HA HA HA. TOO FUNNY.
Elio Motors visits Overstock in Midvale following production delays
by Morgan Saxton
Wednesday, May 9th 2018
(KUTV) — The CEO of three-wheeled car company Elio Motors visited Utah for the first time on Wednesday.
Elio Motors showcased its innovative car outside the Overstock building in Midvale, Utah.
"This could be quite an interesting car and just what America needs," said Patrick M Byrne, CEO of Overstock.
The news conference comes two weeks after an announcement from Overstock.com about a large investment.
"Anytime you make an investment there’s risk," Byrne went on to say.
The Utah-based online retailer made a $2.5-millon investment on Tuesday, April 24.
Elio Motors claims the American-made car receives 84 mile per gallon and costs $7,500.
“Given its breath-through priming and ultra-low delivery cost, I anticipate that Overstock Cars and even Overstock Retail will play a role in bring this product to the public,” said Overstock’ CEO Patrick M. Byrne in a press release.
However, the 2-passenger car has not yet been mass-produced.
According to 2News’ CBS-affiliate in Louisiana, Elio Motors announced in 2013 they would open a headquarters in Caddo Parish, LA bringing with them 1,500 jobs to the community.
Five years later, Elio Motors has not started production in the General Motors plant where they intended to move in.
"We are anxious to create those jobs," CEO Paul Elio told 2News on Wednesday morning.
"The community is anxious," he continued, "So we need to get this funding so it happens in a year and half."
Elio Motor claims more than 65,000 people have reserved a car and the money is going toward research.
Production was originally scheduled to start in 2015, but the company has push the production date back to 2019.
A prototype of the car was on display at the news conference on Wednesday. The company says the have five prototypes scattered around the United States.
Elio admits his company has struggled with funding.
"Our capital markets are broken," Elio said."I don’t think it was us. The system is broken."
The car company needs roughly $375-million to start production. So far, the company has raised $115-million.
"I think cryptocurrency is part of that solution," Elio said during the news conference without going into detail.
According to Byrne, the car company will raise money by selling security tokens similar to the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
"I’m actually more excited about the token," said Byrne, explaining that people who buy the coin won't have to wait in line to buy a car.
Elio concluded: "If we hold this funding cadence ... the timeline will be based in weeks not months."
