Elio Motors finishes engineering, looks forward to testing

Elio Motors, Inc., the startup car producer planning to introduce a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 MPG with a targeted base price of $6,800, revealed it has actually completed its last and fourth stage of engineering for its E-Series automobiles with the finalization of its chassis design. The vehicles will be utilized to complete real-world vehicle validation and ride dynamics screening and calibration, along with safety recognitions, in advance of industrial production.

“This achievement, which is the final step in our engineering process for the E-Series of vehicles, further validates the flexibility and agility of our Elio Motors-supplier product development process,” stated Paul Elio, founder and CEO of Elio Motors. “Roush, which joined the team in January, has done a tremendous job on the design of the chassis and suspension, as well as managing the overall engineering process working at what seems like lightning speed.”

Jeff Johnston, vice president of Engineering for Elio Motors, stated the task that’s been done on the E-series design to this point by the Chassis Product Development Team, consisting of the geometry advancement, harshness, sound and vibration improvements and finite aspect analysis, has actually been prolific and has actually prepared it for some real-world testing.

“Once our E-Series vehicles emerge from the pilot build, the Chassis team will conduct ride and handling development tuning to refine the vehicle’s driving characteristics prior to commercial production,” Johnston stated. “When this real-world and destructive testing is complete, the team will be charged with continual chassis and suspension development for model-year updates.”

Johnston told the Elio has an independent suspension consisting of unequal upper and lower control arms, incorporating a coil-over shock absorber design in the spirit of some of the world’s leading performance automobiles. This offers a low profile for much better aerodynamics and lower weight than MacPherson struts, among the most typical suspension types for light vehicles. The rear suspension utilizes a swing arm, likewise with a coil-over shock system.

The ongoing development with the E-Series build begins the heels of a hectic first quarter for Elio Motors. Amongst the company’s highlights:

* Elio Motors raised almost $17 million in a Regulation A+ stock sale.
* Elio Motors stock began trading on the OTCQX market, making Elio Motors the first business to raise money through Regulation A+ and have its shares public.
* Elio Motors declared its ingenious ePlus options purchasing system at the New York Auto Show.