P2

[lafrisbee]

Same thing..if you were around for the P2 give us just the stats of what the EE was thought to be during that prototype.
Tranny, weight, engine, body style...any relevant fact....

 

[AltoidBox]

I'm not going to say I'm an expert on this period. I just did some research to come up with this information.

Edit: I'm reordering this to be more chronological rather than sorted by source of information. Also fixing some typos.


August 2008, Elio Motors founded:
Probably belongs with the P1 stuff, but I can't be certain. From a couple things I read I got the feeling that the car may have started out as an ESG Engineering project before Paul Elio split it off into its own company (see the Oakland Press article below and search for ESG for one such indicator)
https://www.linkedin.com/profile/vi...me&authToken=FrWt&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name


April 27, 2009, they apparently tried to get funding from the Wayne County (Detroit) Retirement System:
I wonder if this belongs in the P1 section. I couldn't find any evidence that a car had been fully built at this time.
http://wcers.org/minutes/April_27,2009.pdf
They approved funding of $5 million dependent on Elio securing another $31 million from other sources for the "Trikke" car.


Elio Motors Website as of 6 Oct 2009:
http://web.archive.org/web/20091006081735/http://www.eliomotors.com/
Stated Specs:

• Less than $7500 MSRP
• 5-Star Safty Compliant
• Greater than 70 MPG Highway

Elio Motors Website as of 11 Jan 2010:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100111031456/http://www.eliomotors.com/
Their website doesn't change much through Nov of 2012, P3 shows up in Jan 2013.
Update from previous:

• 75+ MPG
• renderings of different colors ("Colors" page)
• front wheel drive ("Overview" page)
• Auto and manual transmission options ("Overview" page)

From a thread started by an interested party on 20 Oct 2009 (my summary takes us through Jan 2010):
http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/showthread.php?2321-Elio-Motors-Three-Wheeler
Chip Stempeck got on the site (apparently a former VP of Marketing) and discussed a bit. rickb also posted excerpts from emails he received from Chip. Can't guarantee 100% accuracy from those though.
Some highlights:

• Gas powered, manual and automatic transmissions available
• 0-60 in less than 10 seconds
• Available early to mid 2011, dependent upon funding
• Trying to limit released information until funding is more secure
• Possibly retrofitting an abandoned plant in the Detroit area
• Website at this point was not meant for public consumption, pretty much targeted towards potential investors they had met with
• Expect delivering vehicles 18-24 months after securing funding (earliest would be later in 2011)

Feb 10, 2010, trying to get funding from City of Pontiac General Employees Retirement System:
http://www.pontiac.mi.us/document_center/gers021010spec.pdf

• $5995 expected price
• McLaren helped them raise MPG from 66 to 83 highway and is working on their power-train
• Talk about the credit card program in here (same as today)
• 8 gallon tank
• good in snow
• a la carte options via after market installation (20% mark-up for Elio)
• non-commissioned sales force
• A J5 prototype (this might be the same as the P2)
• 107 mph top speed.
• Composite body panels
• Talks about Wayne County funding ($5 mil still)
• Also City of Detroit Retirement Plan funding ($10 mil dependent on using plant in Detroit)
• $1000/vehicle profit margin

Another thread on the Fly the Road Club site from March 2010:
http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/showthread.php?2783-Elio-Motors-Dead-or-Alive
Someone asking if the Elio was dead, Chip responded with "No," but that they were still working on funding.


Yet another thread on the same site in March 2010 quoting an article by The Oakland Press:
http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/showthread.php?2853-Startup-auto-firm-eyeing-Pontiac-plant
After March 2010, there's very little discussion of the Elio until early 2013 when the P3 was out and they were working out a deal for the Shreveport plant.
Found the original article also:
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20100317/startup-auto-firm-eyeing-pontiac-plant
Items of note from the quoted article:

• Elio looking into a plant in Pontiac, MI
• Elio vehicle called the "Trikke"
• Filed for $260 mil grant from the Dept. of Energy
• $5900 target price
• 48.7 MPG City, 83.8 MPG Highway
• Engine by McLaren

Looking at the Facebook site, they created it at the end of 2010, appear to have only one post in 2011 (February) talking about driving the prototype and referencing a possible deal in Michigan that sounded like it wasn't going to work out.
https://www.facebook.com/ElioMotors/posts/177376265639361


In 2012, they have several photos of the P2 on the Facebook page, including advertising the 84 MPG number.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.441612585903619.105542.129518003779747&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/ElioMotors...05507.129518003779747/445773062154238/?type=1
https://www.facebook.com/ElioMotors...73653.129518003779747/304406586290887/?type=1


January 2013, from Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ElioMotors/posts/468377266560484
Though this might be pushing into P3 territory. The photos on Facebook are still of the P2, but within a couple weeks the P3 photos started showing up.

• 3 cylinder, 1 liter 70 HP, fuel injected engine
• Auto or 5-speed manual transmission
• 0-60 in under 9.6 seconds, top speed in excess of 100 MPH
• Front wheel drive
• 3 disk brakes with ABS
• 15" wheels, with 5.75" ground clearance
• Minimum trunk space: 27" x 14" x 10"
• Heater, defrost, A/C, AM/FM radio, 3 airbags, windshield wiper standard
• Made in Shreveport, LA with 1500 jobs starting Spring 2014

 

[raybonz]

Good post Altoid!

 

[lafrisbee]

Wholey fuggin A, man. That was way more, and way better than I thought could be done. Now I see why some were saying it was asking too much.
Just freakin awesome.
I didn't know probably 80% of that.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

Looks like my airline luggage will be occupying the rear seat instead of the trunk.

 

[AltoidBox]

Wholey fuggin A, man. That was way more, and way better than I thought could be done. Now I see why some were saying it was asking too much.
Just freakin awesome.
I didn't know probably 80% of that.

I have a feeling the P3 onwards may be more difficult. This was relatively easy just because there was so little information during the P2 days. To wade through everything during the life of the P3 would likely be a much larger undertaking, especially since a lot of information is probably hidden in videos and Facebook comments. And the unveiling of the P3 seems to be about the time they decided to put significant efforts into their marketing campaign.

There was a really big drought of information (and apparent progress) from the spring of 2010 through late 2012. I think their early funding troubles set them back a couple years or so. And again in early 2013, I had seen the original plan for the Shreveport plant was for Elio Motors to buy it outright. Again due to funding issues, they were unable to do so, though they were able to purchase many millions of dollars worth of equipment that was already inside the facility. This may have driven some of the delay from the 2014 planned production to now 2015, since the plant itself wasn't really secured for them until this past January when Caddo Parish bought it with the intent to lease a portion to Elio. This info is not referenced above. I'm pretty sure I read about it in some of the articles here: http://www.ktbs.com/search?vendor=ez&qu=elio. Yes there's 5 pages worth of links to articles. No, I didn't read them all. I was interested in the ones talking about financial issues and the purchase of the plant.

 

[lafrisbee]

Even in your explanations you provide a wealth of info I am not able to even figure out how find.
You took this to a much greater detail and a much greater breadth than I would have, or knew existed. I was just thinking of the "promoted" basic physical set-ups.....like expected performance, the standard and the options.
So much! Had you read all this and gone back to actually be able to post sources, or was this a first search...wait I have figured that out, since you joined in Feb 2014 you probably did all the research recently. I wasn't expecting that. I thought an old timer, someone there from near the inception would have offered the facts of the history of the EE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I AM SURE I AM NOT ALONE IN THAT.