybody how it gets 84 mph (or something even close!). Let's see how it handles, how the air conditioner works, how it backs up, etc. For $2 million, you could do that! NOW you've got something to market. Not just broken promises, endless estimates and puffing.

 

[JEBar]

it will be ready when its ready .... all of us would like to have it built yesterday but that's beyond our control .... about all we can do at this point is to enjoy the ride to production .... nothing else makes much sense or accomplishes nothing positive

 

[Good Will]

Enjoy the ride to production?? Is there a "ride to production"? Any? Even bad news would be "good" to hear once in a while. Setbacks are "okay". But silence? Endless projections? Why not more "coverage" of that engine? Nothing sells cars like progress!

Is Elio selling cars...or just promises?

 

[JEBar]

spoken like one who might benefit from reading and doing some research .... history has shown that whatever EM says is all too often taken and twisted by folks with an agenda .... consequently, its often better to not give them ammo to twist .... EM is selling a concept that they are working to bring to reality .... eventually they will be selling autocycles .... much has been discussed and much more will be discussed between now and when that day comes .... just to make sure that you get off on the right foot, we encourage discussion but not to the point it creates controversy and hard feelings .... as I said, hopefully you will join in and enjoy the ride to production and enjoy the ride thereafter even more

 

[Richad]

It's hard for us dedicated future owners to stay positive after all this silence and broken commitments. Obviously we all want one but the big question is will we ever see one? I wish I can stay more positive.

 

[JEBar]

I have little doubt that most of us feel that way .... sometimes folks join this form with the mistaken impression that it is owned and operated by Elio Motors .... because of that they tend to post questions, complaints and such as if speaking to people within the company .... the reality is, most all of us wish they were actively building trikes but that is beyond our control .... the good news is, within the next few months we should know much more one way or the other

 

[Trusting]

I have little doubt that most of us feel that way .... sometimes folks join this form with the mistaken impression that it is owned and operated by Elio Motors .... because of that they tend to post questions, complaints and such as if speaking to people within the company .... the reality is, most all of us wish they were actively building trikes but that is beyond our control .... the good news is, within the next few months we should know much more one way or the other

First, I admit I know nothing about the car building business. However, I'm not totally dim either. And I am definitely paranoid when it comes to money. It took a lot for me to pony up a grand on a promise and a prayer.

That said, here's my take on the situation... for what it's worth. I think Elio's big problem is cash. It must take a ton of it to complete the final design, tool up a factory and get into production. What they need to happen is for that government loan to come through. Then they will really start rolling.

Now, here's were the paranoid part comes in. I have this vision in the back of my head of men in thousand dollar suits slinking around the halls of government buildings slipping envelopes of cash to bureaucrats who make those load decisions. Who these men work for you can probably guess. Remember the Tucker?

I hope I'm wrong, but as an instructor in the military once told me "When entering an unknown situation, expect the worst, you'll seldom be disappointed".

 

[JEBar]

the government loan guarantee is most certainly a major component .... if/when it comes through things should be able to progress quickly .... we have been told that if the loan doesn't come through other avenues are being explored but there is no doubt it will be much more difficult