Move Up Production Start Date?

[Ray Dolasin]

With all the interest in the Elio I hope that they might consider moving the start date up providing all the ducks are in a row. Quack,Quack! o_O

 

[LGilbert]

The production date has nothing to do with interest. It has to do with producing the car when it is ready to produce. I don't understand the endless infantile complaints about when the car will be ready for production as if Elio is responsible for the emotional stability of impatient people. Most cars take between 18 and 30 months just for an iterative refresh. The final design has yet to be totally finished. It has to be tested. Tooling has to be made. The factory has to be reconfigured. Employees have to be trained. Crash testing has yet to be performed and basic certification submitted. All of the investment financing is not yet complete, ie - they still need more money to insure the company is not starting on a cash poor footing. It will be a miracle if the car actually starts rolling off the assembly line in Q1, 2015 and doesn't hit a snag of some sort. That is perfectly normal for a project of this scope. It won't be available one second sooner than it should.

 

[ccryder]

We are impatient. After years in manufacturing and design, this process is more like a crock pot than a pressure cooker. Since the Elio is a 3-wheeler, motorcycle certification is a different process than 4 wheels that will help that process.

The design process has progressed at a more rapid pace than I would have imagined. This is a credit to the integrated supplier base.

Holding my breath as other waiting for the next tidbits.

Neil S

 

[jtmarten]

It's a good sign they've selected the engineering firm, mfg/assy automated equip supplier, and electrical system designers. I'll be surprised if they get any production done this year.

 

[Ray Dolasin]

The production date has nothing to do with interest. It has to do with producing the car when it is ready to produce. I don't understand the endless infantile complaints about when the car will be ready for production as if Elio is responsible for the emotional stability of impatient people. Most cars take between 18 and 30 months just for an iterative refresh. The final design has yet to be totally finished. It has to be tested. Tooling has to be made. The factory has to be reconfigured. Employees have to be trained. Crash testing has yet to be performed and basic certification submitted. All of the investment financing is not yet complete, ie - they still need more money to insure the company is not starting on a cash poor footing. It will be a miracle if the car actually starts rolling off the assembly line in Q1, 2015 and doesn't hit a snag of some sort. That is perfectly normal for a project of this scope. It won't be available one second sooner than it should.

 

[Ray Dolasin]

Thanks for the insight on the engineering and production aspects of producing a vehicle, however Your comment " I don't understand the endless infantile complaints about when the car will be ready for production as if Elio is responsible for the emotional stability of impatient people" was inappropriate in my opinion. Not everyone understands the process and can only learn from constructive response. As most I would like to have my Elio today but living in the real world I know it ain't gonna happen..

 

[NRB]

I was told this ELIO project has been on the burner since 2010. The projections of thousands of these units per month with all the necessary support for fabrication entails one huge investment up front. Since there are no guarantees of marketing that volume, why start so big and risk all on this massive effort for volume sales right from the git-go??? One of you experts please explain!

 

[jtmarten]

I was told this ELIO project has been on the burner since 2010. The projections of thousands of these units per month with all the necessary support for fabrication entails one huge investment up front. Since there are no guarantees of marketing that volume, why start so big and risk all on this massive effort for volume sales right from the git-go??? One of you experts please explain!

OK - right now there are approx 9000 reservations for the 1st model year production. That's 36 cars per day (260 production days per year (5-day work weeks with 10 holidays per year)).
How long do you think it would take a single welder to fabricate a single chassis? Probably more than a full 8hr day. It's not just making the welds; they would also have to coupon-in in the morning and coupon-out at the end of the day to ensure their welds are uniform within a specified range. All the welds would have to be visually inspected, and likely inspected via instrumental analysis as well. Quality control of the chassis will be part of the 5-Star rating, as well as ISO 9000 (assuming they'll be certified). Probably 2-3 days build time per chassis.
Using robotic automation enables them to produce the chassis very quickly, with excellent weld uniformity, lower percentage of fallout (failures), and the system monitors the welds for continuous quality control. It also reduces the risk of injuries and worker's comp claims, which are not only costly in dollars, but in lost production time. (think keeping manufacturing costs down to keep the retail price down)

And, I have not seen anything saying they'll be initially gearing up for 20k units per month, only that the company supplying the automation has been selected. They'll be wise and start small, probably a single production line; as the orders increase after the initial release of our cars, they'll commission additional production lines to accommodate the increase in sales.

 

[DBN477]

Thanks for the insight on the engineering and production aspects of producing a vehicle, however Your comment " I don't understand the endless infantile complaints about when the car will be ready for production as if Elio is responsible for the emotional stability of impatient people" was inappropriate in my opinion. Not everyone understands the process and can only learn from constructive response. As most I would like to have my Elio today but living in the real world I know it ain't gonna happen..

Yes, but you started a thread Like It or Leave It in which you commented "I'm tired of all the "Future Elio Owners" who are trying to reinvent the wheel. If you don't like what is presented by Elio then bow out or build your own...o_O
"

It seems to me LGilbert's comment made was as appropriate as yours. I didn't think either one was inappropriate.

 

[jetpack54]

The production date has nothing to do with interest. It has to do with producing the car when it is ready to produce. I don't understand the endless infantile complaints about when the car will be ready for production as if Elio is responsible for the emotional stability of impatient people. Most cars take between 18 and 30 months just for an iterative refresh. The final design has yet to be totally finished. It has to be tested. Tooling has to be made. The factory has to be reconfigured. Employees have to be trained. Crash testing has yet to be performed and basic certification submitted. All of the investment financing is not yet complete, ie - they still need more money to insure the company is not starting on a cash poor footing. It will be a miracle if the car actually starts rolling off the assembly line in Q1, 2015 and doesn't hit a snag of some sort. That is perfectly normal for a project of this scope. It won't be available one second sooner than it should.

Well said man! I've been saying it all along...I would rather wait than getting a LEMON!