Why Hasn't The Elio Been Built Yet?

[DBN477]

IAV works with oem's what is Elio contributing? If IAV is doing ALL the engineering, that costs a significant amount of money, so what is Elio contributing to engine? Specs and a blank check?

Why are you so certain 100 -250k Elio's will be sold a year?

The Smart has a 1.0l 3 cylinder, already certified. Sales are far below expectations. Let Elio put their negotiating skills to the test. Negotiate right to use design.

Unless something has changed in the last several years the " SMART" engine runs on Premium gas ... Not so Smart.[/quote]

...............you do know they can lower compression so it can run on "regular" unleaded, right?

http://www.ehow.com/how_6361464_use-gaskets-decrease-compression-ratio.html or heads, pistons.

 

[DBN477]

Designing and building an engine is expensive but so is buying 100,000-250,000 engines each year from someone else who is also making a profit from selling you those engines. At that scale it likely makes sense to produce your own engine because Elio would get the exact engine they need and at those volume levels it would likely cost the same or less to build it themselves. EM would also run into a number of issues trying to source that many engines from someone else. EM would need to find a company with the right engine at the right price but that source would also have to have enough guaranteed extra production capacity to meet Elio's demand. That is a lot of excess capacity just sitting around unused and I doubt many companies would have it available let alone be willing to sign a contract making it available to Elio Motors. Another issue is that to guarantee that production capacity Elio would be forced to put a lot of money down up front as well as sign contracts guaranteeing a minimum purchase amount for several years which would be very hard for them to do.
While it is common for auto companies to use each others engines they actually rarely just purchase them from other manufactures. Generally this is done through joint ownerships of production facilities and/or investments with ownership interest in another manufacturer.

I understand why people think that, but not developing your own engine makes sense for a start up. Less money up front. Use the money to get vehicle in production. License the right to build an existing engine. Expensive maybe, maybe not if you deal with a company not in the USA. The engine can still be made/assembled in the USA. Not much different than a German company with a subsidiary in the USA (IAV).If,.....if, the vehicle is successful, the profits can be put into developing your own engine. Think about it, investors would now be lining up, they see it as a success. Delaying production puts off investors. If only there were 3 cylinder engines in an emerging market, in an entry level vehicle. Hhmmm. Yes I could list the engine, the car, and the country. Not one is a Smart car engine.

 

[Double D in Ohio]

Unless something has changed in the last several years the " SMART" engine runs on Premium gas ... Not so Smart.

...............you do know they can lower compression so it can run on "regular" unleaded, right?

Unless something has changed in the last several years the " SMART" engine runs on Premium gas ... Not so Smart.

...............you do know they can lower compression so it can run on "regular" unleaded, right?

http://www.ehow.com/how_6361464_use-gaskets-decrease-compression-ratio.html or heads, pistons.[/quote]
No, I did not know that. So why do they keep selling it with premium only?? Does dropping to regular reduce gas mileage ? if the car says premium only they are doing themselves a disservice . They won't break any sales records in the US this way. At least with the Elio when you get half a car you get twice the mileage. Besides the Elio will appeal to a lot of motorcyclist also. Used to travel by Goldwing for vacations in my 20 and 30's Injuries screwed up my back from a traffic accident in an automobile. The Elio will allow me to have a real seat instead of a saddle. If the seat and I get along I have a new vacation machine.
or heads, pistons.[

 

[DBN477]

...............you do know they can lower compression so it can run on "regular" unleaded, right?



...............you do know they can lower compression so it can run on "regular" unleaded, right?

http://www.ehow.com/how_6361464_use-gaskets-decrease-compression-ratio.html or heads, pistons.

No, I did not know that. So why do they keep selling it with premium only?? Does dropping to regular reduce gas mileage ? if the car says premium only they are doing themselves a disservice . They won't break any sales records in the US this way. At least with the Elio when you get half a car you get twice the mileage. Besides the Elio will appeal to a lot of motorcyclist also. Used to travel by Goldwing for vacations in my 20 and 30's Injuries screwed up my back from a traffic accident in an automobile. The Elio will allow me to have a real seat instead of a saddle. If the seat and I get along I have a new vacation machine.
or heads, pistons.[[/quote]

The Smart was just an an example of a 3 cylinder engine out there. I was hoping others would take the time to do the research and look for other 3 cylinder engines out there and in production currently (India). Elio could license the right to build engine, actually build the engine themselves instead of buying from IAV.

Elio originally projected a market that would buy 400K Elio's a year and cost the consumer $5400. 5 years later a market of possibly 250k and a cost of $6800. The more time it takes to get to market, the less relevant it becomes.

Elio needs $200m, they are a year away from production. After what I call 15 months of getting the word out there, they have $47m, or on average raise $3m a month, so going forward (based on previous averages), they will have around $85m a year from now, still far short of what they need.

Having suppliers is great, but if you don't have the money to purchase anything from them, it does no one any good. People have made the point they don't need to discuss financials. For a start up, I think they do, or at least to investors. Think about it, Elio needs $153m. $153m in a year.

People want to compare Mr. Elio to Mr. Ford. I don't see the comparison because Mr. Ford had bigger battles. He also had investors to get his product to market........Something more current, how about Henrik Fisker? Mr. Elio believes in what he is doing. I believe the product could be great. Without funding it's not going to happen. $153m is a lot of money to raise in a year. A couple of months after I put down deposit, there was a rumor a Chinese business man put in a huge order. I hoped it was true, because the probability of the Elio being built would be very likely. Of course not true.

$153m is a lot of money, people seem to think it's a non issue and will be easy to overcome. I don't think it will.