Shreveport Plant Operations And Personnel Questions

[Charlie G]

They may not have the final tooling solution but they can easily set up the assembly line.

Keep in mind that Elio isn't GM. They currently only have a staff of something like 25 people (many of which being the admin sort).
So while it's technically possible to get many things moved around and set up now, they don't necessarily want to hire the manpower required to do so this far out.

 

[zelio]

Keep in mind that Elio isn't GM. They currently only have a staff of something like 25 people (many of which being the admin sort).
So while it's technically possible to get many things moved around and set up now, they don't necessarily want to hire the manpower required to do so this far out.

According to last week's news release and Tech Talk, that will be handled by Camou. :-) Z

 

[Tre']

The axles and suspension parts look kind of light for much performance stuff but would have to see what it looks like up close. I have lusted for a Smart 'Diablo' or Smartusa but have not bit yet. Probably would get in too much trouble anyway. ; )

 

[goofyone]

The axles and suspension parts look kind of light for much performance stuff but would have to see what it looks like up close. I have lusted for a Smart 'Diablo' or Smartusa but have not bit yet. Probably would get in too much trouble anyway. ; )

We will have to see because I do believe these parts are off the shelf components. With the Elio being so much lighter and less powerful, even the little Chevy Spark is 2x the weight and has an engine producing 85HP, than just about any other car available in this country I would expect small car components to hold up fairly well even to some performance usage.

 

[jetpack54]

We will have to see because I do believe these parts are off the shelf components. With the Elio being so much lighter and less powerful, even the little Chevy Spark is 2x the weight and has an engine producing 85HP, than just about any other car available in this country I would expect small car components to hold up fairly well even to some performance usage.

What Paul Elio told us at the town hall meeting is that this first step, of moving equipment out to be sold, will take a little while because the equipment is large and complex and needs to be moved carefully to ensure it is not damaged. He also told us that it is very likely that not only will equipment be moved for sale but also that they will take advantage of having the crews to move the larger pieces that EM will need to their expected final positions on the line. One again this is EM thinking ahead and taking advantage of the cost savings considering they already will have people and moving equipment in place.

After the the equipment is rearranged the plant will go quiet again until about six months out from production where Comau will spend a couple of months getting everything in place and getting everything tested and ready to go in preparation for tooling being locked down and delivered. Elio Motors needs to lock down the hardware about three months out to allow their suppliers the time they need to ramp up their tooling and people for production and this also allows EM time to get their final tooling produced and in place ahead of final line testing and pre-production/training builds.

From their own statements it is likely Elio Motors will begin hiring about six months out for some positions however they have said they will hire line workers about 3-4 months out and expect them to start about two months ahead of production. In the last month or so before production officially begins a pre-production run of vehicles is expected as the entire process needs to be tested together, larger kinks can be worked out at this point, and the workers need hands-on experience, all before actual production begins. These final pre-production vehicles will likely end up in the marketing fleet and be used for events such as the test drive events.

Does EM have a plan B just in case those equipment are not sold? What then? Are they counting solely on the sale of those equipment to move forward? I'm hoping that at this point, funding is a none issue anymore where they can store those unsold equipment somewhere to make room for the final assembly line. While most of us are tolerant enough for unexpected "delays", if EM does not roll out some Elio's before the end of next year, the trolls will be back in full force and will surely give prospective owners second thoughts about EM ability to keep it's promise or worse yet, start calling it a scam once more. Jut my 2 cents.

 

[goofyone]

Does EM have a plan B just in case those equipment are not sold? What then? Are they counting solely on the sale of those equipment to move forward? I'm hoping that at this point, funding is a none issue anymore where they can store those unsold equipment somewhere to make room for the final assembly line. While most of us are tolerant enough for unexpected "delays", if EM does not roll out some Elio's before the end of next year, the trolls will be back in full force and will surely give prospective owners second thoughts about EM ability to keep it's promise or worse yet, start calling it a scam once more. Jut my 2 cents.

My guess is that by the middle of next year it will be clear to everyone that this is not a scam so any delays would be unfortunate, and frustrating for reservation holders, however they won't be as big a deal as the delay announced this past May. By that time the vehicle development program will be well on its way to completion, the first year of reservations will very likely be sold out, and at least one of the funding options will have worked itself out.

I actually just wrote about EM's funding options just a few days ago:

I can speculate plenty based on what I have read but I really don't have much direct information on the current standing of the money side of the business as very few people at EM need to know these details and from my understanding a lot of it is locked behind confidentiality agreements.

What we do know is that EM is not putting all their eggs in one basket. They are working on several avenues of funding at once so while being denied the loan would not be a good thing it would definitely be far from the end of EM.

The biggest potential money maker we have not heard anything about, since it slipped out in some Caddo Parish commission meeting minutes, is changing federal rules to allow autocycles to be counted towards CAFE standards. Getting this change pushed through would allow EM to sell CAFE credits for quite a good deal of money. The reality is these credits would actually be more profitable than the actual base model Elio itself so if/when EM can get this changed I could definitely see them selling the base model Elio for $6800 even if it meant selling it at the break even point as EM would then make their money on the CAFE credits and options. This lower price would encourage more sales as the more vehicles EM sells under this scheme the more CAFE credits they have to sell to other auto manufacturers. Another advantage to this legal change would be that at least one or two major automakers would benefit from EM's existence and it always helps to have some big allies with deep pockets and a lot of government influence.

We also don't have any idea how much money EM has raised in the latest round of funding or how much they will make from selling off the excess equipment however these could be some considerable sums which would not only fund the completion of the vehicle development program but also make a nice dent in the $125 million or so it is supposed to take to get that plant operational.

I believe many of EM's current and potential investors are also waiting to see what happens with all these developments before they decide what their next investment steps should be. It is likely that we will have to hear news on the loan and/or the CAFE credits before we find out what else may be happening on the private investment side of things.

The best news is that as EM continues to make progress, both on the Shreveport plant and in the vehicle development program, this should encourage even more reservations to be made which should help encourage the government to give the loan and/or private investors that this really could be a profitable venture.

 

[JEBar]

By that time the vehicle development program will be well on its way to completion, the first year of reservations will very likely be sold out,

have they released their projection for the number of first year reservations

Jim

 

[goofyone]

have they released their projection for the number of first year reservations

Jim

Not officially however 68K is highest number I have seen directly from an Elio Motors source so the highest number is what I am using unless they say something new. This number is from a financial plan Elio Motors presented to Caddo Parish, LA early last year.

Considering that in the last six months Elio Motors has added about 25,000 reservations and they need less than 25,000 more to reach 68K I can estimate that reaching 68K by next summer should not be very difficult as long as they make the progress which is expected in that time frame.

What we expect is for the IAV engines to begin undergoing testing any time now. For a P5/E0 to be built within the next month or two and for that to be followed by the E-series pre-production builds being built and undergoing testing. As long as these milestones happen without much delay reservation numbers should increase quite dramatically both from increased media exposure and from people being more willing to jump in after seeing all these 'real world' developments.

 

[JEBar]

info appreciated .... yet another question : how does the number of projected first year reservations compare to the projected number for the first year's production

Jim

 

[Kuda]

What we expect is for the IAV engines to begin undergoing testing any time now. For a P5/E0 to be built within the next month or two and for that to be followed by the E-series pre-production builds being built and undergoing testing. As long as these milestones happen without much delay reservation numbers should increase quite dramatically both from increased media exposure and from people being more willing to jump in after seeing all these 'real world' developments.[/QUOTE]

Amen...........