Worldwide auto expertise comes together to create American-made Elio

May 18, 2016
An initial U.S. rollout of 100 pre-production Elios for fleet applications is scheduled to begin later this year, with the bulk of the consumer launch slated for 2017 as additional funding becomes available. Tagged at an anticipated base price of $6,800, the three-wheeled Elio has front-to-back two-person seating and weighs 1,200 pounds.

Paul Elio of Arizona has been searching the world over for the latest in global technological innovations to augment a longstanding tradition of “American ingenuity” aimed at engineering and bringing-to-market a domestically produced gas-sipping yet zippy runabout.

Already more than 51,000 pre-orders have been reserved. An initial U.S. rollout of 100 pre-production Elios for fleet applications is scheduled to begin later this year, with the bulk of the consumer launch slated for 2017 as additional funding becomes available – an eventual international unveiling is also in the company’s plans.

Tagged at an anticipated base price of $6,800, the three-wheeled Elio has front-to-back two-person seating and weighs 1,200 pounds, roughly half of the average 2,400-pound mass of the existing automotive car parc. It utilizes a combination of lightweight materials and aerodynamic body styling to reduce wind drag and attain a highway mileage rating of up to 84 mpg.

Elio’s Safety Management System includes three airbags, a reinforced roll-cage frame, anti-lock brakes, and crush zones that are 50 percent larger than those on similar vehicles. Heating/air conditioning, power windows/power-door-locking and an AM-FM stereo radio are among the standard features.

In March, Michigan-based Roush, which has operations in 19 nations throughout North America, Europe and Asia, was named as the lead engineering partner to provide a quieter, smoother ride with refined driving characteristics by contributing engineering, testing, prototyping and assembly support.

“We’ve already assembled a great team of suppliers, but adding Roush’s leadership and expertise is a home run for us,” says Elio, CEO of Elio Motors. “Suppliers of their caliber can pick and choose with whom they work. It is rare for a startup like us to attract a world-class supplier network like we have. Roush is a great addition to that team.”

Japan’s Aisin Seiki, owned by Toyota, is supplying a transmission matched to an engine designed from the ground up specifically for the Elio by Germany’s IAV Automotive. Half owned by Volkswagen, with Continental Automotive and Schaeffler Technologies also having ownership shares, IAV has facilities in Michigan and California in addition to locations in 11 other countries.

The 0.9 liter, 3-cylinder, 55-horsepower, liquid-cooled powerplant attains a top speed of more than 100 mph and accelerates from 0-60 in 9.6 seconds. “Our new engine is a bridge to the future that relies on a traditional internal combustion engine, but delivers significantly higher fuel efficiency,” Elio says.

Collective brainpower

“The Elio Motors design process is the new paradigm in automotive engineering and design,” according to Frank Phillips Jr., president of Molded Plastic Industries of Holt, Mich.

“It allows participating suppliers to bring their best ideas to the table and to work together collaboratively with other product development teams for the good of the project. It’s very different from the long-standing status quo in getting a vehicle to the commercial production stage. I’ve worked in the industry since 1982, and have never experienced this much revolutionary development process innovation,” says Phillips, referencing the cooperation of fellow Michigan suppliers Excel Pattern Works and Schwab Industries in executing the Elio’s external characteristics.

Established in 1941, Excel nets $4 million in annual global sales. In business since 1984, Schwab is a Tier 1 OEM supplier of tooling, stampings, gages and fixtures to major automotive and aerospace firms.

“Our Molded Plastic Development Team has done a remarkable job of bringing our Elio vehicle’s exterior body panel system to a level of commercial manufacturability in a very short period of time,” says Gino Raffin, Elio’s vice president of manufacturing and product launch. “This feat, combined with our recently announced body framing and engine cradle design release, are important steps that show we are rapidly gaining momentum as we move toward production.”

“We’ve organized our engineering teams and supplier partners to give them more freedom to provide ideas and decisions,” says Elio. “Their collective brainpower is essential in meeting the aggressive cost and quality standards we’ve set and that our customers demand. The teamwork and talent of our supplier partners was on full display in the body panel development.”

The company’s supplier engagement process has assembled Elio’s engineering and supplier partners into eight work groups, each taking responsibility for a specific portion of the vehicle. Within each unit the suppliers “are encouraged to work directly with each other on a daily basis to brainstorm, review and approve engineering changes that will help Elio Motors get closer to its cost and quality targets,” Elio says. “In traditional manufacturer/supplier relationships in the auto industry, even minute decisions must be approved by the manufacturer, which often slows down the development process and adds cost to the vehicle.”

This heightened collaborative approach, called PDT as in Product Development Team, has resulted in April’s completion of the key interior details.

“Because Elio fans come in all shapes and sizes, it was important for us to design in a height adjustment to accommodate drivers from four-foot eleven to potentially seven feet tall, though we focused on a median occupant size for either the front or back seat to be a 6-foot, 1-inch person weighing about 220 pounds,” reports David Spykerman, a partner at Genesis Concept and Design of Phoenix, which oversaw an interior PDT that includes Mayco International and Japan’s Howa USA division, both located in Michigan, and Red Dot Corp. of Valley View, Ohio.

Cabin elements were “designed in familiarity in the sense that the location and operation of the controls and major systems would be similar to traditional vehicles,” Spykerman says. “While there are features of the Elio that are unique, we felt that where and how you turn on the lights or radio or how you open the trunk or activate the hazard flashers should not be a mystery.”

The vehicle’s instrument cluster look is modeled after the Elgin “window face” wristwatch worn by Elio’s father. “We took the challenge,” says Spykerman, “and worked out the layout and design to pay homage to this classic design.”

Emerging autocycle industry

Securing financing has been an ongoing issue, and media accounts have made much of a series of delays since the founding of Elio Motors back in 2009. Elio says the Elio vehicle is now on track to actually start rolling off the assembly line by the end of this year. They will be produced at a revamped former General Motors plant in Shreveport, La. with a targeted goal of containing 90 percent North American-produced parts conceived from a global perspective while employing 1,500 Louisiana autoworkers and creating or sustaining some 18,000 jobs among the array of nationwide vendors.

The company “is committed to the American Dream and in bringing American automotive ingenuity to every vehicle we build,” Elio declares.

A network of stand-alone retail centers in the top 60 markets across the country is being established and Pep Boys has been named as the official service provider to cover about 90 percent of the customer base. The company is currently evaluating additional repair and maintenance outlets to serve the remaining 10 percent of Elio’s localized drivers.

Wheels are also turning within the governmental sector to determine what exactly to call the Elio vehicle. It’s not a sidecar-bike or a trike, and not exactly a car either. But under U.S. standards it is officially designated as a motorcycle, mandating under some state laws the unwieldy and presumably unacceptable wearing of helmets within the comforts of the enclosed cabin. Legislation is pending before the Senate and House of Representatives to create a new “autocycle” category that is better suited for these types of designs.

More than 25 states have either enacted, or are in the process of developing, autocyle classifications for enclosed three-wheeled vehicles, but the company is seeking regulatory relief at the federal level to ensure consistency when motorists drive their Elios across state lines.

“We intend to build this vehicle to meet stringent safety standards,” says Elio. “However, because anything with three wheels is classified as a motorcycle, some current regulations just don’t make sense. We need to be classified as an autocycle to meet the expectations of our customers.”

“From time to time, regulations have to be updated to keep pace with American ingenuity and innovation,” notes U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, Republican of Michigan, who in July of last year introduced the Autocycle Safety Act. It remains in committee in both the House and Senate. “Elio Motors is leading the way, but outdated regulations are blocking the road forward for the emerging autocycle industry.”

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