Lil4X
Elio Addict
IF is a big word, but take a look at the automobile industry as it stands today - and facing mandatory fuel consumption numbers in a few years. What are the big guys doing about achieving that required 54.5 miles per gallon for the 2025 model year? Thus far, not much. The industry seems to be counting on repeal of those numbers, or else a sudden shift to electrics, natural gas, or hydrogen fuels. Without a major shift in fuel infrastructure, these simply won't happen. Thus far there's no incentive for energy companies to do anything but produce motor gasoline. You don't see anyone rushing out to build electric charging stations or hydrogen dispensers on every street corner in America - and you probably won't - like it or not, mogas is hands-down the fuel of the coming generation.
I wouldn't bet GM, Ford, or Chrysler/Fiat on any kind of legislation - somewhere I'd want to hedge my bet. Elio, or something like it, can be built in a couple of years (by a major corporation) in volumes that could improve an automakers CAFE numbers to the point they could remain in business. Is THIS the ultimate fate of Elio Motors? . . . . acquisition by GM, Ford, Toyota, etc.?
Let's face it, in order to stay in the automobile business beyond 2025, EM would be the low-hanging fruit in any major automaker's quest to produce a super-economical car practically overnight. As an entry-level vehicle, designed for commuters, and marketed at a price every commuter could easily afford a safe, weatherproof transportation capsule that would boost the CAFE averages for a company intent on selling 5-passenger cars that aren't quite able to grasp that 54.5 across-the-board corporate average, the Elio would be a Godsend that would still allow them to produce Escalades and Grand Cherokees as halo products for their marques. Naturally the base price of their rebranded "Elio" would increase pretty dramatically - to probably $10-12K, with options that could bring the sticker price to a pretty appalling $23K or more.
Unaccustomed as I am to playing devil's advocate here, the acquisition of EM by any of the Big 4 or 5 would allow them to remain as a major player in the business by putting a fully-developed product in their showrooms that would earn them huge credits on the CAFE charts. A few hundred million or so would be chicken feed to one of these industrial giants, and it would effectively head off a whole lot of federal mandates and forced shut-downs.
The engineering is done, and there will be in a few years, plenty of proof-of-market products on the road. Elio will have broken the trail, developed a successful product, and proven that Americans will actually BUY small 2-seat commuter vehicles. The hard work will already have been done. A major automaker's assembly process would only have to be adjusted to fit their industrial culture. In a year or two of production, even those processes could be completely re-formed. Will we see an Elio (or something really close to it) with a Chevy bow-tie or a Ford blue oval on it by, say, 2020?
I wouldn't bet GM, Ford, or Chrysler/Fiat on any kind of legislation - somewhere I'd want to hedge my bet. Elio, or something like it, can be built in a couple of years (by a major corporation) in volumes that could improve an automakers CAFE numbers to the point they could remain in business. Is THIS the ultimate fate of Elio Motors? . . . . acquisition by GM, Ford, Toyota, etc.?
Let's face it, in order to stay in the automobile business beyond 2025, EM would be the low-hanging fruit in any major automaker's quest to produce a super-economical car practically overnight. As an entry-level vehicle, designed for commuters, and marketed at a price every commuter could easily afford a safe, weatherproof transportation capsule that would boost the CAFE averages for a company intent on selling 5-passenger cars that aren't quite able to grasp that 54.5 across-the-board corporate average, the Elio would be a Godsend that would still allow them to produce Escalades and Grand Cherokees as halo products for their marques. Naturally the base price of their rebranded "Elio" would increase pretty dramatically - to probably $10-12K, with options that could bring the sticker price to a pretty appalling $23K or more.
Unaccustomed as I am to playing devil's advocate here, the acquisition of EM by any of the Big 4 or 5 would allow them to remain as a major player in the business by putting a fully-developed product in their showrooms that would earn them huge credits on the CAFE charts. A few hundred million or so would be chicken feed to one of these industrial giants, and it would effectively head off a whole lot of federal mandates and forced shut-downs.
The engineering is done, and there will be in a few years, plenty of proof-of-market products on the road. Elio will have broken the trail, developed a successful product, and proven that Americans will actually BUY small 2-seat commuter vehicles. The hard work will already have been done. A major automaker's assembly process would only have to be adjusted to fit their industrial culture. In a year or two of production, even those processes could be completely re-formed. Will we see an Elio (or something really close to it) with a Chevy bow-tie or a Ford blue oval on it by, say, 2020?
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