Elio Motors is looking to develop 25 more prototypes of its ground-breaking three-wheel vehicle prior to production.
Apparently, the 25 engineering and test vehicles will be used to conduct a variety of final engineering and validation tests that will allow the company to make final adjustments prior to mass production.
In order to produce the 25 vehicle prototypes, Elio Motors has recently made a formal public stock offering to make its shares available to interested investors and the public to generate $25 million.
After receiving qualification from the Securities and Exchange Commission of its offering statement under Regulation A+, the company launched its formal stock offering on November 20, notes the Autoblog.
Beginning on November 20 to December 2, Elio Motors has created an exclusive window of opportunity for those who had previously expressed interest in the company during the testing the waters phase of the investment process to purchase shares in the company.
Potential investors, numbering more than 11,000 people, were able to make non-binding expressions of interest in Elio Motors from June 19 to November 20.
And now that the exclusive window of opportunity for those who initially expressed interest to invest in the company had passed, anyone can now purchase shares in Elio Motors, which they can do so at the website StartEngine.com.
An optimistic crowdfunding pitch
Should Elio Motors be able to raise $25 million from its public stock offering, it will become the first ever successfully crowdfunded vehicle manufacturer in history.
The company’s social media accounts have been making an optimistic crowdfunding pitch to interested investors with promises of big dreams and even bigger successes to come.
However, a closer look on its SEC filings prior to its public stock offering, the company actually gave a couple of worst-case scenarios to the government by stating that the groundbreaking three-wheel Elio vehicle requires significant investment prior to commercial introduction.
The filings also warned that the vehicle may never be successfully developed or become commercially successful, details Jalopnik.
In an interview, Elio Motors Founder and CEO Paul Elio said that he does not feel that there exists a gap between his company’s pitch to potential investors and customers and what was disclosed to the SEC. He clarified that the company is not trying to hide anything and there is no discrepancy. He did say that the wordings may be different, but the message is the same.
Thankful for the interests
In a company press statement released on December 3, Elio said that he and the company are incredibly thankful for all the people and investors who have expressed interest in Elio Motors. He also felt that it was important for the company to reward them with an exclusive timeframe to guarantee they had the opportunity to make an investment.
Elio said that the support and belief of investors in the company’s mission means the world to them. He also explained that the funds that have been raised to date shall enable the company to begin building the engineering and testing vehicles, which are a critical step towards Elio Motor’s march toward production.
Founded in 2008, Elio Motors seeks to build a three-wheel vehicle that gets up to 84 miles per gallon consumption for a retail price of only $6,800.
The independent American carmaker is positioning its groundbreaking three-wheel vehicle as a car for everyone. It also promises the next big thing in transportation with its innovative vehicle, which is set to go into mass production next year at its manufacturing facility located at Caddo Parish in Louisiana, using a portion of the former GM Shreveport Operations plant.
The company is still accepting reservation at its website with the assurance to early bird buyers that they will get their unit within the first year of production, ahead of the rest.
Elio Motors has also stated that the right people have already been hired to design and build the car, which it is calling as the P5 since it is already the fifth generation prototype.
For a small and very affordably-priced vehicle, most consumers would logically expect that the three-wheeler would have limited tech features, especially in its interiors.
What about the other 225 million it STILL needs?