I love the E but as an owner you tend to notice things that need to be inproved.

I'm really disapointed in the gas mileage I've been getting, I thought it would get better mileage, but I can live with that.

The E needs a BIGGER BATTERY. C-mon you advertise the E for people who live and play in the elements, and that means hanging out with the radio on. I had to jump start my E for the first time today at the ski hill, and noticed how small the battery is, very, very disapointed.

And finally the no brainer,! a screen, grill gard or whatever for the ac condensor.

other than that, Thank you Honda, I really have a lot of fun with my car.

Maybe a factory option should be a battery isolator system (second battery) so guys like him dont get stranded!

The E needs a BIGGER BATTERY.

AMEN to madskier! The E's battery is the same as the Civic's, a group 51 with 410 Cold Cranking Amps (@ 32F / 0C), i.e., about the same size as a riding lawnmower. I hadn't used my E in 5 days and one morning I tried to start it after overnight lows hit 15F (minus 10C). The engine turned over kinda slow. Ditto for the second try. Before the third try, I made sure no lights were on, no stereo, no A/C, etc, not even the cabin lights. The handbrake was on (to keep the headlights off), tranny in Park. I waited about 10 seconds, then turned on the ignition. After about 2 - 3 seconds of cranking, the starter wound down, the dreaded sound of a battery giving out. I had to get a jump.

I brought it into the dealer and they checked out the alternator output and battery voltage and said all was good (of course, after I drove it a half hour on the freeway in 3rd gear to keep the revs at 4k). Idiots. His only remedy was to drive the E more often on long trips. No offer of a new battery or bigger battery. No apology for a weak design. What a colossal waste of time.

Now, if I were camping for a week and came back to a dead E in the middle of nowhere, that would be a major piss-off. And if it were zero F (- 18C) and I were coldsoaked, that could be life-threatening.

Why can't Honda put in a bigger battery? There's plenty of room under the hood. How many pennies is it gonna cost?

C'mon Honda. Put a bigger battery in!!

Hey,

Mfg's will always try to get away with giving u just enough or the bare minimum. Rarely do we see anymore of things that are overengineered now we see them just being adequate (barely).

I doubt Honda will come to our aid and give future E's larger batteries so instead of being stranded get a battery booster so you can jump your own car next time the battery dies down.

Some even have lights and air compressors built in for those emergencies.

Thx,
Phil

FYI: the bigger battery and grill can be remedied with a little DIY, just search for past boards! Why wait for Honda to put them as options and increase the price of the E when you can do it yourself cheaper?

As for the gas mileage, that's just something Honda will have to improve in later models years. These's not much improvment to be gotten with a 4 banger in a 3500 lbs. vehicle, but the upcoming V6 hybrid (in the Accord) looks promising.

If you can find a bigger box than the Element that gets better gas mileage, then good luck.

Here's a good thread with detailed info on installing a new, bigger battery in the Element:

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6573

Thanks, T Mac. I did see that thread before posting, but decided to post in this thread to Honda. My point is that customers should not be fixing Honda's problems.

After spending more than $31,000 Cdn ($25,000 US) for a 2WD Y-package (EX), I expect a new vehicle to start at moderately cold temperatures. The fact that Honda is putting the same size battery into the E as the Civic shows me their bean counters are prevailing over common sense. They're hoping not too much stink is raised in colder climates.

Why should I spend my time, effort, and more money to put in a larger battery into a brand new vehicle? Why should the customer have to fix deficiencies in the vehicle? Hasn't Honda reaped enough profit from me? That's like putting in an instrument cluster that's hard to see and windshields that are prone to cracking. These are basic design deficiencies that must be corrected in future Elements.

Honda, we're not your beta testers!

After spending more than $31,000 Cdn ($25,000 US) for a 2WD Y-package (EX), I expect a new vehicle to start at moderately cold temperatures. The fact that Honda is putting the same size battery into the E as the Civic shows me their bean counters are prevailing over common sense. They're hoping not too much stink is raised in colder climates.

Wow, Herc -- I agree with you that the battery leaves much to be desired, but I especially feel your pain after seeing how much your 2WD E ran you in Canada. One of the reasons I liked the Element is that it was so much cheaper than equivalent SUVs (I paid barely $19,000USD for my AWD EX) -- to pay $25,000USD put the truck in a different perspective and I can understand why you'd like little things like the battery improved upon by Honda.

FWIW, I couldn't get my battery to power a coffee maker at a tailgating party two Sundays ago. It was fresh from a full charge and it didn't have the voltage to turn the coffee machine on. Being that my blood is 85% coffee, this was a big disappointment. :)

The person that wants outside temperature can find a rear view mirror that is sold as an aftermarket at most GM dealers and JCWhitney. In an earlier post I agreed with most but also find that the gas tank is too small and that the keys are way too big. Perhaps a folding key like the Jetta.
Drive from Phoenix to Reno showed me that the fuel tank could have been a little bigger, maybe only one stop instead of two. Gas in some Nevada towns is almost $2.50 for regular. Recently drove it in my pick up truck and my gas bill in for that trip was about $120.00.
The E is a fun drive but on long trips I thought the seat was too hard.

I hadn't used my E in 5 days and one morning I tried to start it after overnight lows hit 15F (minus 10C). The engine turned over kinda slow.

What was your driving pattern prior to those 5 idle days? It wasn't the multiple short cold weather trips that would leave the battery in a poorly charged state, was it? There would have been some drain on the battery during the 5 days, with security system, keyless entry and such.

I read someplace that a larger battery is an option with the Canada version. If so, what is its cold cranking power?

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I looked around a bit - the Element, CRV, and Accord 2.4L all use battery group 51R. The V6 Accord uses a different size. The Civic group is 51.

paulj

What was your driving pattern prior to those 5 idle days? It wasn't the multiple short cold weather trips that would leave the battery in a poorly charged state, was it?
I read someplace that a larger battery is an option with the Canada version. If so, what is its cold cranking power?

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I looked around a bit - the Element, CRV, and Accord 2.4L all use battery group 51R. The V6 Accord uses a different size. The Civic group is 51.

pauljMy driving pattern was mainly around town, short trips, in cold weather (- 25C / -15F). I replaced the battery today after the fourth no start. The dealer refused to change the battery saying it was functional, even though the voltage was weak. This puts an end to the misinformation that a larger battery is an option in Canada -- they won't even replace it.

The 51 and 51R are identical batteries, the difference being that the terminals are reversed.