Criticism
Elio Motors had continuously delayed the release date, which was originally in 2012. Since then, the date has been pushed back each year.[14][15] In December 2016, the date was announced to have moved to 2018,[16] and on Nov 1, 2017 in a Facebook reply, Elio Motors mentioned the start of production aimed for 2019. These dates made automotive analysts question the company's ability to bring a product to market. Critics have drawn comparisons to the Lit Motors C-1 and Aptera Motors, which had similar production schemes requiring more funding than was attainable, while updating production timelines to give the impression that a product was deliverable. In an effort to secure a Department of Energy loan, Elio offered advance reservations where the buyer can reserve a spot in line to possibly purchase a vehicle for a base price of US$7,450.
By the end of 2017, Elio had only US$7,155 in the bank, and deficits of US$49,674,327. Elio's own estimate was that an investment of US$376,600,000 plus an additional US$110,500,000 in reservation deposits would be necessary in order to go into production. Throughout 2018 and beyond, reservation deposits remained closed, and there was no concrete plan in place to raise the nearly half-billion dollars to proceed. Despite a lack of transparency as to their path forward, Elio announced a December 2019 production date, which passed with no progress.[5]
In January 2019, Elio stated: "The production date is estimated to be 76 weeks from the timely and successful completion of our current and subsequent fundraising efforts. The timing and availability of the funds can move and we will do everything we can to keep the project moving forward by utilizing each piece of funding received, as we receive it."[17]
This lack of an actual product over a near-decade long span caused critics in 2013 to call their car vaporware.[18]
The Elio web site blog[19] and press release areas were not updated between December 2019 and September 9, 2021, when a redesigned website emerged and announced the company's intention to produce an electric motor version of their three-wheeled vehicle at double the cost.[20] The Elio Motors Facebook page was similarly left without updates between April 2019 and September 9, 2021. Neither the blog nor the Facebook page were being updated in the nearly two years period.[21] In January 2024 the website disappeared and attempts to access it were met with a "404 Not Found" error page, which shortly afterwards was replaced with a page which said "eliomotors.com has expired and is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com". In February 2024 the domain was put up for sale on GoDaddy Auctions. The auction attracted bids of several thousand dollars, but by the beginning of April 2024 the Eliomotors website was available again at eliomotors.com. By 2025, however, the website was mostly empty and inactive, returning 403, 404, and Access Denied errors from all links on the virtually empty homepage. As of July 2025, the website now appears to be owned by an online European casino with no reference to Elio Motors aside from the url.
