Questions About Composite Body

[goofyone]

I wonder if my local body shop will be able to purchase these in the appropriate color, should some butthead run into me. And they have to bend out the roll cage and replace panels. Or will Pep Boys be in charge of body work and accident repair?
MK

Elio Motors has said that replacement and official upgrade items would be available to anyone.

 

[imageon]

Thanks.
I still will equip mine with a St.Christofer medal and a Guardian Bell. To make it till repairs can be easily made.
MK

 

[skygazer6033]

At $300 for the entire body you could just buy a couple of different color bodys and just swap the entire body occasionally. It will drive the neighbors nuts!

 

[NN4S]

I only noticed the question today so i answered it.

Elio Motors has told us the entire body and floorpan only costs them about $260. They also do plan on making replacement panels as this is a good source of income down the line. Even if they sell that one large replacement panel for $250 they will be making plenty of money and it still will be cheap to just replace it instead of hassling with a repair.

Maybe I just need to buy a complete spare body to have painted- then I can swap them once it's ready & not lose any driving time!!

 

[dgruis]

Body-panel swapping would be cool. smart fortwo owners sometimes swap panels to swap colors.

 

[c0yote]

At $300 for the entire body you could just buy a couple of different color bodys and just swap the entire body occasionally. It will drive the neighbors nuts!

Hmm... would be interesting if down the line Elio offered kits via Pep Boys in colors other than the standard 7.

 

[goofyone]

At $300 for the entire body you could just buy a couple of different color bodys and just swap the entire body occasionally. It will drive the neighbors nuts!

This is what the body cost Elio Motors. I would not count on that price for replacement panels as EM would need to make money on the deal. That being said under $1K for a full set of body panels would not be a bad deal at all.

 

[Mark Ambrose]

From what I read in an earlier post from Elio it's the same material the military uses to make cargo containers and GM uses it for Corvette bodies. So it has to be pretty durable stuff with a very wide temperature range. However it does have to be painted. Nobody has to worry about body rust, and I would think it would have more "give" with door dings than a standard metal door. As long as the frame is dipped and properly prepared against rust we should have pretty durable vehicles.

 

[goofyone]

From what I read in an earlier post from Elio it's the same material the military uses to make cargo containers and GM uses it for Corvette bodies. So it has to be pretty durable stuff with a very wide temperature range. However it does have to be painted. Nobody has to worry about body rust, and I would think it would have more "give" with door dings than a standard metal door. As long as the frame is dipped and properly prepared against rust we should have pretty durable vehicles.

In a Tech Talk about the plant EM said that the entire frame would be dipped for rust prevention so rust should not be a major issues at all. The plant already has all this equipment in place from its GM days.

 

[BlioKart]

I was watching a video on the production of the Alfa Romeo 4C it too uses a composite material like the Corvette.

http://www.imr-industries.com/Succe.../31/Alfa-Romeo-4C-Composite-Body-Panels-.aspx