Lets Help Em Find $500.

[Jeff Porter]

The challenge of this thread is to generate ideas to help achieve the pricing goal...not to just agree to pay the $500 overage, whether or not you are willing or able to do so.

G1, you may be right about the economies of installing/not installing the A/C, but that is a big ticket item and I suspect there could be some significant savings in its deletion across the board, as unpopular as that would be. A/C is not on the four must haves list and it can be installed aftermarket, as was done all the time in the 50s through the 70s.

The list of items I initially suggested are just a start...more importantly what else can you suggest that could be considered to achieve the $6800 goal?

EM is on record of this statement in a few recent postings. See their posting from CES just today as one example. We all are "Us".

I think it would be a waste for EM to give us radios that just get ripped out because they are cheesy. Leave it out and save the cost, even if it is pure profit to EM. Lots of basic cars did not come with factory radios, they were aftermarket.

Great idea for a post Jeff, love the challenge, but for me, if I'm not on the design team for Elio, I don't know enough to offer suggestions for removing this or replacing that, to get the price down to $6800.

I've no idea how much things cost to purchase and/or install. I've no idea what item is a potential for an option. I've no idea if Elio's team has looked at seven suppliers for each part and has chosen the supplier for reasons other than cost.

It's an excellent challenge for sure, and fun to say "what-if", but most likely, there will always be someone that says:

• you can't remove that, it'll be more expensive to remove it
• you can't remove that, everyone will want it
• you can't remove that, it will compromise safety
• you can't go with a different supplier, the existing one has excellent quality
• etc. etc.

 

[CompTrex]

I wonder what it would do to the cost as well as the marketability of this vehicle if they eliminated the 2nd seat all together...

 

[JNR]

I believe that the 84/49 and the 9.5 (or whatever) 0-60 numbers were calculated with the AC running.

From what I have read and understood you are probably correct. The 84/49 are admitted targets by Paul Elio and they are targets for the EPA cycle highway/city ratings. The EPA cycle includes AC running I'm not sure what % off the top of my head but it is easily found on Wikipedia all the details of the EPA test cycle.

 

[Mike W]

Hmmm, I think that even though in reality the Elio is meant for the individual commuting to work, removing the rear seat from cars being sold to the public might take away perceived utility. Mind you removing the rear seat might well add to the utility in fleet sale applications, so maybe that is all being factored into the final cost to us. The rear seat needs to stay, as does the the AC. I can't think of anything obvious to remove to bring the price down, $500 may just have to be added to the price. I'm willing to do that considering what all is included in the price.

 

[ecdriver711]

$6,800+500. I'm good to go. Build it Paul, I'm ready.

 

[electroken]

Any idea what a motorcycle battery would cost?

Twice as much, because it says "motorcycle" on the box.

 

[CompTrex]

Twice as much, because it says "motorcycle" on the box.

Hey! Aren't you supposed to be in the build shop!?

 

[Russell Naill]

Take it slow and careful.Tucker in 1947 promised things and did not deliver. He won the case against him but used all his money on court cost and lawyer's fees.

 

[Karg]

If you take away the AC my pet penguin would not want to ride with me. A a transit bus full of working dogs would not be a good alternative for him either.

 

[CherylM]

Price escalation is a b****, that's why in the construction industry we use values at the anticipated midpoint of construction. Every delay in starting moves that average materials and labor cost higher. With that said, the decrease they need to keep their profit margin is something less than $500, and it's normal to increase prices with the new model year. If the first year of production is equal to the number of reservations and none of those vehicles are bought through a retail store, that accounts for half the difference from the get go. Attribute the reservation bonus to initial marketing costs, and sell the first model year base model at cost since nobody expects to turn a profit in year one in the first place. Anyone who reserved gets model year 2016 rolling off the assembly line at the very end of 2015 for $6,800 base price and they get their "profit" from our upgrades, then late 2016 announce that the 2017 model year starts at $7,500. I only see the cost-price gap as an issue if the production start is significantly delayed again.