According to a recent article I read in Clean
Technica, Elio Motors has delayed the launch of its planned electric
3-wheeler once again, this time until 2018, according to a recent
update by the company posted on its Facebook page. It should be
remembered that the company had originally planned to have its trikes
on the road by 2015 (the company was founded in 2009). So what's
going on?
Apparently, the company is apparently
having some financial problems, this according to some
reports. Of course, some in the industry have claimed for years that
the whole thing is a scam and that the trike would never be mass
produced. Really?
Autoblog
reports, “As of September 30th (2016), the company had
$101,317 in cash, down from $6.87 million at the beginning of last
year. And while it has collected $24.8 million in non-refundable
customer deposits, the company also had $30.7 million in current
liabilities, up from $20.2 million at the beginning of the year.
Through September 30th, the company’s net loss widened to $34.8
million from $13.9 million a year.” Wow! I wonder where all that
money went? Based on the company’s current deficit, I’d say that
it looks like Paul Elio’s dream will never come to fruition, and
those who paid to be among the first to own these cars will have to
eat their money and call it a tough lesson learned. Although at least
those big spenders can say they got a T-shirt and bumper sticker out
of it… right?
