Yahoo Autos A Non-Refundable Down Payment Will Get You an Elio 3-Wheeler for $7000
Elio Motors has finally announced official pricing for its long awaited three-wheeled vehicle, at a very reasonable $7300. The announcement, mentioned in a mass email sent by company founder Paul Elio, states the company has gone public, and has planned out its option ordering system for the car. It states that if you're willing to put a deposit down, you can get it for as low as $7000. There's a catch, however.
Since Elio has yet to deliver a single one of its cars, it needs loans to stay afloat and build its creation. In order to prevent more fenders from falling off, a loan from the Department of Energy would offer them support, if the company can meet its guidelines.
The loan agreement specifies that non-binding (i.e. refundable) customer reservations are usually not sufficient, which means the 56,000 reservations the company currently has is not enough to satisfy the DoE.
To get the ever-important boost, Elio has gone ahead and announced official pricing so its potential customers know what they'll have to pay: $7300. Additionally, Elio stated a number of just $7000 for anyone willing to lay down a non-refundable payment. That's $200 more than previously stated, but still quite the deal for something resembling an actual car.
So, you can get a brand new two-seater three-wheeler from Elio for just seven grand, but risk the chance of the company going bankrupt before the car gets delivered. Additionally, Elio says it still doesn't have any set production or delivery dates, which means it could be years before your sizable deposit turns into something you can drive.
We're all rooting for Elio to win, but first they have to get a car on the road. Hopefully that'll be sometime soon.
via Jalopnik
This article was clarified August 15th, 2016.
