1/15/2014 - Ksla - Elio Motors Announces Delay, Production Expected To Start In 2016

[JEBar]

as noted by several others, this comes as no surprise .... any sort of critical look showed that to do what has to be done is going to take more time .... it also doesn't come as a surprise that the reason for the delay is funding .... Paul put numbers on the table that seem to be in keeping with those that have popped up from time to time .... I don't see a change in his commitment to bring the Elio into production nor has he changed the position that if they get the DOE ATVM Loan it will have a major impact on the time it takes to get into production .... a bit of a change is for the first time I know of, should the loan not come through, he's outlined how the company plans to raise the money .... for us, if they get into production in the first half of '16 (as opposed to the last quarter of '15) it will mean about a 6 - 8 month delay in when we figure we would get ours .... disappointed, sure but not devastated .... who knows, in the extra 6 months we may be able to talk him into a factory approved option for the Elgin

 

[RKing]

No big deal to me, not unexpected as quiet as they have been on funding. On the plus side, more engineering time to get more of the potential bugs out of the design. Better late and RIGHT than on time and "buggy". Bummer but I see no "scam" aspect, you make the projections and they always contain a "risk" aspect. To me that risk has been funding from square one. Ungodly ammount of money needed to start production and "fill he pipeline" with components. I would not have put money down that I could not afford to lose. Contract plainly says you are only promised a T shirt and sticker and a place in line for any cars they get whenever that happens. My money was a vote of confidence in the project, still there too

 

[Jim H]

Now, for sure I'll have to contact my estate attorney to include my "&" in the will.!!
Now at 72 not sure if it will be the pearly gates or EM factory gates!!

Ditto. Will be 70 on Sunday and this is NOT what I wanted to hear since I made my initial reservation in Oct 2013. I'm looking forward do meeting Zelio in Heaven (presumptuous on my part that I will get in) but not until I've driven my Elio so I can tell her all about it.

 

[PJ]

If you can't hang with the big dogs than stay on the porch. Better late than then never. Hell Rome wasn't built in a day!

 

[JP]

Not surprised. Delays happen. Might need another car before then though

 

[imageon]

Not surprised. Delays happen. Might need another car before then though

Ya, me too.
My CRZ s lease is up in October.
Mk

 

[Snick]

An alternative viewpoint from a grump-grumper if there ever was one:

THIS is how you handle communications. Up front, honest, soften us up with good news first. Let it soak in with the public, just how amazing of an accomplishment it is to produce an (apparently) functional engine.

Then, you honestly convey what WE ALLREADY KNEW. Honesty. Integrity.

I LOVE IT! Now I can get behind that. I just HATED the Vassalo driven, slimy BS machine. Looks to me like Paul or someone a lot wiser and smarter has grabbed the reins. YES!!! Smarter, more honest folks prevailed. This means there is hope. Mid-2016 is realistic now, given the Ebay sales of machinery is ON LIKE DONKEY KONG (can generate $111MM , thereabouts, which is a respectable chunk of change and can REALLY motivate investors and get buy-in.) The path forward went from 80% BS/20% blind faith to 66% believable/ 33% teeth-gnashing angst.

High five, Paul!

I will put in some kind of deposit when I see good engine running results, and more when I see a fundamentally well-engineered test prototype vehicle on the road. Besides that, please let me know what else I can do to help (and no, being a brainless cheerleader is not on the menu)

In the meantime I'm shopping for a diesel passenger sedan to replace my aging little Bimmer.

 

[Kuda]

Snipped: Who knows, in the extra 6 months we may be able to talk him into a factor approved option for the Elgin

 

[imageon]

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Yep and probably be a bunch more cool apps for the SkyzMatic system - maybe they will re-think the Skyz dash display.
MK

 

[goofyone]

An alternative viewpoint from a grump-grumper if there ever was one:

THIS is how you handle communications. Up front, honest, soften us up with good news first. Let it soak in with the public, just how amazing of an accomplishment it is to produce an (apparently) functional engine.

Then, you honestly convey what WE ALLREADY KNEW. Honesty. Integrity.

I LOVE IT! Now I can get behind that. I just HATED the Vassalo driven, slimy BS machine. Looks to me like Paul or someone a lot wiser and smarter has grabbed the reins. YES!!! Smarter, more honest folks prevailed. This means there is hope. Mid-2016 is realistic now, given the Ebay sales of machinery is ON LIKE DONKEY KONG (can generate $111MM , thereabouts, which is a respectable chunk of change and can REALLY motivate investors and get buy-in.) The path forward went from 80% BS/20% blind faith to 66% believable/ 33% teeth-gnashing angst.

High five, Paul!

I will put in some kind of deposit when I see good engine running results, and more when I see a fundamentally well-engineered test prototype vehicle on the road. Besides that, please let me know what else I can do to help (and no, being a brainless cheerleader is not on the menu)

In the meantime I'm shopping for a diesel passenger sedan to replace my aging little Bimmer.

Would you like a 3D printed miniature Elio for now?

After working on the designs a little, and listening to advice from several people more experienced than myself with 3D printing, I have decided to take two different approaches which will result in various models of varying complexity and as a result cost. I have decided to split the project into two parts which I am labeling "miniatures" and "models'.

Miniatures are essentially a single piece hollow or solid exterior vehicle form. I am not sure exactly what scale will work best for this just yet however I am hoping the computer model will be flexible enough to vary the scale from about 1:64 Matchbox scale to the 1:32 scale I mentioned previously. Miniatures are easier to design and print at the expense of the amount of fine detail which can be produced. I am hoping to be able to begin accepting requests for these within the next few weeks.

Models are similar to a traditional hobbyist plastic model in that they are made up of a number of smaller components which can then be assembled to produce a larger and more detailed object. It will likely take a bit of time to develop this kind of model however the result should be a much larger, hopefully full 1:24 model car size, and much more detailed model. These should be more representative of the detailed 3D renderings which this project is based on and you see on this page. There is no time-frame at all for this just yet as it depends on how long it takes to develop the needed computer models. It might even go fairly fast if someone with the right experience is willing to lend a hand as while I have some experience with the functional side of 3D printing my design experience is quite limited.

I really do appreciate all the good advice and encouragement I have been receiving and encourage constructive ideas and suggestions. All the files I have been working with have been uploaded to a Google drive folder for now and anyone should be able to go and grab them and take a look for themselves.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bxh8JmkBAL7wU3VacXF2TGpyQ2s&usp=sharing


I also have some initial images of the Elio miniature, and a little bonus item, which will likely make available to members here before I offer it on Facebook.

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