Engine Development Question Put To Em

[Ty]

Recent from the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3a34744e-1434-11e4-9acb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz39494Pz7r

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I can't get to that article without a subscription.

 

[fpelsdca]

Can you "copy" and "paste" it for us?

 

[goofyone]

Recent from the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3a34744e-1434-11e4-9acb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz39494Pz7r

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It might seat only two people and resemble some of history’s most eccentric automotive experiments, but a three-wheel car capable of 86 miles to the gallon will be bought by thousands of Americans, according to a former auto parts executive.

Paul Elio says more than 25,000 people so far have paid a deposit to get one of the vehicles, which resemble the Messerschmitt Kabinenroller three-wheeler of the 1950s and 1960s. The first are due to be delivered to customers next year.

The vehicle – called the Elio and priced at just $6,800 – is intended to appeal in part to drivers who want a second vehicle alongside their large, fuel-inefficient one.

“People need those big vehicles for a reason,” Mr Elio says of the cars with which he hopes the Elio will share garage space. “They know they don’t need them all the time, but there’s no cost-effective solution. We make it make sense to own an Elio in addition to the rest of your fleet.”

However, Mr Elio – a former manager at Johnson Controls, an auto industry supplier – faces scepticism from many in the auto industry.

Michelle Krebs, an analyst at autotrader.com, says any auto industry start-up is likely to struggle to secure enough capital. “This is a business that just gobbles up money,” she says.

Jack Nerad, executive market analyst at KBB.com, a car information site, points out that the market has never taken to three-wheelers. “Americans don’t find them very practical or useful,” he says.

The Elio’s narrow profile ensures it consumes far less energy than traditional cars, which have to push away more air.

“I went down this path because I believe the value proposition will work,” Mr Elio says.

The vehicle will be manufactured at an old General Motors factory in Shreveport, Louisiana, ordered from a network of storefront showrooms, and shipped from a small number of distribution centres.

Its power is supplied by a traditional petrol engine developed by IAV, a German automotive engineering company.

"With the concern over the environment, I think people have got very open-minded about what transportation looks like"

- Paul Elio, Elio Motors

Elio Motors, which Mr Elio and a group of partners own privately, is raising new financing. Potential investors have been impressed, he says, at the number of people who have put down deposits – many at the $1,000 maximum.

Because the vehicle will be cheap and production costs are fixed, the factory can be tooled to produce 250,000 vehicles a year, initially aimed at the US market. “You have to go big or go home,” Mr Elio says.

The Elio counts for safety purposes as a motorcycle and so is exempt from many US car safety rules. But Mr Elio says he will seek to put it through as many of the standard crash safety tests as possible.

Although he acknowledges that such a radical departure from traditional vehicle shapes will encounter resistance, he insists that high fuel prices have changed minds.

“I think 15 years ago this project would have failed,” Mr Elio says. “With the concern over the environment, I think people have got very open-minded about what transportation looks like.”

 

[Kuda]

I can't get to that article without a subscription.

Do the 30 day freebee................

 

[Lil4X]

I've said before, but perhaps it bears repeating for some of our newer members; we're getting a "behind the scenes" look at EM developing an entirely new car from scratch - or at least from a lot of parts bins. I've never seen any other company let the public in on pre-production activities like this. Normally, the major car companies only "leak" information that is favorable to them. Here, we're seeing what most companies would rather hide - the ups and downs of bringing an entirely new car - and a new production strategy - to market.

OK, production dates have slipped. There have been running changes in the product, and there will be more. There will probably be changes in content, with new options, and maybe a few percentage points change in the target price of $6800. Remember we've had a pretty significant inflation rate since that number was announced, and there will be more as first article production slips toward 2016. Despite all this, the concept of a low-cost, cheap to insure, operate, and maintain commuter vehicle will be the biggest change in transportation since the Model T. We're all players in this game, and we've been granted rather unusual access to the process as it unfolds.

Express your concerns, offer suggestions, complain if you wish, but know that EM is going to roll out an entirely new automotive concept within the next 24 months - and you'll be able to buy it. That in itself is pretty amazing. Elon Musk is the only (so far) successful entrepreneur in this field since Henry Ford, but he had the capital in hand to do it whether his product was profitable or not. Paul Elio, using the Ford model and a less capital-intensive Musk business plan, is doing it right. Hang in there!

 

[RogWild]

When they make a 'mistake' in the very FIRST sentence...... sort of makes ya wonder!

 

[Elio Amazed]

"...which resemble the Messerschmitt Kabinenroller three-wheeler of the 1950s and 1960s."

Did this journalist even actually see the two cars he or she is saying are similar?
I think the Elio is about as much like the Messerschmitt as my it is like my 650 custom.
Anyone here ever see pictures of the innards of the Messerschmitt? Sheesh.

 

[Snick]

As time progresses and my doubts remain more or less as foggy as before, I ponder that the root cause is that EM is not JUST creating a new car design, but also trying to (re)invent a "new" supply chain and "new" distribution chain.

Fact is,

• Elio Motors is NOT the first company to produce a reasonable, safe, 3 wheeled autocycle design.
• Elio Motors is NOT the first company to try to force suppliers to talk to one another and design for systems-level production.
• Elio Motors is NOT the first company to distribute like they propose--scooter manufacturers do something quite similar, although Elio may be unique in partnering with a parts supplier rather than a dealer network for warranty work. (Although many urban scooter stores function on a similar business model in that they make most of their profits by parts and service and little by sales).
  • Elio Motors is NOT the first 'widget' manufacturer to try to 'telescopic production' where the rolling body-in-white (center of the autocycle, basically) is manufactured in a centralized facility and the "other parts" are tacked on in remote locations--although Elio Motors may be unique in having no finished goods quality assurance inspections or reveiws--or they will have to outsource their trust to a 19 year old Pep Boys kid to do it for them.

BUT, Elio Motors IS the first company to try to do all 3 at one time. Paul and company believe this is necessary to make the whole enterprise work. They are probably right, so many things have to shake out toward "optimal" and not just "good enough" to pull this one off; and THAT is why I think investors shy away.

EM has to validate the process with inline QA checks and finished goods QA checks--it's going to be interesting to see how they jump that hurdle given that they will have no 'eyes on' of each vehicle's final build, personally.

• Some ideas:
  • Heavy dependence on instructional videos for assembly and test.
  • Send one custom, double-blind 'QA car' to each Pep Boys location every 25 site sales. After they assemble, have the delivery driver send it to one 'super trusted' facility who has an Elio Motors Employed QA inspector/auditor.
  • Design in as much Poka Yoka as possible: do not use bolts requiring torque specifications or special installation aids. Use torque-to-yield one time 'stretch bolts'
    • Upside-improves QA out the the door.
    • Downside-means it's more likely the owner will screw up basic maintenance and not replace a "must replace" bolt.

I GET IT, but investors apparently don't.

 

[imageon]

EM only has to worry about getting, One Model, of One Car right. When they do they have got it.
IF and it is a big one (as you can see) They can sell the thing. They have got it made. It is the old "One Trick Pony" syndrome.
If you only do one thing you can do it very well.
I think they are on the right track and I've put my money on it.
MK

 

[Terrence]

The word I got in Columbus was the block and the head were finished.

Seeing your post with the word finished is positive. Thanks for report, maybe more detail will follow about the next step
Terrence Bernard