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More troubles for Elio Motors, company failure imminent?

Michael James

Elio Motors has more woes and has delayed its production until at least 2019.

It’s hard to keep it up with the setbacks of Elio Motors. Failure now seems imminent.

The latest woes of the fledgling company include another production delay until at least 2019, a public offering with hopes of raising $100 million and an announcement of potential design defects in prototypes.

Elio Motors has more woes and has delayed its production until at least 2019.
Elio Motors has more woes and has delayed its production until at least 2019.

Additionally, the company founded in 2009 by Paul Elio and his goal to offer a three-wheel vehicle with a top speed of 100 mph, a cost of $6,800 and an estimated 84 mph, doesn’t have operating revenue. It has dismissed much of its engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing workplace.

“The Elio is still in development, and we do not expect to start delivering to customers until 2019,” Elio said in his IPO filing documents. ”The Elio vehicle requires significant investment before commercial introduction, and may never be successfully developed or commercially successful.”

Elio Motors said that it hoped to attain funding from the U.S. government’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program but has yet to receive confirmation for the loan totaling $185 million. The loan would prove crucial to the amount of funding needed to meet its proposed timelines.

“If we fail to obtain these loan proceeds within the timeframe needed to support our proposed production timetable or not be funded at all, it is likely we will experience significant delays in our production timetable,” Elio’s filing details.

The company also issued cautious remarks to anyone thinking of becoming an investor, or looking to purchase the vehicles.

“We have not yet produced or delivered our first vehicle and we have not generated any revenues. ”If we do not successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition will be materially and adversely harmed.”

Further, prototypes Elio has made and displayed at car shows and public showcases around the country, are likely insufficient.

“Our production vehicles may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require repair,” Elio detailed in its IPO statement. “They claim that while extensive research has been done, they don’t know what is going to happen once the cars get put into real, everyday driving situations.”

Elio originally announced a starting price of $6,800. It’s been increased to $7,450. More than 65,000 potential buyers have made deposits on the vehicle that doesn’t exist and may never be made.

 

 

Article Last Updated: August 5, 2017.

4 thoughts on “More troubles for Elio Motors, company failure imminent?”

  1. Everywhere I went, Paul Elio had shills on his forums to shout down dissenters. You couldn’t have a rational discussion of the obvious defects of the Elio concept. 3-wheeled cars aren’t new, they just don’t have a market. The people who plunked down money for an Elio are getting exactly what they deserve.

    I’ll say this for Delorean: at least it produced some cars before it tanked.

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  2. I’m one of the suckers who fell for the pitch. I put a grand down early in the game thinking I’d be driving a unique vehicle by know. I’m not sure if the car will ever be produced but if it is, I’d still like to own one… just because.
    Frank.
    Brooklyn, NY

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