Adventure Car Camper

[Sethodine]

I guess that's no different than having to run a Genset in your RV all night. Except it's easier to get maintenance on your Elio!
What you would want at that point is a AC converter so you can use AC appliances in your tent!

He is looking to camp inside of the Elio, no tent.

Although, there's a thought! What if a tent was made for Elio camping?

Imagine this: find your parking space, open the driver door ALL the way, then hook up your tent. It would have a section which fits to the door opening to weatherproof it, and with just a couple additional poles it you set up a little lean-to! The heat/AC comes from the car while it's running, and exhaust all goes out the bump on the opposite side of the car. The structure of the elio would help break heavy wind gusts as well.

Or, you know, sleep inside of it with the seat folded up. Perhaps the aftermarket will come up with an "Elio Camp seat" that folds into a bed and comes with built-in heat.

 

[Coss]

Although, there's a thought! What if a tent was made for Elio camping?

Imagine this: find your parking space, open the driver door ALL the way, then hook up your tent. It would have a section which fits to the door opening to weatherproof it, and with just a couple additional poles it you set up a little lean-to! The heat/AC comes from the car while it's running, and exhaust all goes out the bump on the opposite side of the car. The structure of the elio would help break heavy wind gusts as well.

Or, you know, sleep inside of it with the seat folded up. Perhaps the aftermarket will come up with an "Elio Camp seat" that folds into a bed and comes with built-in heat.

And call it the Aztelio? Sounds like it might look the same:

 

[Frim]

I agree! Just run the engine. "KISS" principal. You also get lulled to sleep by the "gentle purr of the engine."
I would probably make a cover plate/footrest to prevent pushing on the gas or brake while sleeping.

I agree. When I was driving, I would let a Cummings Diesel idle all night just to run the A/C. Just do the maintenance on the cooling system.

 

[Lil4X]

An inverter is a handy device, and I've carried them (or had them permanently installed) in my vehicles for years to help recharge batteries in my video gear, laptops, and printers I used on a remote shooting location. I never knew how important they could be in my home.

After Hurricane Ike, our home was without electrical power for 15 days. TV cable and internet connections went down with the power lines, so we were pretty well isolated from modern civilization for two weeks. After those two weeks, our carport was beginning to look like the Swiss Family Robinson had moved in. It was much cooler than the stifling house without AC, and with the help of my inverters, (one aftermarket, one OEM) we could use small electrical appliances and charge phones and laptops as needed from the van and SUV at idle. I eventually jury-rigged a tuner to feed a battery powered 5" TV monitor, allowing us to watch local news and maybe an hour of entertainment programming every night before the batteries got too low.

In '08 when free WiFi wasn't universal, local libraries maintained free hotspots 24/7 that allowed us to post to regular forums and stay in touch with family and friends via e-mail from a laptop out in the parking lot. Texting was relatively new, although rather difficult on the old flip phones, it could be used to send critical short messages. Verizon remained up throughout the period, so we had phone service to reassure relatives and communicate with our neighbors to locate available sources of ice.

Otherwise we camped for two weeks, cooking on the grill, making coffee on the Coleman stove, and playing cards and board games by kerosene lamp and candles out in the carport where the evening breeze was almost comfortable. I re-learned some of my old Boy Scout skills, particularly cooking and camping tricks that had gone unused for many years, and actually read the daily newspaper in lieu of visiting my regular news sources online.

With a few bits of emergency gear, like those inverters, chemical lights, flashlights, lanterns, outdoor grills and ice chests, you can survive in the outdoors with relative ease. With a tarp you can create shade or a sunblock where needed, and most important of all, you can make hobo coffee almost anywhere. Overall, it was an interesting family adventure, and allowed us to connect with neighbors who were enjoying the same "outdoor experience".

 

[Marshall]

I'm not up to speed on heating, but running the AC without the car moving has been a problem in SE Texas. After about 30 minutes, the heat from the engine has aggregated around the intake for the AC and rendered the AC practically useless. this happens even in bumper to bumper traffic, much less while parked. All it takes to get the cool air back is movement to get the heated air replaced with fresh air. Perhaps running a small fan across the engine would solve this.

 

[AriLea]

I'm not up to speed on heating, but running the AC without the car moving has been a problem in SE Texas. After about 30 minutes, the heat from the engine has aggregated around the intake for the AC and rendered the AC practically useless. this happens even in bumper to bumper traffic, much less while parked. All it takes to get the cool air back is movement to get the heated air replaced with fresh air. Perhaps running a small fan across the engine would solve this.

Just do what the police do, pop the hood just a crack. That should do it in most cases.

 

[W. WIllie]

Put your AC in recirc mode and see if that helps.

 

[Marshall]

Put your AC in recirc mode and see if that helps.

I did the next best thing and moved out of Houston.

 

[wizard of ahs]

A little off the estimate of fuel. With AC on, there is a good load on the Elio engine at idle.(probably 1200 rpm vs.950 rpm)
Of course it will idle back down to 950 after the interior reached the desired temp, then speed back up after the temperature rises.

My smart idles @ 1100-1200 with the A/C on MAX....my scangauge shows about .3 gallons per hour usage...
1 gallon = over 9 hours ... how long you gonna sleep

 

[Critter]

My smart idles @ 1100-1200 with the A/C on MAX....my scangauge shows about .3 gallons per hour usage...
1 gallon = over 9 hours ... how long you gonna sleep

Better than a lot of generators