Back Seat Leg Room ....

[Art]

When I first heard about the Elio, my very first thought was: "Road Trip Car!". I'm in the Salt Lake City area and given 84mpg, I could drive to Monterey CA for the weekend for $40. Find a cheap hotel (well, maybe midweek) I could have a mini vacation for $150. How awesome is that?

I loved the P3. Saw it in Denver. I haven't seen the P4 as I was out of town when they came to Sundance and they wouldn't wait around for me. My only real gripe on the P3 was the back seat leg room. My knees were right in the fabric of the back seat. I would really hope that they would add about 4" of leg room even if that meant making the car longer. After all, the added leg room isn't going to hurt the aerodynamics one bit. (Since the car would be getting longer, not wider.) Even more than 4" would be way cool too but, I'd love to be able to have at least enough leg room for the back passenger that it isn't painful on long trips.

One solution that I recently saw while visiting Tokyo / Yokohama where I had a chance to visit the Nissan headquarters is to put enough space on the sides of the front seat that the rear passenger's feet fit on either side straddling the front seat somewhat. This may or may not be able to be done with the front seat as it now stands. I suspect it would require making the car wider which would effect the aerodynamics somewhat. (Longer is better IMHO.)

Thoughts?

 

[jtmarten]

Longer = heavier = lower fuel economy.

 

[KScarguy]

The solution is painfully obvious, you just need a shorter chauffer...!

 

[Art]

The weight of the additional 4" is not going to be too significant in the overall scheme of things. Additionally, the weight will have very little impact on fuel economy once the vehicle is up to speed. (The only impact is on rolling resistance on the tires) Given that the 84MPG is _highway_ this presumes that the vehicle comes up to speed and the energy that goes into acceleration is amortized over a much longer distance.

Anyway, that additional 4" would go a long way towards having a bit extra space for the groceries. ;-)

 

[Autoxdriver]

I think the idea behind the Elio is a one person commuter that will hold two in a pinch. I think it would be fine for solo road trips but there would be almost no luggage space with two people on board and now you're talking all the weight of two people plus a trailer, etc. I think you need to wait for Elio v2, lol.

 

[Craig]

I think the idea behind the Elio is a one person commuter that will hold two in a pinch. I think it would be fine for solo road trips but there would be almost no luggage space with two people on board and now you're talking all the weight of two people plus a trailer, etc. I think you need to wait for Elio v2, lol.

Hay! Someone who gets it.

 

[Neal]

Hay! Someone who gets it.

I'm with you. I see way too many people trying to make this a sports car or trying to make it something it's not intended to be. I see it as a fun commuter car, not a high performance or luxery or family car.

 

[Craig]

I'm with you. I see way too many people trying to make this a sports car or trying to make it something it's not intended to be. I see it as a fun commuter car, not a high performance or luxery or family car.

This car was designed for two main reasons.
Inexpensive form of transportation, cost and gas.
And most of all, to provide the “One” person that drives an SUV to work everyday because that’s the only transportation they have and need for other reasons.

 

[Autoxdriver]

I just hope my dog will like riding back there.

 

[Brainmatter]

I just hope my dog will like riding back there.

Your dog loves it wherever you are, You know it.
Even if he's puking in the back seat!