"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
01/16/2015 at 13:50 • Filed to: Elio
2
15|
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
01/16/2015 at 13:50 • Filed to: Elio | 2
| 15 |
Once upon a time, a man named Paul Elio announced that he was building a three-wheeled car that would get eighty four miles to the gallon, have a five star safety rating, not require motorcycle endorsement/helmet, and you could get it for the super low price of just $6,800!
If that didn't have your mouth watering, his plan calls for sales of 250,000 cars per year (and that's just on US soil) through a huge dealership network (direct sales, like Tesla!) so nobody should have any problem getting their hands on one. If that really didn't sell you, the car already has an expansive aftermarket!!
So what's stopping you? Get a reservation! It's only going to be released Q1 2014 Q2 2014 2015 ... !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ?
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"All in" reservation holders are now getting concerned. I would've been concerned back when they announced their business plan to sell 250k per year...At least the development of the engine appears to be going well...
Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 13:57 |
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it would be ironic if there were delays on the powerplant. He said there would be minimal risk.
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Mercedes Streeter
> Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
01/16/2015 at 14:02 |
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Considering it's an engine inspired by the Geo Metro's, it would be hilariously ironic.
jariten1781
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 14:04 |
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the company now has $17 million worth of equipment for sale at their Ebay store, Elio said.
Haha...wut? Sounds like an Onion article...but it's real .
JEM
> jariten1781
01/16/2015 at 14:12 |
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They bought an old GM/Hummer plant in LA and kept some of the machinery. They rest they are selling.
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JEM
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 14:13 |
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Not surprising at all. I pretty much expected another time slip.
Starting an entire car company from scratch, with such a radical design, has got to be mind bogglingly complex. I see simple software releases slip all the time, so this, this is not surprising or anything that worries me.
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jariten1781
> JEM
01/16/2015 at 14:14 |
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Yeah, I know the back story. I just find it hilarious that Ebay is the venue to move industrial equipment.
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Mercedes Streeter
> JEM
01/16/2015 at 14:14 |
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My question would be who would even be interested in buying such equipment? And isn't some of them tooled to the cars the plant used to build?
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JEM
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 14:16 |
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I honestly have no idea.
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Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 14:16 |
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it would be a shame really, I'd buy one of these.
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Mercedes Streeter
> JEM
01/16/2015 at 14:21 |
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I agree! But I mean, shouldn't they be setting realistic expectations/deadlines? Other than the launch date (which now sounds reasonable), the business plan sounds really ambitious.
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Mercedes Streeter
> Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
01/16/2015 at 14:22 |
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Me too!! It's the the realistic version of the Aptera!!!
multiple wheels for each day of the week
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 14:59 |
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I think most of us would buy one ... even at $7k
small footprint (more room in garage)
Insurance against gas spiking again
more money for dumb fun car (I love my ST but Id rather drive something that is just a appliance for commuting to work and adding mileage daily to)
all year long...My triumph is awesome but not realistic here in Denver 8 months of the year
With this thing I could have all fun car,commuter,bike,hell maybe even a rock crawler again
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 15:01 |
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I thought the Aptera looked pretty cool. I can imagine what a 4-door Aptera would look like.
NaturallyAspirated
> jariten1781
01/16/2015 at 15:11 |
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Apparently their eBay account is http://stores.ebay.com/automationreco… .
Sweet - a Fanuc welding robot: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FANUC-A05B…
And a training pendant for it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FANUC-A05B…
ranwhenparked
> Mercedes Streeter
01/16/2015 at 15:27 |
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No. And I fully expect that mid-2016 date to slip as well. Sales this year were obviously not going to happen - aside from them not even starting the work on re-tooling the Caddo plant and only having just finished development work on their new engine, they also haven't taken even the most minimal steps toward developing their company-owned retail network, which they obviously need to have in place before running job 1 at the factory.
They just still don't have the money to do what they are claiming. Their headquarters is a small section of some strip mall style professional offices in Phoenix and a lot of their filings are done using Paul Elio's personal home as the company's legal address. I'm not saying that a startup needs to be wasting money on a bunch of fancy offices, but the way Elio is operating right now doesn't create the impression of a well-funded company with a confident future.