[AngleWyrm]

The early tech limits are too low. With a range of only six, a vessel might not even be able to leave the home system without running out of gas.

If the player builds a colony ship on turn 1, it becomes available on turn three. That ship should be able to reach at least a neighboring sector and colonize without failing, a range of about twelve average. Building an explorer on turn one should result in a ship that can do some exploring.

With a storage capacity of three turns, a ship's fuel radius is one and a half turns from a resupply center.
It is the refill rate that determines what speed a ship can travel. The ships travel until out of gas, and then run at their maximum refill rate. This can also be done by stopping to refill, and then running at full speed, but it amounts to the same velocity.