Alpine 4 Technologies is providing Elio Motors its 6th Sense Auto and BrakeActive products, as well as related manufacturing, data sharing and engineering resources.
Elio Motors, based in Phoenix, is a high-profile startup vehicle manufacturer planning to launch an ultra-efficient, two-person three-wheel vehicle, the Elio, that will get up to 84 mpg with a set base price of $7,300.
The Elio, to be sold initially in the US market, will be built at a former General Motors plant in Shreveport, LA. More than 64,000 customer reservations have been recorded for the Elio and the Company anticipates commercial mass production to begin in 2018.
Strong current demand is reflected by over 64,000 customer reservations. Management anticipates assembling the 100 S1 prototypes for real-world evaluation during 2017 with commercial mass production to follow in 2018.
The LOI between Alpine 4 and Elio Motors also includes the sharing of such things as sales data and user acceptance, and all data collected from the cloud-based 6th Sense Auto System.
6th Sense Auto is designed for the modern "connected car" and collects data on such things as inventory management, engine diagnostics, service maintenance and personalized customer support through wireless software.
BrakeActive is an innovative, high-margin aftermarket programmable brake-light safety device. Its technology improves a vehicle's third brake light in order to substantially reduce or prevent rear-end collisions.
According to the National Highway Safety Administration, rear-end collisions can be reduced by 90% if trailing vehicles have one additional second to react. BrakeActive assists in providing that extra time to react.
Elio Motors CEO Paul Elio said: "We are putting together a team of world-class suppliers that are helping us meet our stringent cost, fuel efficiency, safety and performance goals.
"To create the most advanced vehicles on the global market in terms of modern engineering, rider comforts and fuel efficiency, we need suppliers like Alpine 4's subsidiary ALTIA and their cloud-based innovations and safety products."
Both the Sixth Sense Auto product platform and the BrakeActive products are manufactured and engineered in-house by Alpine 4's subsidiary ALTIA.
Alpine 4 CEO Kent B. Wilson said: "Creating a business relationship with an OEM vehicle manufacturer like Elio Motors is an important milestone for Alpine 4.
"Our goal is to provide our product portfolio to a variety of customers in the automotive industry. We are very excited to be working with such an important and high-profile company like Elio Motors, which promises to be a world leader in the high-efficiency subcompact market."