Elio Motors has unveiled its three-wheeled commuter car at the New York International Auto Show held last month.

Subsequently, Elio Motors announced its intention to offer the public the opportunity to invest in the upstart motoring company.

The company has been looking for investors to infuse up to $30 million so that Elio Motors could bankroll the production of its three-wheel breakthrough car. Technology Tell reports that the $30 million will be in the form of convertible subordinated debt to accredited investors.

Accordingly, the public offering is part of the overall fundraising strategies of Elio Motors, which also includes the selling off of surplus equipment from the former GM truck plant in Caddo Parish, Los Angeles, where the company intends to build their breakthrough cars.

Production start

Nearly three years after unveiling the concept car for its three-wheel, fuel-efficient, and very affordable vehicle, Elio Motors is now very confident that production would finally start in 2016.

As a start-up and independent car manufacturing company, funding is the biggest stumbling block for the manufacture of the highly-anticipated Elio vehicle, which will be the most fuel-efficient vehicle ever with its remarkable fuel efficiency ratings of 84 miles per gallon or a consumption of only 2.8 liters for 100 kilometers.

While the company has already accepted 39,000 reservations for its breakthrough three-wheel car since its official launch during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014, with the consumers shelling out from $100 to $1,000 in the process, financing is still the biggest issue that CEO Paul Elio has to deal with to get the production finally going.

In a recent interview after the CES 2015 held in January this year, Paul Elio said that the company is now working on coming up with several financial strategies. He said that he is confident that Elio Motors would be able to secure the funding very soon.

When asked what was the production date that he and Elio Motors are looking at, Paul Elio said that it was still too premature to specify an exact date for the start-up of manufacturing but he is positive that it will happen in 2016. He also said that a 2015 production start-up is already very remote at this point.

Financial strategies

One of those financial strategies that Paul Elio and his company is looking at is the disposal of surplus equipment from the former General Motors manufacturing facility in Louisiana worth several millions of dollars on e-Bay. Elio Motors is planning to use the same plant to manufacture its breakthrough vehicle.

While there has been no official statement from Paul Elio or the company about it, it is also likely that Elio Motors is looking for prospective investors or investor-partners to its breakthrough business undertaking.