Elio Motors logo
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Private | |
Traded as | OTCQX: |
Industry | Automobile |
Founded | 2009 |
Founder | Paul Elio |
Headquarters | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
Number of locations
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3 Shreveport, Louisiana; Livonia, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona |
Area served
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United States |
Key people
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Paul Elio, founder and CEO James Holden, Board Member David C. Schembri, Board Member Kenneth L. Way, Board Member Stuart Lichter, Board Member Hari Iyer, Board Member |
Products | Three-wheel motor vehicles |
Owner | Paul Elio |
Website | www |
Elio Motors is an automobile company founded by Paul Elio in 2009. The three-wheeled Elio P4 is engineered to attain a highway mileage rating of up to 84 with regular features such as power windows, a power door lock, cruise control, and air conditioning, all in an aerodynamic, enclosed vehicle body. The vehicle is also equipped with a safety system that includes multiple air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, steel unibody frame, and crumple zones. Elio's first manufacturing site will be Shreveport, Louisiana.
Elio Motors plans to manufacture a three-wheeled vehicle (two wheels in front, one in back) with a $7,450 base price ($7,300 for people with reservations). It is projected to achieve up to 84 mpg-US (2.8 l/100 km) on the highway and up to 49 in the city. As of June 2017 there are five prototypes and three validation vehicles (codename E1-A, E1-C, and E1-D) to test for safety, aerodynamics, and durability. Even though the E1-C is not used for testing, it is significantly closer to a production model than P5, with updated interior and a cosmetically-evolved engine. It was also produced using 80% soft-tooling. The testing phase is concluded, and the company is going to build 100 pre-production fleet vehicles at its Shreveport, Louisiana, manufacturing facility in 2017.
The vehicle will be equipped with standard features such as AC/Heat (manufactured by RedDOT), AM/FM stereo, power windows/door lock, cruise control, three airbags, a reinforced steel roll cage, side intrusion beams, stability control, and disc brakes with ABS. Continental AG has created a tire specifically for the Elio. The Elio is designed to meet motorcycle standards because as a three-wheeler it is within the U.S. government's motorcycle classification. The company has lobbied, in most states, to alter regulations that would otherwise require drivers to wear a helmet and, in many states, to remove the requirement for operators to have a motorcycle endorsement on their driver license.