Elio Motors + Cryptocurrency...What could possibly go wrong?

Fist I saw the latest Elio Motors powertrain update: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/10/08/elio-engine-from-oem-roush/

Which immediately leads to this gem in the first sentence: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/04/25/elio-motors-overstock-investment/

Say hello to ElioCoin! 

I heard about this. Given my well known stance on crypto to begin with:

So I'll use real secured money to buy unsecured "money" that I can spend.... Where? Overstock? (The other partner in this venture.)

ELIO should have just used an OTS powerplant to start with and avoided this all together.

The0retical said:

ELIO should have just used an OTS powerplant to start with and avoided this all together.

+1, building their own engine was asking for trouble in an already troubled venture.

That's assuming the goal is to actually build and sell cars, rather than to simply keep a money laundering charade up for as long as possible. 

Still pretty glad we decided not to put a deposit on one of these little 3 wheelers.... Fun to watch though.

I talked to them about a option for selling them without power plants. Guy laughed at me. 

How can I get away with what Elio has? Just have people dump tons of money on me and never actually deliver anything? 

"Instead of using the revamped Geo powertrain it just spent years developing,"

I could give any of you guys 500 bucks and a geo metro and you could revamp it in a weekend...

Professor_Brap said:

I talked to them about a option for selling them without power plants. Guy laughed at me. 

That would actually make a good deal of sense for them at this point. Head down the the Noble route and sell a "kit" where the customer just supplies the powerplant. Plus it lets them skirt out of some compliance issues they'd otherwise be subject to.

I'll take mine in the 2zz-ge flavor.

barefootskater said:

Still pretty glad we decided not to put a deposit on one of these little 3 wheelers.... Fun to watch though.

Same here.  I was close to placing a deposit when the P4 launched. Once they finally launch or fold, I would love to see RCR do a documentary. 

I start reading that and the only thing I can think of is they are using smoke and mirrors money that’s all on paper and isn’t really money I’m surprise the feds haven’t stepped in with these people. 

The0retical said:

Professor_Brap said:

I talked to them about a option for selling them without power plants. Guy laughed at me. 

That would actually make a good deal of sense for them at this point. Head down the the Noble route and sell a "kit" where the customer just supplies the powerplant. Plus it lets them skirt out of some compliance issues they'd otherwise be subject to.

I'll take mine in the 2zz-ge flavor.

I was think my 400ftlbs producing BEW

So, is Overstock.com is investing in Elio... I'm wondering if they're trying to put themselves in the same place Big Lots was with DeLorean.

Brian said:  Once they finally fold, I would love to see Dirty Money do a documentary. 

Fixed. 

The word of the thread here is "Theranos".

I still hope they end up making a car that i can buy at some point.  This thing is perfect for my commute.

This is hilarious. The linked article says Overstock are ‘investing ‘ $2.5m into Elio. First that only covers debts and second it will just allow this laughable vaporware crap to continue Spamming  up the internet for another few years. $2.5m is a joke. You need to move the decimal point at least two digits to the right and that might just about launch the car with an off the shelf engine, not their supposed in house effort. 

I bet Bernie Madoff would love to get some tips from Paul Elio on how to separate people from their hard earned $$’s

so tasty.

I just looked it up.  Elio has been peddling his vaporware since 2009 and there's still nothing substantive to show for it.  In that time Polaris has envisaged, developed and put into production the Slingshot.  While aiming for a different demographic it's still a three wheel motorized human transportation devise and they've sold many tens of thousands.  I'm not sure on exact numbers, but I'm seeing 14K units in the first full year and over 30K for 2018.  It is possible to put a low volume three wheeler in production if you ever have the real intention and business know how, but not if you just want to limp along conning people out of a few million here and there.

Let be honest guys its a ICO. (Initial Coin Offering) Small startups do this to keep money out of the hands of finance because they are to small to use major finance companies to push public. Or they don't want to give up control to those companies. Or they have something to hide that normal disclosure would prevent. The SEC is keeping close tabs on people who are trying this now. 

Or if you are Elio you are doing it because nobody will work with you period. This is pathetically small for an ICO offering and it would nearly cover there outstanding books. 

The0retical said:

Professor_Brap said:

I talked to them about a option for selling them without power plants. Guy laughed at me. 

That would actually make a good deal of sense for them at this point. Head down the the Noble route and sell a "kit" where the customer just supplies the powerplant. Plus it lets them skirt out of some compliance issues they'd otherwise be subject to.

I'll take mine in the 2zz-ge flavor.

While that would be fun, a 1.6L Alpha/5-spd would be for me. If that engine/drivetrain could knock down close to 40mpg in an unaerodynamic 2500lb econobox, it would be 60+ in that platform. Since they're made like cockroaches they'll last until the end of time to boot. 

RevRico said:

How can I get away with what Elio has? Just have people dump tons of money on me and never actually deliver anything? 

Start up a mega church?

Real actual hybrids and PHEVs being available in the 10-15k used market made this thing obsolete before it even launched. My well appointed 4200lb sedan can seat 5 and has been getting 84+mpg since I bought it this summer. I'm on my third tank since July and I drive it 50miles per day. It has a generous warranty, can be serviced at thousands of dealers across the country, and still looks new with 25,000 miles.

The need for a cheap, goofy, gas powered commuter car from a boutique manufacturer is a mirage. If this thing would work for you, so would a used Volt or Ford Energi that was built by people that actually know what they're doing, which makes it much more likely the car will actually hold itself together for more than a few thousand miles.

Are people really buying into this crap after 9+ years? 

I laughed not long ago when I saw an s10 in bowling green with an elio sticker on the tailgate.