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NEW .... Interview with Paul Elio

JEBar

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for folks interested, I highly recommend reading this article

"Elio Motors announces plan to go
electric, but Valley company
could still face a rocky road
ahead"

It was published yesterday in the Phoenix Business Journal .... here is a link to the article ===> https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2021/09/13/elio-motors-announces-plan-to-go-electric.html .... to read the article for free you will need to remove an ad blocker .... as noted, it does contain info from the first interview with Paul Elio that I've seen for several years .... it is very well written from a factual, objective standpoint
 

JEBar

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if you are running an ad blocker that doesn't allow commercials, you have to disable it .... after reading the article you can always turn it back on
 

Rabrandt99

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Won't let me either, and I bypassed my ad blocker
I found I had to go into private window mode and hit the stop button to keep the page from fully loading in order to read the article (I did this on my Chrome browser).

For all the issues I have with Paul and Elio Motors, I will say that at least he understands why people are upset and doesn't try to gaslight things.

---
Paul Elio, the man behind Elio Motors, knows what you might be thinking.

“Folks are rightly disappointed. And when you get disappointed, you get angry,” he said. “I have all sorts of patience and tolerance for that.”
---

I have my doubts about this latest attempt, but seeing him at least acknowledge people's disappointment is a welcome sign. Lord knows the Elio is still my preferred styling over all the other 3-wheel concepts out there.
 

RSchneider

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After reading the article I'm confused. For example:

but in an interview with the Business Journal, Elio said that bringing a gasoline powered car to market in 2021 is not realistic.

Instead, the company now says it will utilize the existing design from the gasoline model and outfit the vehicle to run on an electric battery.

the company said it plans to raise capital through debt and equity placements until it reaches commercialization

Elio would not say the exact amount of money the company needs to raise before it can begin production, but he said it would be hundreds of millions. The company, which had just two full-time employees at the end of 2020, brought in a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $110,000 in April 2020, records from the Small Business Administration show.

When asked if the company had paid the fine, Paul Elio simply said, “We are trying to have a dialogue with them.” SEC filings said the company is in active settlement discussions.

Elio Motors had an accumulated deficit of $215.8 million in December 2020 and a working capital deficit exceeding $104 million

Elio said the reservations are transferable to the electric Elio, but the company will have to assess demand for the gasoline version and decide how to handle the reservation holders that don't want an EV.

“Fortunately, there are way more people who are believers than are naysayers,” he said in an interview just ahead of the EV announcement. “I still get kind emails cheering us on.”

Elio said he has made numerous sacrifices over the years to try to bring his vehicle to life. He’s missed milestones in his kids' lives, spent countless hours trying to make the company work and claims he’s put $5 million of his own money into the company.

ElioOwners.com, a web forum dedicated to fans of the car, lit up with new comments in the past week after the company sent out an email to reservation holders about the plan to go electric. The announcement was met with confusion, excitement, anger and plenty of skepticism.
“If you read through all that, it doesn't look good,” one commenter said of the new SEC filings. “It will take a miracle for Elio Motors to come to market with a mass produced vehicle.”
 

AriLea

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Here is the full text, (next several posts)

Elio Motors announces plan to go electric, but Valley company could still face a rocky road ahead​

By Andy Blye – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal
Sep 13, 2021

Paul Elio, the man behind Elio Motors, knows what you might be thinking.

“Folks are rightly disappointed. And when you get disappointed, you get angry,” he said. “I have all sorts of patience and tolerance for that. I don't like it when they think I'm a scammer.”

It's been more than a decade since he founded Elio Motors on the promise of transforming transportation and in that time, Elio's company has collected about $27 million in nonrefundable reservation fees for a vehicle that has yet to be delivered.

The company received more than 65,000 vehicle reservations, including one from Tyler Perkins of Oklahoma City. Perkins, 28, put down a $100 refundable deposit in September 2014, but kicked it up to a $500 nonrefundable option to secure a discounted price when he thought the company was approaching production.

"I guess I'm a little sour about it," he said. "I got a T-shirt from back in the day, bumper stickers they sent me so that was nice... it was an expensive T-shirt."

Perkins and other Elio reservation holders told the Business Journal that they understood the risks when investing in a car-making startup, and still expressed affinity for the Elio design and mission, but are disappointed by the lack of delivery.

The company’s tiny, three-wheeled car attracted national attention a few years ago, but after struggling to secure financing, the car has never reached the production line.

Elio, 57, is gambling on a new plan to finally bring his three-wheeled wonder to life: Go electric.

Paul Elio, founder of Elio Motors, addresses members of the media at a press conference at the Javits Center in New York City on Thursday, April 2, 2015.
Enlarge
Paul Elio, founder of Elio Motors, addresses members of the media at a press conference at the Javits Center in New York City on Thursday, April 2, 2015.
MICHAEL DEL CASTILLO
The previous incarnation (the Elio model-G) was famously marketed as getting up to 84 miles per gallon and selling for $7,450, but in an interview with the Business Journal, Elio said that bringing a gasoline powered car to market in 2021 is not realistic.

Share price jumps​

Instead, the company now says it will utilize the existing design from the gasoline model and outfit the vehicle to run on an electric battery. The new electric model, dubbed the Elio-E, is targeted to sell for $14,900.

The EV announcement on Sept. 9 induced a jump in the Elio Motors (OTCQB: ELIO) share price in the past week; Shares opened at 31 cents on Sept. 7, reached more than $1.50 following the announcement and closed out the week trading at 83 cents. Follow the stock here.

After neglecting to file new documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for years, Elio Motors submitted three annual reports to the SEC on Sept. 8, which detail a rocky financial picture for the company including more than $27 million in outstanding debt.

In the annual report for 2020, the company said it plans to raise capital through debt and equity placements until it reaches commercialization; But until the car rolls off the production line, Elio Motors acknowledged it will continue incurring significant losses. In fact, the company’s recent annual reports were made on a "going concern" basis, meaning there’s a measure of uncertainty that the company will be able to continue functioning.

The company has also revamped its website, which now says the electric Elio will have a top speed of 110 miles per hour and get at least 150 miles per charge.

Elio would not say the exact amount of money the company needs to raise before it can begin production, but he said it would be hundreds of millions. The company, which had just two full-time employees at the end of 2020, brought in a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $110,000 in April 2020, records from the Small Business Administration show.

Founded in 2009, Elio Motors reports spending nearly $40 million on the vehicle design so far. Interested customers will have to keep waiting, as first deliveries are not expected until 2023 at the earliest.
 
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