Elio's time has come again?

[JohnJ]

Here's an idea. Trump wants there to be more manufacturing done in the U.S., so he's busy making foreign cars and American cars with foreign parts. more expensive. Seems to me there is going to be a greater demand for lower cost cars in the near future. Trump and many other politicians may never have even heard of the Elio. So why not show them? Elio motors could set up a demo station in D.C. People could take a proto type on a short drive for a small fee. The route would be around the capital and white house. With those Elios going around there all day they would have to attract the attention of some Washington big shots... and it would only take one to start the ball rolling. I'll bet even some local Elio fans would volunteer to manage the operation and answer questions. Or, am I just pissing into the wind?

 

[RSchneider]

There was a time when Elio was parked in front of the US Capitol. In addition to the Autocycle Alliance run by Elio Motors own Joel Sheltrown who is also on the Board of Advisers of this autocycle company. So, contact Joel Sheltrown and tell him your idea. He still works for Elio Motors (over 14 years) as the VP of Governmental Affairs. It would be something that can happen and I want you to be the one that gets credit for this. Imagine that you can be the person with the right contacts to get Elio Motors back in action. Plus, here's Paul Elios contact info and you can get him involved too.

Few other things. Elio hired this DC Lobbying firm too. So they have an inside line to the current administration. I would contact them too as this can make things happen really fast. Plus, there's this petition for the White House to fund Elio Motors. Then the DOE is interested in Elio Motors. Elio Motors has been subject of many contacting Trump. So he knows about this too.

The groundwork has been laid, now you can move it forward. I look forward for you doing this as your idea is something that can work. With you at the helm, you deserve to get the credit for doing this. All I ask is for you to keep us up to date on the progress. As you go further along, interest grows and getting that grassroots effort will make Make Elio Motors Great Again (MEMGA).

 

[Rickb]

Would they?

Why wouldn’t they if there was proven market demand needed for the production numbers to make them affordable for the masses. I wish they would have since I have been interested in purchasing a fully enclosed 2 or 3 wheeler motorcycle classified vehicle for years. My 3 favorites: MonoRacer, Carver, FUV…….and had a refunded deposit on the Elio

 

[JohnJ]

There was a time when Elio was parked in front of the US Capitol. In addition to the Autocycle Alliance run by Elio Motors own Joel Sheltrown who is also on the Board of Advisers of this autocycle company. So, contact Joel Sheltrown and tell him your idea. He still works for Elio Motors (over 14 years) as the VP of Governmental Affairs. It would be something that can happen and I want you to be the one that gets credit for this. Imagine that you can be the person with the right contacts to get Elio Motors back in action. Plus, here's Paul Elios contact info and you can get him involved too.

Few other things. Elio hired this DC Lobbying firm too. So they have an inside line to the current administration. I would contact them too as this can make things happen really fast. Plus, there's this petition for the White House to fund Elio Motors. Then the DOE is interested in Elio Motors. Elio Motors has been subject of many contacting Trump. So he knows about this too.

The groundwork has been laid, now you can move it forward. I look forward for you doing this as your idea is something that can work. With you at the helm, you deserve to get the credit for doing this. All I ask is for you to keep us up to date on the progress. As you go further along, interest grows and getting that grassroots effort will make Make Elio Motors Great Again (MEMGA).

Flattering words. I wish I could tell if you're serious or being facetious. Obviously you know more about the Elio situation than I do. Have you tried to pick up the ball and run with it yourself?

 

[Interested]

And now there is an ELIO movie. (Sorry, not about the autocycle).

 

[RSchneider]

Flattering words. I wish I could tell if you're serious or being facetious. Obviously you know more about the Elio situation than I do. Have you tried to pick up the ball and run with it yourself?

It was to show you the effort that people put into this project and how it never worked. Again, not enough demand and the pricing was way off. Real investors knew this. It's the fans just believed that for some reason it would magically work. All it was going to take was that big investor. Big investors looked at Elio much deeper than anyone here and found out, the numbers didn't add up. So, why throw money at something you already know was a dud.

The people are still there and Paul already told us that it was a failed business. For Paul to restart it, he'd have to shut down the current business, liquidate whatever assets that are left and then start from scratch. Too many liabilities and he'd have to wipe the books clean. He has no plant, he has no equipment, no office and no employees. All contracts are null and void. Who is going to pay to have a prototype built? Paul won't own one as it will be liquidated as part of the sale. Then if he did build one, it would have to be on his dime because nobody trusts the guy. He burned lots of bridges and Elio has become a textbook case of what not to do.

Then he'd need a plant and all of the equipment. Plus all of the funding to finish the project. At this point, it's at least $150M to just get it to the point where it could be ready to manufacture. Where is he going to do that? Then he'd have to restart some sort of reservation system and forget about non refundable, nobody trusts him with that. So, maybe $100 fully refundable and then see what the true demand really is. Let's not forget, he needs money to actually run the business past watching Elio #1 going off the line. Too many people have got burned by Arcimoto and Fisker (twice) and might as well mention Solo. So, too recent for people to forget.

Also, just try to get in touch with Paul Elio. I'm guessing he will never reply to you. You know his contact info and he's on LinkedIn. So, just try and report back on what he says.

 

[dbacksfan81]

Just some thoughts and opinions.

I don't think many people are buying a Polaris Slingshot as a commuter vehicle or second vehicle in a two vehicle family. It's bought mostly by people that want a fun weekend vehicle but don't want a motorcycle. It's a weekend toy. I compare it to people who buy Polaris personal watercraft that don't want a full on boat but can still go out and enjoy the lake.

A three wheeled, inexpensive, fuel efficient commuter vehicle commuter idea has been around since after WWII and Europe, and has been a pipedream in the US since the days of The Dale in the 70's. It's a niche vehicle in a niche part of the market. If you took and built all of the Elio's that were reserved along with the Aptera, Solo and FUV you might get 150,000 vehicles which is about 0.004% of the total vehicle sales in 2024 of about 38 million new and used vehicles.

Are they people that want them? Yes from the numbers of people that put down deposits or bought some of the limited numbers of the FUV and Solo that were sold, and those were really small numbers in sales. The FUV and the Solo sold less than 1200 vehicles total.

I think that the main issue is that in a two car household there are usually two children. If one spouse has the normal car and the other the 1/2 passenger three wheeler and that person is the only one that can pick up both kids from school because the other can't because of work issues it becomes a headache. Or the normal car is in the shop for repair.

The Mongrel. I wonder if Mark ran a foul of trademark or licensing laws. I understand he was using off the shelf body panels and drivetrain parts, it could be that if he was planning on building them for public sale instead of a personal one off vehicle, that using other manufactures parts without a licensing agreement for those parts.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Sonoran Sam]

it could be that if he was planning on building them for public sale instead of a personal one off vehicle, that using other manufactures parts without a licensing agreement for those parts.

That is possible, but what would stop Mark from coming back on the forum and letting us know he ran into this issue/problem??

Or even answering @JEBar email when he was sent an inquiry?? He could've written back that he ran into an issue or problem and could not build the Mongrel.

The owners of this forum gave Mark a place to post all of his ideas, progress, etc. -- all for free. I'm sure this forum would have generated many sales. I was planning on taking my Mongrel to some car shows to get the word out there, so others would know about the vehicle and could (possibly) order one for themselves.

 

[dbacksfan81]

I was an investor back in 2016 when the price was around $20/share. Granted it was only $5000.00. But not long after I did buy in, I started doing some research and found so many things that didn't make sense. I looked through the SEC reports and started looking into the directors and found that several of them in their official filings had all listed the same address that was for a house in the LA area. I looked into Stu Lichter who was the wheeler dealer behind the GM plant and he was being sued for defaulting on a $36 million dollar loan, the case was later dismissed but it was a red flag. Many of the business addresses that Elio listed in Michigan and I think Indiana were spots in office parks that were not occupied. The Phoenix location was an hourly rental office space and mail drop, and the other had been an office space at Triumph Engineering (no relation to Elio) that did build on contract some parts Paul designed.

 

[dbacksfan81]

That is possible, but what would stop Mark from coming back on the forum and letting us know he ran into this issue/problem??

Or even answering @JEBar email when he was sent an inquiry?? He could've written back that he ran into an issue or problem and could not build the Mongrel.

The owners of this forum gave Mark a place to post all of his ideas, progress, etc. -- all for free. I'm sure this forum would have generated many sales. I was planning on taking my Mongrel to some car shows to get the word out there, so others would know about the vehicle and could (possibly) order one for themselves.

That I can't answer, you would think that he would have said something about what was going on, he had done so in the past. It was great that the forum gave him the space, and from what I remember he never asked for investment. Seemed up front and honest about his project.