Anybody else wonder how quiet they have been? Almost nothing from them in a couple of years.

And no, I did not reserve one or invest in the company either. I always doubted it would make it into production for many reasons, biggest was the targeted sale price.

The crypto currency discussion got me to thinking and searching the Internet today.

First I have heard of Elio, looks interesting

a .9 liter 3cyl, 55 horse

I have been watching Vanderhall, I think they are sexy

https://www.motortrend.com/rev...-first-drive-review/


I wanted to invest in Lordstown Motors but they seem to be bumbling

https://lordstownmotors.com/

https://www.hotcars.com/were-t...in-development-hell/

Were They Lying: Why The Elio Three Wheeler Is Stuck In Development Hell

It feels like ages since we've heard even the slightest whisper from a company that promised to re-invent the wheel.

While there's absolutely no concrete proof that Elio Motors were flat out lying about the release date of their three-wheeled commuter car of the future, almost a decade of waiting has a lot of people asking a lot of very serious questions.

It feels like ages since we've heard even the slightest whisper from a company that promised to re-invent the wheel. So let's take a look into the history and facts about Elio that we're currently aware of to try and understand why they've been radio silent for half a decade.

Paul Elio often presented himself in a manner that made him out to be a man of the people. Not often does the founder and CEO of any company get as involved in marketing and public relations as heavily as he has. He sights the 2008 oil crisis, which saw petroleum rise to unprecedented high prices, as well as a perceived failure from America's big three automakers to respond to this threat as the impetus behind launching his startup company.

He founded Elio Motors in 2009 with the supposed goal of building the ultimate cheap, utilitarian form of transportation that Americans actually wanted to buy. Six years of research and development lead to the P4 prototype. But financial problems routinely plagued the infant company.

Development of the P4 hadn't come cheap. Even with an entirely in-house design, several companies were contracted to provide internal components for the three-wheeled autocycle. Continental AG was contracted to make a set of tires specifically meant for the Elio P4's unorthodox wheel arrangement. The engine was sourced from Suzuki of Japan, who once provided the same three-cylinder engine to General Motors to power the Geo Metro sub-compact.

Further legal expenses accumulated in the form of lobbying in states require a motorcycle certification added to their driver's licenses. A hurdle that could potentially limit the scope of the P4's marketing demographic. After all was said and done, the prototype was completed in late 2014 and was ready for test drives in the spring of the following year. It was a blink and you'll miss it kind of moment because the company would subsequently go largely silent for the better part of five years.

It feels like just yesterday that Elio was offering test drives of their prototype to prominent auto Youtubers and accepting deposits from interested customers. Famous faces like Scotty Kilmer, ChrisFix, and SaabKyle04 were offered unparalleled access to the recently finished prototype.

Test drivers were pleased overall with the Elios unorthodox yet innovative design. They noted how the driving experience was as close to a standard passenger car as they could hope to achieve in a three-wheeler configuration. Even if the three-pot engine couldn't carry a Geo Metro up a steep hill, the lightweight Elio got the most out of every precious horsepower.

Elio sat down with Kyle for a formal interview, during which he joked "Thank god that I don't think things through, if I'd sat down and thought of everything that would have to fall into place to get where we are today, I probably wouldn't have done it." He also compared his companies rise to that of Elon Musk and Tesla stating " We're further along probably than anyone other than Tesla, they've already made it."

The second half of the 2010s was as disastrous for Elio as the first half of the decade was promising. By 2016, the tentative production start date had already been pushed back several times. Even before the petrol-powered Elio hit production, mockups were unveiled for an all-electric alternative. It would be the last major piece of news directly from Elio top brass With tens of millions of dollars in debt accumulating and a quarter of a billion dollars at least needed to get the project into production, chances of the Elio P4 materializing seemed less likely as each year passed.

Even still, hundreds of thousands in deposit money sat in waiting as hundreds of customers waited and waited for news on their highly anticipated new car would be delivered. Years went by, yet the only response Elio public relations would offer was that the car would start production upon the completion of fundraising efforts. There's no evidence of any fundraising taking place after 2018.

Lots of great cars take a long time to get off the ground, but it's the seemingly deliberate lack of communication between Elio Motors and its customer base that has people suspecting wrong-doing. While there's no concrete proof of Paul Elio or Elio Motors deliberately manipulating data to falsely herald the beginning of production capability, their actions have still angered many who once touted Elio as the future of the automobile.

What's more than likely the culprit is Paul Elio's own blind ambition. His candid interview with SaabKyle04 showed a more personable side to the engineer and his candid thoughts about not thinking things through lead us to suspect he simply bit off more than he could chew.

Even still, the people who put money down are starting to ask for it back. What eventually becomes of that mess will certainly be a sight to behold, and when it happens, we'll tell you about it. Stay tuned!

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
First I have heard of Elio, looks interesting

a .9 liter 3cyl, 55 horse

I have been watching Vanderhall, I think they are sexy

https://www.motortrend.com/rev...-first-drive-review/


I wanted to invest in Lordstown Motors but they seem to be bumbling

https://lordstownmotors.com/

I've seen a couple Vanderhalls on the road around here. Good looking car, just a shame that it's AT only, and FWD.

The Cruze is/was available with a 6MT, wonder why they couldn't make that work in the car.