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Instead of 5 Ninebot Z10 , you can get this for $10,000

SanDiegoGuy

By SanDiegoGuy
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LanghamP Grand Master

LanghamP

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It is classified by DOT as a motorcycle and hence requires a motorcycle and a helmet (in most states). It's cheaper than a 600cc motorcycle.

It's depressing that the first thing I think about this vehicle is how it would fare in an SUV collision which shows you how ubiquitous SUVs are. Aside from that, I would love to see most people driving this type of car (really, it is a car and not a motorcycle) to work and back instead of their hulking SUVs. At 10k for a range of 100 at speeds of over 50 mph, this would easily be the cheapest per mile car presently made. Wow.

Note the "free" foldable scooter that comes with this car. I would assume the intent is to park "wherever" and use the scooter for last mile.

 

 

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SanDiegoGuy Community Regular

SanDiegoGuy

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You only have to put down $199 "refundable" deposit to be in line to get this car in 2018 or 2019.

This is much cheaper than the $50,000 that I had already put down for my Tesla 2020 Roadster that I will get in 2020 or knowing Tesla, probably in 2021 or later.

But then again, I would love to drive the 2020 Tesla roadster more than the Ampere.

I am so itching to get the Ampere too for fun, but the hassle of getting a motorcycle license is putting me off.  I looked at the California motorcycle license requirement and it requires you to take both a written and a driving test.  I do not want to have to get a motorcycle to be able to get a motorcycle license.

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RockyTop Grand Master

RockyTop

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57 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

It is classified by DOT as a motorcycle and hence requires a motorcycle and a helmet (in most states). It's cheaper than a 600cc motorcycle.

It's depressing that the first thing I think about this vehicle is how it would fare in an SUV collision which shows you how ubiquitous SUVs are. Aside from that, I would love to see most people driving this type of car (really, it is a car and not a motorcycle) to work and back instead of their hulking SUVs. At 10k for a range of 100 at speeds of over 50 mph, this would easily be the cheapest per mile car presently made. Wow.

Note the "free" foldable scooter that comes with this car. I would assume the intent is to park "wherever" and use the scooter for last mile.

 

 

  I followed the Elio  three wheeled motorcycle car for four years. They have to classify it as a motorcycle because it will not pass safety standards. Having said that it does fairly well in crash tests until you introduce getting crushed between cars. One noted problem is that the back wheel is in the center and rides on the bumpiest and most oil covered part of the road. 

  I had planned on buying an Elio for fun and casual weekend trips but the company has run into one problem after another. The owner chose not to play ball with the big car companies. This resulted in an unofficial parts boycott.  I thought that the Elio was dead last year but is now looking into buying engines from a large car company. So far they have just waisted a lot of money. 

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Hsiang Proficient

Hsiang

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I ride a Piaggio MP3 when I need to pick up my wife. A bit less manuverable than a EUC but still works well in a city.

This as well as the larger 3 wheel motorcycle like CamAm I don't get, neither the manuverbility of a motorcycle nor the safety of a car. But if its just a toy then I guess it doesn't need to be "reasonable"..

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Toshio Uemura Mentor

Toshio Uemura

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6 hours ago, RockyTop said:

??????  I like it ??????  :blink1:

Well! Taste is a strange thing and beauty is not to argue about. A sense for beauty you either have or you don’t. It’s that simple! With people who find dogs like these cute, we can not argue, we just have to silently shake our heads and feel a little sorry for them.

 

DE24F051-FD4A-4C7C-A2AF-B1C314485724.png

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LanghamP Grand Master

LanghamP

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1 hour ago, RockyTop said:

The owner chose not to play ball with the big car companies. This resulted in an unofficial parts boycott.  I thought that the Elio was dead last year but is now looking into buying engines from a large car company. So far they have just waisted a lot of money. 

That's not what happened; Elio was conceived from the get-go as a scam.

This article, rather long, encapsulates the overview of this scam.

https://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2017/07/where-did-all-money-go-elio.html?m=1

Basically:

1. The founders and early investors got back more money than they put in.

2. Elio had another company that they shoved debt into.

3. The founders had experience in making other start-ups that also went bust; while that's common (fail early and fail often) I believe in Elio's case the company's structure was to fleece investors from the get-go. It's quite clear Elio's founders went from fleecing the larger investors to the smaller deposit investors expecting back a car. I suspect the founders sold stock to stupid senile pensioners (I'm almost sure of it) because that's what always happens.

4. It shouldn't take 100 to 150 million to make a single working prototype unless you were constrained by legal law to deliver something...anything...in order to fulfill the bare minimum of being a company instead of a fleecing agent.

Finally, and most importantly, it's too difficult to figure out this Elio transaction. Ideally, a perfect transaction for you is you put money down and you get a good/service back. Anything more complicated and you are paying more than you could. With Elio, you put money down and you get nothing back which is the ultimately advantageous transaction for them (not you).

Again, Elio is a scam, conceived as such from inception. It's like Tharanos (hehe, Thanatos?) and Elizebeth Holmes...it made some people rich while making many just a tiny bit poorer.

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LanghamP Grand Master

LanghamP

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Whoops, I guess I cannot call Elio a scam since they were very clear they would take money from multiple sources and pay themselves with it while building a single kit car. At least they are honest.

Here's their SEC filing.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1531266/000121465916014837/f11141601u.htm

I read the whole damned SEC filing so you don't have to. Here's what they said.

1. We don't expect to profit off our product even when it goes in production.

2. We have no plans to put it into production.

3. We spend most of our money on salaries and payments to advertising.

4. We got approval for a ~185 million loan from the Feds because we're an alternative car company.

5. We bought a Hummer factory on the cheap 'cause we're special and sold most everything in it.

6. We're down to 100,000 dollars.

7. We spent 117,000 in credit processing fees in just one year (presumably this means they took in 8-12 million dollars in pre-orders). To date we've got 25 million dollars from pre-orders.

8. We've sold 15 million dollars worth of stock to suckers.

9. We got a loan for 23 million from some environmental trust (gov?) and didn't even bother making the first payment.

10. We plan to keep taking money, using the money people now give us to meet minimum services, until people stop giving us money (Chapter 5 and 6).

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