There has been a lot of talk about Elio Motors lately, and the company has been doing a great job at making their name known. The company seems to have some serious plans for the budget vehicle market, and they have been putting a lot of work into their upcoming vehicle. After successfully passing the initial stages of their loan request, the company has also announced that they are preparing for the assembly of their new engines.
Elio have posted several pictures of their engine in its pre-production stages, in which all parts looked to be in a more or less finished stage. And indeed, according to the company, all that’s left at this point is to assemble the engine and begin its special testing procedures. Dynamometer testing will be required to ensure that the engine works properly according to all technical criteria, and doesn’t leak any fuel or oil.
This will be followed by further rounds of testing which are supposed to verify that the engine can perform well under a variety of special conditions, including more strenuous ones. The company seems to be putting quite the strong focus on proper testing of the machine, which is good to see, because it’s not unusual for manufacturers of budget vehicles to cut corners with the testing of their products. There seems to be nothing of the sort going on with Elio’s production, however, as they are determined to verify the quality of the products that they’re delivering.
It’s important to note that this engine has been built from the ground up, and isn’t based on the Geo Metro design which is used in Elio’s current prototypes. The company explained their decision to invest time and money into the development of a new engine, stating that they saw it as the best way to ensure that the final product will meet all of their requirements and specifications. According to Elio, the engine is “99%” complete in terms of manufacturing the separate components which will be used to put it together in the end.
The company seems to be doing everything right on their way to entering the low-price vehicle market, and they recently passed through several important stages of their application for a federal loan. So far, it seems that their request will be granted, and if everything goes according to plan, in some time the market will see the release of their unique three-wheeled economy model. Buyers interested in a low-cost, low-mileage vehicle being developed according to some entirely new paradigms may want to keep an eye on the company’s progress, as they are the top candidate for pulling this off successfully right now.