Elio Motors Inc., the Arizona startup planning to begin commercial production of its oft-delayed three-wheeled vehicles next year, said today it will assemble test vehicles in suburban Detroit.
Elio said in a news release it will assemble its E-series vehicles to “conduct safety, system-performance, manufacturability and durability tests” at a new pilot operations center in Livonia, Mich.
A company spokesman said Elio added eight members to its team to assemble the vehicles, the first of which will test the antilock braking system supplier Continental AG provided. More tests will follow, Elio said.
“Beginning the E-series assembly is another important milestone in our journey toward production, as these test vehicles will allow our engineering and supplier teams to evaluate and validate our design,” CEO Paul Elio said in a statement. “Commencement of the build will be another tangible sign of the progress we continue to make every day in our unrelenting quest to get this vehicle to market.”
Elio said last month that “the bulk” of its commercial production will not begin until 2017, three years after its initial goal. The company, which said in a March regulatory filing that it has accumulated a deficit of about $53.8 million, also noted “we anticipate generating a significant loss for the current fiscal year.”
The company previously planned to deliver the vehicles to the more than 50,000 people who preordered them in 2014 and in 2016.
Elio says the three-wheeled vehicle, which is planned for production in a former General Motors assembly plant in Shreveport, La., will get up to 84 mpg and will sell for $6,800. Elio said last month the company will sell more than 100 preproduction vehicles this year to generate revenue and to allow Roush, its lead engineering partner, to “provide a quieter, smoother vehicle.”
The Livonia center is next to Technosports Creative, the company that supplied Elio with four of its prototype vehicles, Elio said. It chose suburban Detroit for test vehicle assembly in part for its convenience, said Gino Raffin, Elio vice president of manufacturing and product launch.
Raffin said, “Building the E-series vehicles in Detroit allows for a seamless and timely execution because the majority of our original equipment supplier partnerships are based here.”
