Project 818 Pre-Order Update #3
Project 818 is moving along on target and the team is making excellent progress. We’ve made some major investments to accelerate the project and hopefully reduce production ramp-up time now that we’ve officially sold 170 deposits.
The biggest news is that we’ve added engineers Colby Whipple and Dan Muldoon to the 818 team. Colby is a master tool maker, engineer, and fabricator and he is currently working on all 818 production tooling. Dan Muldoon is a mechanical engineer and brings some excellent composites knowledge to the team. Good news also is that engineering intern Frank Kardok has elected to stay on through the spring semester and product launch.
We’ve also purchased, installed, and begun using our new AKS/Hypertherm laser-cutting machine. This $450,000 equipment investment is making sure that R&D engineering changes get brought more rapidly to production. We are now cutting all 818 steel and aluminum in-house with rapid turn-over time. This will help keep our target production costs in line so that we can deliver the 818 at the promised price of $9,990.
At the end January, we will be heading to the track for durability testing and final chassis release. The next update will include some exciting in-car video and track testing data.
Thanks for your support and if you have any questions, please forward them via e-mail to info@factoryfive.com.
Thanks again!
Dave Smith
President
More 818 Photos
We continue to get questions on the 818 and have tried to post more photos on our website gallery and 818 website section. There’s also more information on The Factory Five Forum. Click here to view more photo galleries.
Plant Prepares for 818 Production
Operations Manager Nate Johnson has been busy getting production ready for the 818 intro. Upgrades include new mezzanine, packaging areas, welding area, and CNC laser cutting machine.
818 SEMA Video>
Factory Five’s Dave Smith and Jim Schenck are interviewed by Power Media’s Jessica Barton on the 818 S & 818 R at SEMA 2012.
