Elios Mileage Range Vs Storage

[AriLea]

The ELIO is long enough, and I am hoping the ergonomic engineers are thinking of this too.
With a proper seat configuration, the front seat needs to full recline, it might become a comfortable bed.
Enough said.

Move your luggage to the front floor, add an air-matrass and wha-la! Camper-camping for one!

 

[HonestTex]

Just because it's designed to be a commuter vehicle doesn't mean it can't be used in other ways. If people want to do ultra-light car camping or road trips with minimal luggage in it, that's fine with me. I have no reason to complain until EM starts changing the design to accommodate different use cases. Since that seems unlikely, speculate away on the myriad of uses you can come up with. It only increases the potential market and makes the Elio more likely to succeed.

I'm o.k. with speculation and modification. It's all the changes in the base design that are being brought up (across multiple threads) that made me blow a gasket. Might be time to pull a page out of Craig's playbook and take a hiatus...

 

[Frim]

I just want an Elio. Does it come in vanilla?

 

[Karnaj]

I just want an Elio. Does it come in vanilla?

No, but will marshmallow do?

 

[BearLakeSteve]

I'll take mine in blueberry... or maybe cherry.

 

[pistonboy]

The Elio has an 8 gallon gas tank with a range over 650 miles, no car I've ever owned had or needed that kind of range. Why not reduce the tank to 4-5 gallons and use that saved space for additional storage?

Absolutely not!
Perhaps you don't live in the desert, like I do, where it can be a good distance between gas stations. I am very tired of having to constantly go to the gas station so often.
The gas tank is under the rear seat. The only more space provided would be for people with big butts. It is a space that can not be used for "storage".
Recently they lowered the seat for taller people and made the tank smaller. I wish they had left the tank and seat the way they were.
I find nothing enjoyable about going to the gas station. A vehicle designed so gas station visits are minimized, is a good design.

 

[Coss]

Absolutely not!
Perhaps you don't live in the desert, like I do, where it can be a good distance between gas stations. I am very tired of having to constantly go to the gas station so often.
The gas tank is under the rear seat. The only more space provided would be for people with big butts. It is a space that can not be used for "storage".
Recently they lowered the seat for taller people and made the tank smaller. I wish they had left the tank and seat the way they were.
I find nothing enjoyable about going to the gas station. A vehicle designed so gas station visits are minimized, is a good design.

Little note; they changed the shape of the tank, not the volume to accommodate lowering the rear seat. This is one of the reasons they can no longer run the exhaust pipe under the car, and that's where the side exhaust came from. Changing one thing in a small car effects 2 or 3 other things.

 

[Jim H]

Absolutely not!
Perhaps you don't live in the desert, like I do, where it can be a good distance between gas stations. I am very tired of having to constantly go to the gas station so often.
The gas tank is under the rear seat. The only more space provided would be for people with big butts. It is a space that can not be used for "storage".
Recently they lowered the seat for taller people and made the tank smaller. I wish they had left the tank and seat the way they were.
I find nothing enjoyable about going to the gas station. A vehicle designed so gas station visits are minimized, is a good design.

Also live in the desert and its 230 miles to Albuquerque or 260 miles to Tucson, AZ. I need the mileage too.

 

[Jeff Miller]

Another thing to contemplate with regard to a smaller fuel tank is the impending menace of the blender pumps and E85.

There are several motorcycle groups that have mobilized to fight the expansion of blender pumps especially when used with E85 and other high alcohol blends. The reason being is that there is always something left in the hose from the last fill. Proponents of the blender pumps claim that the fuel in the hose blends with the current selection and that given sufficient volume poses little or no harm to engines that can't use things like E85.

Opponents of the blender bumps, aka motorcyclists, have tanks generally less than 5 gallons in capacity. Because the capacity of the motorcycle tanks is so small any blending of E85 from the hose with the desired fuel choice is likely to make the fuel fail to meet the manufacturer's specification and would result in great harm to the motorcycle.

If the elio were to have a 4 gallon tank it would be exposed to the same fueling issues that motorcyclists have.

 

[BearLakeSteve]

Absolutely not!
Perhaps you don't live in the desert, like I do, where it can be a good distance between gas stations. I am very tired of having to constantly go to the gas station so often.
The gas tank is under the rear seat. The only more space provided would be for people with big butts. It is a space that can not be used for "storage".
Recently they lowered the seat for taller people and made the tank smaller. I wish they had left the tank and seat the way they were.
I find nothing enjoyable about going to the gas station. A vehicle designed so gas station visits are minimized, is a good design.

I don't live in the desert any more, but still 80 miles to the nearest McDonalds or Walmart or multi-screen theater, so great gas mileage is always a plus.