Elio has a long history, mostly bad. At one time you could get a tee-shirt if you signed up for a car. Mr Elio made a lot of promises none of which ever came true. I believe he was just not steeped in business acumen.
Great idea and cool looking little trike.
ELIO rolled the dice and went BIG, rather than a specialty shop which would allowed production and growth based on orders.
Lost of shifting of gears on the product and mostly CHAOS.