Dustoff
Elio Addict
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2014
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- 992
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A ghost technical writer? lol
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Options And Upgrades, Cruise Control, Etc...
- Thread starter Ron Wessels
- Start date
zelio
Elio Addict
Poor guy. Just imagine a life when you are named after a dead president. :-) ZAn article from the grave? (Notice who wrote it.)
Lil4X
Elio Addict
Yeah, been there, done that, got the t-shirt . . . but no residuals.
One of my old clients made the wiring harnesses for the F-4 fighter as a part of their contract to convert retired aircraft into computer-flown aerial target drones. It seems the originals had to be junked - not only was the original harness badly aged and often patched together, but the new flight regime required a lot of changes in the wiring. A team of eight workers using one of several large pegboards to route the wiring to predetermined junctions and terminals as they wove a massive bundle of individual wires into a finished harness. I noticed that the workers were practically all women.
This highly detailed and skilled work, I was told by their (female) supervisor, was usually done best by women who seemed to possess the organizational skills, the detail focus, and the manual dexterity this critical work requires. Ford used to have a big wiring plant over in central Louisiana that assembled wiring harnesses for their vehicles. Same story, most of the line workers were women. I hope EM gives this some consideration in their plant. You go girls!
Mark Ambrose
Elio Addict
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
- Messages
- 172
- Reaction score
- 724
I can see where if this is going to be primarily a commuting vehicle most people will want automatic trans and cruise so they can commute and drink their coffee or whatever. However for those of us who are retired and can avoid the rat race I personally would opt for a manual tranny and forget the cruise. For me cruise control is just an unnecessary expense. However if they can include it and keep the price as promised that's fine too. I just don't want to see this very basic vehicle loaded up with expensive junk that drives the price too far away from the promised $6,800. If it gets too close to $9,000 - $10,000 I'd opt for a basic regular car with 4 wheels and 4 seats and a good sized trunk.
outsydthebox
Elio Addict
- Joined
- May 6, 2014
- Messages
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I already HAVE one of those. The Elio will be for the 90% of the time, when I'm driving alone, and not hauling anything. IMHO, It will pay for itself, & help "extend" the life of my other vehicles. For me, it just makes sense!
Truett Collins
Elio Addict
Depends on where in New Mexico you are.....here in the Taos area we see a lot of sub-zero weather every winter.
Lil4X
Elio Addict
One feature I'd overlooked - seat heaters. Yeah, they're nice on a cold winter day - of which we have about a dozen here on the third coast, particularly comfy entering the car with chilly leather seats. But those few occasions alone don't justify the cost/complexity to me.
What does justify it is my advancing age and concurrent back problems, where a nice warm wrap on your lower back is well worth the investment. Even in moderate temperatures, after a day of doing physical tasks I ought not to do, I found there's nothing like settling into my Lexus' cozy leather seats, turning the AC thermostat down to about 68°, and the seat heater up to "broil". A long drive home luxuriating in the therapeutic warmth with my personal heating pad wrapped around my backside eliminates any residual pain and saves me that "WHAT DID I DO TO MYSELF?" remorse the next morning.
After doing a little research for friends needing to replace the heating elements in their Lexi's seats, I found a pretty decent selection of them available in the aftermarket - even kits complete with switches and/or thermostats to upgrade any leather seating. There are probably even more now. Even if seat heaters not offered as options by EM, if you've used hog-ring pliers and can install seat covers, it would be a relatively easy Saturday job to DIY seat heaters and simple wiring in your Elio.
Not only is it blessed relief for your back during that long drive home, install a heater in the back seat too. Whether you need one for your occasional passenger or not, at least it'll help you get that pizza home nice and warm . . . .
What does justify it is my advancing age and concurrent back problems, where a nice warm wrap on your lower back is well worth the investment. Even in moderate temperatures, after a day of doing physical tasks I ought not to do, I found there's nothing like settling into my Lexus' cozy leather seats, turning the AC thermostat down to about 68°, and the seat heater up to "broil". A long drive home luxuriating in the therapeutic warmth with my personal heating pad wrapped around my backside eliminates any residual pain and saves me that "WHAT DID I DO TO MYSELF?
" remorse the next morning.After doing a little research for friends needing to replace the heating elements in their Lexi's seats, I found a pretty decent selection of them available in the aftermarket - even kits complete with switches and/or thermostats to upgrade any leather seating. There are probably even more now. Even if seat heaters not offered as options by EM, if you've used hog-ring pliers and can install seat covers, it would be a relatively easy Saturday job to DIY seat heaters and simple wiring in your Elio.
Not only is it blessed relief for your back during that long drive home, install a heater in the back seat too. Whether you need one for your occasional passenger or not, at least it'll help you get that pizza home nice and warm . . . .
Neal
Elio Addict
One feature I'd overlooked - seat heaters. Yeah, they're nice on a cold winter day - of which we have about a dozen here on the third coast, particularly comfy entering the car with chilly leather seats. But those few occasions alone don't justify the cost/complexity to me.
What does justify it is my advancing age and concurrent back problems, where a nice warm wrap on your lower back is well worth the investment. Even in moderate temperatures, after a day of doing physical tasks I ought not to do, I found there's nothing like settling into my Lexus' cozy leather seats, turning the AC thermostat down to about 68°, and the seat heater up to "broil". A long drive home luxuriating in the therapeutic warmth with my personal heating pad wrapped around my backside eliminates any residual pain and saves me that "WHAT DID I DO TO MYSELF?
After doing a little research for friends needing to replace the heating elements in their Lexi's seats, I found a pretty decent selection of them available in the aftermarket - even kits complete with switches and/or thermostats to upgrade any leather seating. There are probably even more now. Even if seat heaters not offered as options by EM, if you've used hog-ring pliers and can install seat covers, it would be a relatively easy Saturday job to DIY seat heaters and simple wiring in your Elio.
Not only is it blessed relief for your back during that long drive home, install a heater in the back seat too. Whether you need one for your occasional passenger or not, at least it'll help you get that pizza home nice and warm . . . .
I agree. I thought that heated seats (especially here in Texas) was a silly option. Then I got my Dad's vehicle after he passed several years ago which had them. I love them now.
Lil4X
Elio Addict
While we're on the subject of obscure but handy options . . .
If you've done a bit of touring, you may have run into a problem I've had for years - how to charge all of those batteries in your laptops, cameras, various iPods, DVD players, and the load of electronic toys we seem to accumulate for our road trips. I had the additional need to charge rather large batteries for my video rig, lights, audio deck, even my color photo printer. I asked myself - why was I carrying a big bag of 12v battery chargers - along with the 110v chargers I'd use in my motel room? Some of these 12v chargers are EXPENSIVE (one near $500). Some, particularly ones for the video rig, don't even exist.
My first midsize SUV had a 12v power port in the wayback that allowed me to charge one set of batteries at a time. Somewhere in my collection of 12v accessories I remembered I had a 12v DC - 110v AC inverter, so I plugged it in and made 110v AC to feed a powerstrip into which I plugged all my 110v battery chargers. One switch turned off the inverter so I didn't park and leave something running that would suck up my car battery in about two hours.
Four years later when I traded the car, I discovered the manufacturer had thoughtfully included an inverter, with a convenience outlet in the wayback in their newest model - just for people like me who don't want to arrive at their destination with a collection of half-charged or dead batteries . . . As it turned out, that feature and the inverter I'd used in my previous SUV - now resident in our minivan - allowed my family to keep our cell phones, laptops, and even a small TV charged and operable while we went through a 15-day power blackout in the wake of hurricane Ike.
It even allowed me to load my computer, printer, and DVD duplicator into my RX 330 and print a couple hundred discs (with labels and case covers) for a client while sitting on a deck chair working off the tailgate in my driveway during that same blackout. I suppose it would have been more impressive to do it in their parking garage, but then hindsight is always 20/20 . . .
If you've done a bit of touring, you may have run into a problem I've had for years - how to charge all of those batteries in your laptops, cameras, various iPods, DVD players, and the load of electronic toys we seem to accumulate for our road trips. I had the additional need to charge rather large batteries for my video rig, lights, audio deck, even my color photo printer. I asked myself - why was I carrying a big bag of 12v battery chargers - along with the 110v chargers I'd use in my motel room? Some of these 12v chargers are EXPENSIVE (one near $500). Some, particularly ones for the video rig, don't even exist.
My first midsize SUV had a 12v power port in the wayback that allowed me to charge one set of batteries at a time. Somewhere in my collection of 12v accessories I remembered I had a 12v DC - 110v AC inverter, so I plugged it in and made 110v AC to feed a powerstrip into which I plugged all my 110v battery chargers. One switch turned off the inverter so I didn't park and leave something running that would suck up my car battery in about two hours.
Four years later when I traded the car, I discovered the manufacturer had thoughtfully included an inverter, with a convenience outlet in the wayback in their newest model - just for people like me who don't want to arrive at their destination with a collection of half-charged or dead batteries . . . As it turned out, that feature and the inverter I'd used in my previous SUV - now resident in our minivan - allowed my family to keep our cell phones, laptops, and even a small TV charged and operable while we went through a 15-day power blackout in the wake of hurricane Ike.
It even allowed me to load my computer, printer, and DVD duplicator into my RX 330 and print a couple hundred discs (with labels and case covers) for a client while sitting on a deck chair working off the tailgate in my driveway during that same blackout. I suppose it would have been more impressive to do it in their parking garage, but then hindsight is always 20/20 . . .