eliothegreat
Elio Addict
We need to clarify what Elio Motors and Paul Elio have said about the engine. What EM and PE have consistently said, which some people appear to be misunderstanding, is that EM could not find any existing engines available that could meet their requirements. To understand what this means it helps to understand the requirements. In basic form EM's requirements for their engine needs are:
1. The engine should be made in the USA
2. In order to keep the overall vehicle cost as low as possible the engine needs to be available in sufficient volume to meet EM's production needs
3. The engine installed in the vehicle must reach a minimum fuel efficiency target of 75 MPG as set by the ATVM program
4. The total engine price needs to meet EM's cost requirements
On many occasions, including the recent NYC press conference and Pennsylvania lectures available on Youtube, Paul Elio has detailed this issue by explaining that most companies will not even speak to EM as they do not want to deal with a start-up vehicle manufacturer. He further explains that the few companies which would even speak to EM have balked at the volume requirements.
And even more tellingly, he stated that he had never contacted any of them. He never even tried. Even though he was able to put together a team of 34 major manufacturers, he couldn't be bothered to even talk to an engine supplier. He "knew" they wouldn't be interested.
1. An existing engine, even if manufactured overseas, would provide jobs for American workers assembling a real vehicle, as opposed to unemployed American workers not assembling an fantasy vehicle with a fantasy engine.
2. EM hasn't produced anything. Three engines would have been sufficient to meet their needs for the first 7 years. It is much more likely that any existing manufacturer would be as capable, or much more capable of ramping up engine production as EM.
3. It would have been extremely straightforward to purchase a couple of the existing engines and road-test them to see whether some minor tweaking and gearing changes would meet those goals. EM gave up on road testing after getting 66mpg with the P2.
4. EM doesn't have any cost "requirements". They have projected costs and projected profits. They can control costs by controlling content and shopping wisely, but in both the short term and long term, they just have to do the best they can. And they cannot afford a new engine starting up, any more than they could afford to build their own transmission, hvac, interior, dash (oops), suspension parts, brakes, etc. The only way this would have worked was by using off-the-shelf parts to the absolute maximum extent possible.