Does anyone live full time in a Honda Element?

[gnx547]

Anyone here live full time in a honda element ? If so what's your set up? What size fridge? Power source? Using solar? Bed size?

 

[RVTravel]

A youtuber does..or several do. One switched vehicles but may have early videos up.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=honda+element+camper

 

[nature lover]

I like the Element and have considered it but with my size (personal issue) and handicaps I don't think it would work. The only times I get on my knees is when I fall and struggle to get back up.

 

[maki2]

I have one but I got a lightweight, vintage fiberglass trailer to pull along as my living space. I would not choose the Element for a full time dwelling, as most every task I needed to do would be multiplied for the effort required or even so limited as to function as to make it kicked off the list of possibilities. If all you are doing is playing tourist and sleeping in it and preparing simple meals, and doing some internet browsing it will work. You could be an artist who sketches the places you go and things you see. That requires little in the way of tools and materials. Of course it would work for a writer.

But I have a lot more things I do than that in my daily life that require things such as counter space and a table to spread things out on and sit at, storage cabinets fore equipment etc.

I have no idea if it can work for you or not because I don't know who you are and what you do with your time.

The Honda Element has an undersized alternator so it is not suitable for charging a house battery bank and that matters if you want to have a 12v refrigerator and also battery power for other electrical needs. This is a link to a company that makes a direct replacement higher output alternator to fit the Element. https://www.qualitypowerauto.com/catalog.php?item=263. It would be a key component unless you are going to live very basic with little need for electrical devices. You obviously don't have a lot of roof space up top. You don't have a lot of interior space to store portable panels.

 

[maki2]

I have a 17 liter Engel fridge. I do have a 60 watt solar panel I can put on top but I have not yet purchased a house battery for the Element as I have a house battery in my travel trailer. One of these days I might put the funds into it to make it have more battery power for running things for trips up into the western mountains where I don't want to tow the trailer as it would be slow going with a 4 cylinder engine to do those upward climbs. But as I am just planning on the coastal route down the West Coast and then across the Southwest, perhaps over to San Antonio or the gulf coast beaches when towing I won't going over a lot of high passes on a frequent basis. So full time with an Element yes, but not my sole living space.

 

[grandpa pete]

You Tube.....Element van life

 

[maki2]

You Tube.....Element van life

He gave up living in a Honda Element....switched to living in a van with a pop up roof.
While he did live in a Honda Element he struggled with getting a layout that worked, he never did achieve that to his own satisfaction. Power and cooking was also always an issue.

They are small, it just is not that easy to do unless you have very minimal needs for supplies and not a need for a lot of need physical comfort. But there is more head room than a typical minivan.

As the Honda Element is no longer being made there are not all that many left that are low mileage and the prices for those are high.