Paul Elio Speaks With The Press

[3wheelin]

Lest we not forget, part of that $376M is now earmarked for 158 S-series vehicles...
And whatever further R&D it takes to get a real production-ready prototype to tool up from.

"We've raised 111 Million dollars and we've spent it wisely...." Hmmm.

So... Let's reflect...
Keep in mind that spending $14M of (actually) $140M "wisely" produced 5 unfinished prototypes.

Now... It doesn't matter whether all $14M was spent directly on those prototypes or not.
That's what it took to keep the company going and enable it to produce those 5 prototypes.

And it took a year to do that.

$14M / 5 = $2.8M per prototype. $2.8M x 158 = $442,400,000.

Hmmm.

A breakdown of their expenditures would be interesting to see! Well, go BIG or go BROKE, the latter seems to have the upper hand at the moment. I bet they "enjoyed" spending the 140M "wisely". Ty maybe able to make a "guesstimate" list of where all that money went. e.g., travels, allowances, accommodations for what...5-6 traveling "salesmen and women of EM", equipment, lease payments, salaries paid to building the prototypes and the cost of prototypes,etc.

 

[Elio Amazed]

Speculation is imminent. Resistance is futile!

 

[raptor213]

And it took a year to do that.

$14M / 5 = $2.8M per prototype. $2.8M x 158 = $442,400,000.

Hmmm.

Your logic that the total investment expenditures and capital outlays that went toward the existing E-Series vehicles would likewise be cost-analogous to the S-Series seems a bit stretched.

The premise of the S-Series pre-production vehicles - whether 100, 158, or any other quantity - has always been to manufacture and assemble them in Shreveport at 'ECO' [Elio Caddo Operations] with a small staff of managers, supervisors, and team leads demonstrating each step and movement along the assembly line at each and every station at a slow enough pace that, yes, ultimately a pre-production vehicle eventually rolls off the assembly line, but more importantly, notes are taken, discrepancies are documented, proposed order of operations or tool placement or station layout changes are documented, etc.

By the end of the S1 production runs, on-site supervisors should have everything they need to develop and fine-tune standard operating procedures, warning labels and placards, training materials and programs, etc. Logistics specialists should have ironed out the rates of consumption of each and every component to a precision wherein they can sketch out a prioritization schedule of just-in-time deliveries to each substation using the least number of trains and delivery couriers to accomplish the task.

My point is that the S1 vehicles, whenever we get there, are not cost-intensive to produce or develop. Rather than the focus of corporate activity and attention, ironically they are just a disposable byproduct marked for eventual tear-down or destruction (unsure how many would be earmarked for real-world road testing with as yet unannounced fleet partners). Meanwhile, the staff at the Shreveport assembly plant irons out all of the engineering, automation, safety, human factors, logistics, compliance, environmental, and legal kinks of the total manufacturing process.

Running one assembly line full-time has a stated production capacity of 2300-2500 vehicles per week, once fully staffed and up to speed. The cost of the 158 S1 pre-production vehicles, apart from the obvious bill of materials cost, is compounded by the time and labor costs of tweaking the operation. But that is the whole purpose - to accomplish manufacturing/industrial engineering prior to entry-into-service of customer-ready vehicles.

All of the dies, casts, molds, presses, forms, braces, etc and affiliated calibration, programming, and setup of automated equipment would have been completed prior to the first S-series vehicle being started. So you could argue that the development cost of the S1 will be exorbitantly expensive, I give you that. But the cost to manufacture vehicles S2-S158? Once you have a cookie-cutter, you can make as many cookies as you like until you exceed the life expectancy of your cookie cutter, at which point you remove/replace the cookie cutter with the same part number, and continue on uninterrupted making cookies.

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[Elio Amazed]

Your logic that the total investment expenditures and capital outlays that went toward the existing E-Series vehicles would likewise be cost-analogous to the S-Series seems a bit stretched.

It was partly for comedic relief, but I'm glad you got my underlying meaning.

My point is that the S1 vehicles, whenever we get there, are not cost-intensive to produce or develop.

And my point was that this is Elio Motors with their well-established track record. Watch and see what happens in regards to that issue.

 

[imageon]

Wonder what was said to the board in private?
The behavior of the Directors from now on will tell the tale.
MK

 

[ABC123]

Here's what I don't understand about financing and production: If you don't have the funds, you can't outfit the suppliers to make parts, and if you don't have parts, how do you assemble the first 150 or so vehicles? Do they have parts to get this first tranche out there, and then they'll seek the big investment/supplier commitments?

 

[booboo]

Here's what I don't understand about financing and production: If you don't have the funds, you can't outfit the suppliers to make parts, and if you don't have parts, how do you assemble the first 150 or so vehicles? Do they have parts to get this first tranche out there, and then they'll seek the big investment/supplier commitments?

Usually there are to little words in business that mean a lot. "Accounts Payable" and "Accounts Receivable " .

 

[Doug McDow]

Usually there are to little words in business that mean a lot. "Accounts Payable" and "Accounts Receivable " .

Good financing and credit go hand in hand!

 

[booboo]

Good financing and credit go hand in hand!

Isn't that the truth! Also, paying your payables on time leads to better pricing.

 

[booboo]

All I can say is I am glad this is not the NYT , hopefully the readership is a couple of gators and a snapping turtle.
I did not have the guts to post a comment.
https://thehayride.com/2017/05/shreveports-elio-motors-debacle-reaches-end-stages/