(March 12, 2016) PHOENIX — Elio Motors, the startup vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled car that will get up to 84 mpg with a targeted base price of $6,800, has announced it plans to sell 100 pre-production vehicles built at its Shreveport, La., production facility in the fourth quarter of 2016.
 
"Elio Motors is ecstatic to announce that we are taking a major step forward in our development of the Elio," said Elio Motors founder and CEO Paul Elio.

"We now intend to sell the first 100 pre-production vehicles built to one or more fleet customers, rather than use them for internal purposes as previously disclosed in our offering statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This will help us generate additional revenue, it will allow us to evaluate vehicles under real-world driving conditions and it will allow our supplier team to refine our design."

Elio originally told the Securities and Exchange Commission that the automaker would use these pre-production vehicles for internal purposes. By selling them and getting the three-wheelers on the road, the company claims there's a better opportunity to evaluate how they perform in real conditions. This also offers a chance to improve the vehicles before the full launch, which is now expected sometime in 2017.


 
The pre-production vehicles will allow Roush, which was named lead engineering partner earlier this week, to provide a quieter, smoother vehicle with refined driving characteristics. Ultimately, this will raise customer satisfaction with the final production vehicle, according to Elio.
 
"We are chomping at the bit to get started on these 100 vehicles, as it's an important step in our evolution," said Gino Raffin, vice president of manufacturing for Elio Motors. "The work we do on these vehicles will provide important insight that will make for a smooth transition when we begin hiring production workers for the consumer vehicle launch. We're getting closer every day and we are moving forward with relentless passion to get this done."

When the vehicles ever see full production, they'll have a 900cc three-cylinder engine that can get the vehicle to 60 miles per hour in a claimed 9.6 seconds.