The Elio E1C Prototype was manufactured using the tooling that will be very similar to that used for the final product.

While SUVs have dominated this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, green machines haven’t entirely vanished. And amidst all the battery-electric vehicles, there’s the little Elio, the high-mileage three-wheeler that’s expected to hit market at a mere $7,300.

Founder and namesake Paul Elio’s team took the wraps off the latest concept version of the vehicle during an L.A. preview, promising that this latest iteration, dubbed the E1C, moves the company a giant step closer to production.

With a good chunk of funding in place and “over 62,000” advance registrations in hand,” Chief Marketing Officer Tim Andrews told his media audience that the latest prototype “helps us get the vehicle ready for manufacturing.”

Working with partner such as Detroit supplier and engineering firm Rousch, Elio finally has a drivable prototype that was assembled using tooling similar to what will eventually be installed at the company’s factory in Shreveport, Louisiana.

(Elio offers online ordering option. Click Here for details.)

Elio CMO Tim Andrews said the company is moving steadily toward production at its Louisiana plant.

This version has also had a number of updates to its unibody frame, while it’s body has been updated to improve aerodynamics. The changes should improve the little Elio’s ride comfort, as well as safety – the three-wheeler now schedule to have three airbags. Efficiency is also improved, company officials said, something critical to the Elio since a key selling point is the car’s promised 84 mpg fuel economy rating.

In an interview, Paul Elio said he believes there are three key markets his vehicle can appeal to:

• Those seeking a low-end automobile that yields good mileage;
• Those who want to supplement their existing household fleet with a little runabout; and
• “Those people who are stuck with a ‘clunker,’ and can’t afford a better used car.”

“Instead of using bubblegum and duct tape to hold their clunker together,” the company founder suggested, “they’ll be able to buy an Elio.”

(Click Here for details about Elio Motors national advertising campaign.)

Somewhat to his own surprise, Elio said that those who have placed advance orders for the little car “skew older and wealthier” than the company had anticipated, many of those customers also owning high-end brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

The Elio will get 84 mpg when the three-wheeler hits the streets.

The Elio project has, at times, needed bubblegum and duct tape to hold itself together, though Paul Elio stressed that the financial side of his equation is beginning to come together. The company held the largest crowdfunding campaign to date and is now using Oppenheimer to pull together its funding strategy.

The start-up would like to get some money from the federal fund that helped give Tesla Motors a start, but that controversial program remains on hold and may not survive the incoming Trump Administration. Elio, however, said that while such funding would be helpful it isn’t a make-or-break deal.

(Elio selling 100 preproduction models to raise cash. For more, Click Here.)

An earlier goal was to get the three-wheel Elio into production this year. At this point, the company founder and CEO said he remains confident the first of his cars will roll out of the Shreveport plant in “late 2017.”