Avtm Loan

[JEBar]

the following comment was posted by member Stephen Workman .... post 16 in this thread, see this link .... he visited the tour in Indianapolis this morning, June 3rd .... I really appreciate him bringing us this info ....

"My wife & I were there this morning. I did ask for an update on the AVTM Loan status. The reply was " Once the 100 pre=production fleet units are rolling, Elio will have satisfied the 'proof-of-concept' phase of the loan process'....So, my take is that it is currently in Rousch's capable hands, and we are still on track for December 2016 production start-up....."

 

[KenK]

So has anyone every gotten an ATVM loan? I don't recall any fanfare over 100 prototypes being rolled out for any other startup. I'm not paying that much attention though...

 

[KD]

..."So, my take is that it is currently in Rousch's capable hands, and we are still on track for December 2016 production start-up....."

Why would it be in "Rousch's capable hands"?

I was under the impression that one Mr. Paul Elio was captain of this ship. Don't get me wrong, I want this to go off as much as the other 56,000+ reservationists, but other than Rousch being a superb partner, why would it now be in their hands?

Just curious is all, it may be nothing more than semantics.

 

[JEBar]

it was announced a while back that EM has contracted with Rousch to fine tune the final design for the suspension ....

 

[JEBar]

So has anyone every gotten an ATVM loan? I don't recall any fanfare over 100 prototypes being rolled out for any other startup. I'm not paying that much attention though...

several companies have received loan guarantees through that program .... some have gone belly up some are said to be doing well

 

[KD]

it was announced a while back that EM has contracted with Rousch to fine tune the final design for the suspension ....

I understand they are on board for the suspension work (nice!), but what does that have to do with being in their capable hands? Have they been given more control of the whole operation?

Not trying to be a stick in the mud, just want to understand is all. Figure if I am wondering, others may be as well.

 

[JEBar]

I understand they are on board for the suspension work (nice!), but what does that have to do with being in their capable hands? Have they been given more control of the whole operation?

Not trying to be a stick in the mud, just want to understand is all. Figure if I am wondering, others may be as well.

all we have to go on is what has been reported .... the bottom line is they anticipate that building the 100 pre-production fleet units will meet the required 'proof-of-concept' phase of the loan process' .... if so, that's a major step in securing funding to get into full production .... we would all like to know the details of how they will get to that point but we simply don't have sufficient info to do so

 

[Stephen Workman]

I didn't mean to put 'the cart before the horse' - so to speak...Of course Paul is still the captain of the Elio ship, but any Captain worth his salt needs a good crew. By bringing Rousch on-board, Elio has done exactly what a successful start-up company must do to 'scale' the product to market. That is, they defer to the experts who have demonstrated success in their particular field. If this were the Indy 500, and Paul Elio got his car 480 miles on his own, Rousch may well be the pit crew that gets him (and us) to the checkered flag. This probably won't clear everything up for everyone, but sometimes you just gotta have faith.

On a side note....to those who recall my rants on the Takata air bags, Takata is DEFINITELY out of the Elio picture (YAY)!

 

[Elio Amazed]

Didn't Rousch do the final engineering on the chassis that we see now?
Thus, I have to give my support to JEBar's statement about "Rousch's capable hands".
It looks to me like without them (or someone else with the same expertise and resources)...
This game would be all but over. And yes, the rest is Semantics.

 

[HonestTex]

Speaking of semantics, why wouldn't the 25 E series vehicles satisfy proof of concept? Other than not being built in Shreveport, isn't it the same "concept"? Or is the production facility part of the concept? One could argue that the production facility is already proven.