100 Preproduction Elio's To Be Built In December!!

[Adamant]

 

[Maurtis]

does this seem odd that this roush thing came along after they are weening there way out of nascar,I believe this is the same as roush racing.

Well, Roush (roush.com) is their prototyping and manufacturing company, Roush Performance is their performance part branch that makes go-fast parts for Ford Mustangs and F150s, and Roush Fenway Racing is their NASCAR branch.

I was hoping for Roush Performance to offer a kit for a Roush Elio, but looks like they are strictly Ford. But hopefully they will help Elio with an performance offering through Elio themselves.

 

[3wheelin]

I wonder what colors will these fleet customers choose??? Also, whoever is awarded to buy these 100 preprod, I hope at least one of them is close by me so I can see and even ask them for feedback! Now that would work for me. So based on this new development,
1. These 100 units will be made and sold in 4thQ 2016 - CONFIRMED
2. It will be assembled in Shreveport plant - CONFIRMED
3. They are technically TEST vehicles which will be USED to refine their design - CONFIRMED
4. They are still in search of funding and working hard to get it - CONFIRMED
5. Status of the 25 E-series build and testing - UNCONFIRMED
6. When will large scale production for reservationists and customer starts? - UNCONFIRMED
7. Will I get my ELIO in 2017 - UNCONFIRMED
8. Do I still believe I will get my ELIO in the future no matter what year? - 100%
Couple of things comes to mind, while EM is jumping way ahead of announcing their intent to sell 100 preprod, why in the world don't they at least update us of the more important aspect of this project which is the E-series build? Where they're at, and to me IN MY OPINION ONLY, some of those 25 units can be used to FINE TUNE their design without actually selling it. Yes it's for all kind of tests, etc. but I'm sure they can spare one, build it to specs and run them in REAL WORLD situations! I mean it can be done if they want to, they're in control of how each units are purposely built right? But again, I don't know squat about how things are done in the automotive world so I'm speaking out of my....!

 

[StealthESW]

Most fleet vehicles that I have seen have been white. I would not be surprised if all 100 of the fleet cars built are white. But, we won't know till they are on the road. And this is welcomed news. I really feel more positive about the future of this remarkable vehicle. A lot will be learned from the limited production run, and very valuable test data will come out of the fleet program, perhaps the Elgin dash will be changed for a more practical unit.

Also, with Roush in the mix I can see some really cool possibilities in the future. I am willing to bet we will see a Roush Elio HP model that will be turbo or supercharged at some point. A Stage 3 Roush Elio would be welcome in my driveway any day of the week, period. The very thought of it has me packing pennies into jars.

 

[JEBar]

perhaps the Elgin dash will be changed for a more practical unit.

one can only dream of such a thing ...

 

[BADBOY]

This says to me, some fleet operator wanted their Elios sooo very badly they were willing to float an invoice for a full order. Likely offering a sweet deal EM couldn't shy away from. The operator may even have paid up front a large deposit for it, maybe 50% down payment (or more). The price delivered probably was higher that what the consumers will be paying. The street value of 100 Elios at the known consumer price is just under $700k. But like I say, 100 'bench built' Elios cost more than high volume production. I would not be surprised if the pre-production price were double or triple that.

$3 million to research 100 of this kind of vehicle in a major corporation is nothing.

This gives the operator a leg-up in front of other fleet buyers with advanced use of the cars plus early visibility to the public. They will know very early on how many more Elio's they want to fleet order. If they decide early enough they get even more leverage over their competitors. There may be a secrete leveraged deal that applies to follow up orders for that reason.

So I wonder who the heck the fleet buyer is?

sort of like the pizza commercial lately, the back of Elio will have an oven and once pie is built it will go in oven as (name your pizza company) driver heads to customer cutting time even more. No longer will they have to buy insulation 'gloves' to keep pie hot.

 

[pistonboy]

Production has been delayed until 2017.

Have they said "when" in 2017?

 

[NSTG8R]

Production has been delayed until 2017.

Have they said "when" in 2017?

No later than "undetermined".

 

[wizard of ahs]

Production has been delayed until 2017.

Have they said "when" in 2017?

When funding becomes available

 

[Maurtis]

Production has been delayed until 2017.

Have they said "when" in 2017?

No, but would it matter? We have seen from the deadlines in 2014, 2015, and Q4 2016 that the announced dates are meaningless. When the funding is in the bank and Comau has started their 3-months of work, then I think we will have a date we can believe.