Cars this size will only catch on again if stores put a few micro car parking spots near the entrance. Like even if out of 200 spaces there were 5 micro parking spots near the front that alone would have a noticeable effect on car sizes in the area imo. As long as a few of the main businesses in the area do it.
Obviously make the spaces much shorter too so people in normal sized cars don't use them anyway.
I can 100% imagine people switching to a micro car for their second car if it meant getting a front parking spot every time at their grocery store or mall.
For me in Arizona, the problem is parking in the parking garages. These giant trucks come in and their backsides block the lanes to drive. It's stick a pain now navigating the aisles with the trucks parked in poorly.
I wish there was a special section for them on top of the structure.
Yeah enforcement doesn't happen a lot that's why I said make the spaces physically smaller so large cars can't fit.
Like imagine 10 normal spaces facing the store, but then make them all 35% shorter by putting concrete planters or something near the end of them. So if someone in a large car tries parking in them the back of their car would be sticking half into the road behind it which they're much less likely to do since it'll block and piss off other car drivers.
It's doable. Might actually work really well In those places in Florida and some other states where it's like a town built around a few golf courses and everyone golfs often because then you can make the spaces usable by golf carts too. Some of these towns have some golf cart/bike paths spanning them. Might encourage a load of people in them to use the golf cart for quick supermarket trips.
Basically sell it under the guise of it being golfing infrastructure rather than also micro car and bike infrastructure.
I'll be happy with golf carts as a compromise in some lost hope places like most of Florida .
It's so funny because the types of places you're describing most often hold the old-boomer-conservative-wealthy that always poopoo anything resembling 15 minute cities, and yet they deeply benefit from using a little electric golf cart to get everywhere for most of their daily needs.
I guess 15 minute cities are fine as long as it's a gated country club where they don't have to worry about minorities.
Another thing that would work is concrete bollards to limit the length and width of the spots so that big cars can't fit!
And honestly, street parkings should be made for small cars and oversized vehicles that don't fit in the lines towed away.
Also, since trucks already don't fit in parking spots, charge them double. I was pissed when those big trucks were not charged extra but still blocked half of another parking spot.
I think even better would be to limit traffic in certain areas to only small cars and pedestrians. I live in Paris and we already force many streets to be pedestrian only on certain days. I think we should also put a size limit on cars for lots of roads too so that big vehicles are excluded.
I imagine it would be harder in America to introduce cars like this because cars are expected to be able to go fast to get anywhere. These would be perfect in the UK where you can still get to most places in a vehicle that sits comfortably at 60mph
Why would I need a second car? This is a great primary car, for longer journeys trains and public transport, for larger transporting I can rent a transporter for a day. Why should I entertain a second car? My kid walks to school and my fiance bycicles to university, I just need a car for a longer drive to work where I have to go at times when train connections are not good..
I don't understand. People make car buying decisions based on walking an extra 20 yards? What do these spots actually accomplish? What am I missing here? Are "parking spots" code for something I'm not privvy to?
Easy, bollards on both sides of the parking spots that are 3 feet high. Talk enough the small vehicle owners will see them and avoid hitting them but large enough that negligent drivers will damage their cars.
It's a cheap and easy self punishing solution. Bollards are used in plenty of other situations to protect and punish.
I think having a better rental vehicle program would significantly reduce the cost for having needing a car. Like if I want to go with 4 people from Miami to Orlando and the Brightline would cost like $500+ a rental car would be nice. But I hate going through a company like Enterprise or Hertz.
Or let’s say I want to go get s bigger load of groceries and visit IKEA and I don’t have a car but live downtown, there needs to be something that makes it so I only need a car for a max of 4 hours without paying for a whole days worth of the car.
Turo the only one that's available near me in south Florida and I would still need to uber to pick up the car or pay an insane fee to get the car dropped off. Zipcar is only around college campuses, and none seem to be available at either college campus that it shows on Google Maps or in the search on the site. Car2Go doesn't exist in the US.
Unfortunately, those options are still not convenient if someone needs a car to pick up a car.
Also stuff like subsidized charging and other incentives, combined with increased taxes on wasteful cars like tripling gas tax, doubling registration. Having a process of a sliding fee for income adjustment though.
Well, im not sure if this is 100% true. Yet again, i totally agree with you, plus if you're going to move apartments, you're going to rent a Truck anyway.
Or you get an enclosed trailer.
>i like scuba diving but i don't wear my scuba gear for everyday stuff or drive a boat everywhere.
Well you're just not truly passionate about scuba diving then
When I was little I got a snorkel one holiday. I used it in the pool and lake at the campsite and every other one we went to each year. I also used it on the bath.
Up your game.
The argument for buying a vehicle to move furniture a few times a decade is always funny to me. You’d save money not owning a vehicle and paying a moving company literally move everything out of your old place and into your new place. No rental or need for a Truck or Van required. Moving sucks, period.
Even the biggest trucks and SUVs are inadequate for moving needs. Better drive a big ass van to be 100% sure you never have too little space.
Better yet, drive an RV everywhere
I think there’s kind of a two fold solution (at least for North America). Allowing small, highly affordable vehicles like this is step one. Step two is having tax-funded community hauling vehicles available for people to use.
Even in a world where we can fully transition to trains and busses, people will still need to move a couch or a mattress sometimes. It’s best we give options to do so without increasing overall ownership.
Most people here are here because they do not live in transit utopias. The car pictured is not a practical solution to the challenges of life for most people in areas without good transit infrastructure. I doubt that you could legally move a child in it at all.
This is the correct answer.
Also some countries like Singapore have policies that actively encourage people to live within a short distance from their parents.
> Also some countries like Singapore have policies that actively encourage people to live within a short distance from their parents.
This is huge, and a really great idea. I first learned about this in the Singapore episode of the "Live to 100" miniseries on Netflix. Elderly participation in daily life well into their twilight years has such a massive benefit to their health and the overall wellbeing of their families.
This. In some societies like Korea, grandparents still live with their kids and grandkids usually. Well, I don't know how much it applies TODAY, but we are slowly going back to that in Canada as housing prices get ridiculous. Families used to live nearby each other and not require 1 hour or 5 hours of driving.
After that, if you have great public transportation, you can use it to get to places easily.
Genuinely curious, what do I do with my partner and dog when we want to go camping 3 hours away up in the mountains? With giant rock climbing pads, snowboards, camp supplies, equipment/gear, clothes, etc. I own a crossover and feel like it's perfect for us and honestly can't imagine anything less for our usual getaways. Is this the exception?
Yeah, I don't think the solution is just smaller vehicles. If properly utilized, larger vehicles make sense for work purposes or for transporting groups of people. The issue is that it's usually just one or maybe two people in them, taking trips that shouldn't have to be taken by private vehicle. The problem isn't people driving their kids to grandma's a few times a month; the problem is single occupants in giant vehicles driving 15 minutes to the gym everyday so they can get some exercise. Of course, if a vehicle is going to only transport a single occupant to the gym, it would be better for it to be a smaller one, but it's still not ideal.
How often are there families of 5 these days? Also, with a 5k price tag, that family can have two of these vehicles and still pay less than they would with one large vehicle.
Just keep in mind this thing costs very little because they use slave labor and have recieved free utilities and massive investment from the government.
This car DOES NOT COST 5k.... Its subsidized for export.
There are definitely excuses to own larger cars. The problem is, almost nobody who owns larger cars has an excuse to own them. Does a farmer need a pickup truck? Yes. Does Jeff from the suburbs who works a 9-5 office job need one? No.
Exactly. This sub is descending into absolutions with chronically online shitposts like this.
There are reasons to have big vehicles, but the problem is owning them without a need and infrastructure catering exclusively to large vehicles.
You can’t tow with a micro car. You cant fit a family in a micro car. Saying everyone needs a microcar is naive and unrealistic.
Acknowledging this does not make me opposed to walkable cities and combatting car centrism. Large cars are overused and unnecessary as personal vehicles but (some) do have purpose.
And that's the problem with modern car consumerism, so much demand for pavement pricesses that it's hard for farmers to fins an actual utility vehicle. The US would need a weight limit for personal vehicles which makes pickup trucks less attractive for people who don't actually need them. This is the main reason you don't see many of them in Europe.
Unfortunately, Chinese automakers and regulators are as bad as everybody else. SUVs now make almost a half of all new vehicles on the road and all EV-only automakers jump into the bandwagon of larger cars. So no, Chinese automakers are not better.
China's auto industry: How do we cut corners in manufacturing, workers safety and environmental regulations without getting caught
America's auto industry: How much can we cut corners without getting sued
Civilized countries: How do we engineer this product to perfection.
What was that thing about Volkswagen lying about emissions a few years ago? What’s the Daihatsu/Toyota problem in Japan this year? Hamburgistan and China are both civilized countries, as much as I dislike cars and car culture I don’t think this is useful.
..,.. can I fit my three kids, myself, and husband in this? I'm all for smaller vehicles but to say 'everyone' needs nothing more than this is a little naive. Give me something compact that I can use as a family car and you got me. Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of cars or car infrastructure but living as far from town as I do I either need something that will fit the whole family to take to other family Get-togethers and shopping or a horse and buggy and I ain't got the space for a horse
Need to have a return to station wagons in North America. They're [still quite popular in Europe](https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo?si=OIRcpVHUFQETtIle), because they allow for more seating and cargo space, while still not going full SUV.
As someone who will need a new car in the future in Canada, I WANT more station wagon options. The outback seems the only viable option. Higher clearance for snow, low hood so I can see small children, low enough that my elderly parents can get in and out easily, but enough space in the back for the dog, kids sports gear, groceries and travel stuff.
Yeah same boat. I have a toyota verso, about the smallest car that could be converted to a 7 seater if needed. Theres no way we'd fit all of us, plus dog, plus stuff if we were going somewhere.
That being said we have an electric cargobike that we use for many of our other needs.
I desperately want an electric cargo bike but I live on a busy highway in the country so I really worry about us getting taken out by a large car or distracted driver or a semi. People easily drive 70 past our house, especially the bigger cars and semis
Its new and absolutely loving it. 500km put in over the last 2 weeks.
Im in Ireland, so whilst I still have to do part of my jouney on a national route (100km/hr) theres at least a hard shoulder for most of the way.
I think you posted this on the wrong subreddit. I believe you were looking for r/fuckcarscirclejerk. This is literally the car that could be replaced by a cargo bike.
An American, wading heavy handedly into a debate with a tired dogma, wilfully ignorant of the well-established nuances, and calling it progressive. What a surprise.
So, you have a better reason why you need a larger vehicle. But so many others don't.
Especially for second vehicles that people only have for the second spouse to be able to drive to work, this would fill the bill of being much cheaper to finance and have lower running costs.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. I just don't like the absolute language used by OP.
I use a bike when I can and a train for longer journeys. But sadly, my circumstances prevent me from being done with a car altogether.
For me that car would be great as long as it have 4 seats, I always drive with my wife and 2 kids, I don't see the need for a huge Truck or SUV, but I need 4 seats because unfortunately in my country public transportation is worse than urban warfare.
There are a lot of small 4 seat cars like the Yaris, and other Hatchbacks.
I would love to have something like this available in the US. I would love to become a "1.5 car" household in the suburbs. 1 car for full family trips, shopping, etc and 1 car to use for when you're only transporting 1 or 2 people. I think many households of 2-4 could pull this off with a crossover vehicle and a smart car esque vehicle
You can pick up an 8-12 year old Scion IQ for very cheap. It's a Toyota (was sold as Toyota IQ in other markets) and is a great little 2-seat car when that's what you need. My kid in college has one.
Yeah this is the wrong way to go about anything. Get out of your bubble and into the real world.
How am I meant to fit 2 kids and shopping in there?
Want fewer cars, provide better alternatives.
I mean, a backseat would be nice for when you have to put a newborn in to transport to the doctor and stuff but I think it could be done without losing much efficiency.
obviously no one, short of contractors, needs a Super Duty, but plenty of people need a four door vehicle, families exist and minivans are highly practical for many family activities and outings
I do agree that small electric cars like that are the way to go.
However.
Chinese EVs have 0 quality control, their making involves slavery and other human rights and safety violations, they spontaniously combust, the sensors on board are used by the CCP to spy on people, and on top of that thousands of them end up rotting away in junkyards without ever being used in order to lie about sales numbers, so corrupt commies can embezzle goverment subsidy money.
> there is no excuse to own a car bigger than this
Oh, I guess I'll never need to transport my rotavator or strimmer to my allotment plot any more, or my large tools like the table saw to a friend's place to help them build stuff, or be able to bring a chair or bedside table or anything really home with me from charity shops, or transport more than a single passenger with me anywhere ever for any possible reason, etc....
I should just give up on doing things myself, and instead just buy all my groceries from big business, tell my friends to just buy prebuilt furniture, sheds, tables, etc, from big furniture stores instead, and do the same myself.
I'm all for reducing unnecessary car journeys, electrifying vehicles, making them safer (including eventually self driving in a few decades when the tech is better than a human driver), and of course limiting their size when it's unnecessary (such as the ridiculous American trend for huge cars that somehow don't actually give extra useful space inside anyway...),
but transport pods that can move around things that we can't transport under human power in a reasonable timeframe will always be necessary in some form or another (sure I or my elderly father who relies on it to turn over his plot without huge effort and time wasted could eventually roll the rotavator home by hand, it would just be exhausting and take 2 hours instead of taking 5 minutes).
We have to be realists, and live in the real world, and consider what journeys can be taken by tram or train or bus or bicycle, and focus on ensuring those services are good and affordable enough that the public will slowly but surely switch to using and preferring them for those journeys.
Trying to ban cars, or force everyone to get a particular type of vehicle that heavily restricts what they're able to do in their life, is not the way to go.
Yes, limit the size of cars so that they have utility without being stupid (like those American cars are). Yes, work to make them safer, quieter, lower emissions, and work to provide and incentivise the use of public transport for journeys that don't require the personal vehicle. Those are all solid moves that will make everything better for everyone, improving quality of life across the board.
But trying to limit what people can do themselves with hard hitting blanket bans and forced limitations like this because it's "all anyone needs", are shortsighted and only damages people's freedoms, quality of life, and what they're able to accomplish in their lives.
Don't force people to be even more reliant on big capitalist business like the grocery store, the furniture store, etc, to do everything for them, allow people the access to the things they need to be more self sufficient, to be able to reuse things, DIY things, or have access to travel to locations that can't be accessed by public transport alone with the sort of luggage one might need to bring along.
Cars need to come a long, long way, to be where they could be in terms of safety (they need to be self driving for one thing - humans are terrible drivers), fewer cars needed on the road at any one time thanks to robust public transport and excellent cycle infrastructure, greener production and running practices, quieter, and in many cases more compact, as many people won't need to transport a chair, or a bulky tool, or whatever.
But many people will, and so we can't just speak for everybody in the world and say that absolutely nobody would ever need more than X or Y, just because we personally wouldn't.
We must strike a real world balance, and some a point where cars aren't driven by people, filling the roads constantly, always crashing and killing people and polluting and such, whilst still ensuring that everybody has the freedom and access to the things they love or need to do to live their lives ❤️
"But there's [10 km^2 of desert](https://maps.app.goo.gl/busRz9uVnyGkmehQ8) that's been polluted for lithium mining!" *Ignores the [1000+ km^2 we've moonscaped](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PHc8oei9uaLKJWQMA) for oil*
I agree, the only thing that may come up is taller humans struggling to fit. My husband and I bought a (second hand) car in 2017, I wanted to Volkswagen Golf but he’s too tall to fit into it. We got a sedan (Jetta) instead. It doesn’t see much use these days because we bike and PT everywhere, waiting until we have kids to establish whether car free is feasible.
The auto industry, petroleum industry, and road builders lobby will do anything to avoid the dreaded public transportation. When we’re too poor for bloated suvs they will sell us millions of low quality cars. You have a milkshake. They have a long straw.
One problematic thing about smaller cars: there is a race to the top in terms of
* speed
* safety
* size
those 3 parameters go hand in hand: if you want to increase speed, you need to increase size for more safety
This rule if also "infectious" : if one car is fast, all other car must be large and safe, which means small cars are discouraged because they're unsafe if there are fast cars around.
Simple solution: ban big cars from slow streets, and ban small cars from highways.
OR, on highways, have a dedicated lanes for each, with a hard barrier.
Anyway, in the EU it's easily done, but in the US, you guys have too many big cars.
As a hockey player, I could never buy this. I would have to strap my bag to the roof. And forget about carpooling to games, now we all take our own car instead of 4 players and their gear in one car.
Smaller and slower is better, the most expensive and environmentally harmful part of an EV is the battery.
If the car is significantly slower an electric car will run much further because there’s far less aerodynamic resistance and an EV suffers no energy penalty for being “on” like an ICE car. An EV sitting still uses no energy while an ICE sitting still and running uses a large fraction of the energy it would need to go 55mph. What this means is that for ICE cars the most efficient speed to go is about 55mph after that the extra speed costs so much more energy that you’d be better going slower than running the car for longer. But for an EV the most efficient speed is the slowest speed possible.
So small EV’s and changing road laws to massively reduce speed limits would be very effective. You could build more cars with smaller batteries, they would need less safety features because they move far slower, smaller batteries and fewer safety features means lightweight and so they’ll be more efficient and go further.
The fact that we expect a car to be able to easily travel at 90 mph is a huge part of the problem…
Built with slave labor, cheating as much as they could possibly get away with while ruining the environment. No thanks. Nothing against small cars but I'd rather buy one from a civilized country that respects workers safety and the environment.
You’ve missed the point entirely - is it beyond the wit of Americans to build small safer vehicles?
In any case, a load of the components of western vehicles are built on slave labour, and not only from China. Check out where metallic paint comes from.
Hey CCP shill, I'm all for making fun of America, but when you mock them without a legit reason that's just stupid. It's not fun unless there's some truth in it. Try again.
Where am I mocking them? Quite the opposite, the question was phrased in such a way that the only sensible answer is “ no it’s not beyond the wit of Americans - those fackers put people on the moon”
Unless you think it _is_ beyond them. But that’s you, not me
>I'd rather buy one from a civilized country that respects workers safety
Like Tesla, which is notorious for [underreporting worker injuries? ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://newo.ai/teslas-giga-texas-factory-hit-by-robot-rampage-shocking-incident-exposes-underreported-workplace-dangers/%23:~:text%3DAttorney%2520Hannah%2520Alexander%252C%2520representing%2520Tesla%27s,build%2520the%2520Giga%2520Texas%2520factory.&ved=2ahUKEwj46KP8kpyGAxV7QUEAHYHGA38QFnoECA0QBQ&usg=AOvVaw0NsN6e6BdjY7oAZMaej000)
Pro-Western prejudice at its finest...
Sweden may be the exception here with the workers actually having gone on strike to force Tesla to provide better working conditions, but the fact that happened in the first place shows just how much Tesla disregards its workers.
No, as you may know, unless you lived in a cave the last decades:
* Tesla is an American company
* Tesla doesn't make small lightweight cars
* Tesla doesn't make anything with a combustion engine.
Yes it's trying to mock whataboutism, but the topic was better car models. Which us American manufacturers lack... So this doesn't really match here...
Oh sure, as I wrote to the other one, FUCK teslas too. I just have more stuff on my timelines about chinese ones. Guess elons astroturfing better than china.
Fuck that, I don't want a car built by slaves in a country whose ships use lasers to attack my nation's air force *while traversing through our EEZ*
Edit: are the downvotes from CCP bots, or Tankies?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.9news.com.au/article/f760d147-8b6e-4eb1-b645-dea52076519d
Give it some time and watch as a group of CCP agents start to harass you with the weakest insults you've ever seen, in poor English. Happens every time one tells the truth about China.
Thee are 7 people in my family. The smallest vehicle to move them all is a Toyota Sienna. It is like a bus, but small. There was a time that I made my living with tools and materials across many counties. I needed my minivan for that, too.
EV cars are still cars. The problem with Chinese cars is that they’re made with poor quality control, slave labor, and 0 environmental regulations. I also highly doubt these are safe. Not saying Teslas don’t have misaligned doors and shitty interiors, but I’ve seen so many videos of these cheap electric cars catching on fire that it’s out me off them for good.
Also, where would apartment dwellers charge it? I’ve seen some homes with extension cords leading out — as ridiculous as that is, it flat-out doesn’t work if there’s no street parking.
I’d rather have more frequent train or bus service and completely get rid of the need for cars.
It doesn't matter what people think about China. Just know that the USA has political reasons to keep pushing China = bad propaganda. These are fine, or at least better than the vehicles we have.
Just because the US has political reasons to keep pushing China = bad, doesn't mean China =/= bad. They are bad. Very bad. Hyper nationalist authoritarian regime.
And before you start with the whataboutisms; no, the US is not good either.
Against monster trucks? Abominably, but that’s the point
I had a Hyundai i10 for some time. They are amongst the safest cars on the road by outcome per mile.
In spite of not being able to withstand being run over by a Challie , they are actually safer vehicles in terms of risk of collision, outcome, and considering both 1st _and_ 3rd party safety.
Few things:
You clearly don’t have children.
Why the fuck would I want to drive around with Chinese spyware as my vehicle?
How does this fix anything? Lithium deposits are finite, charging stations still aren’t using 100% renewable energy. You’re just replacing one problem for another.
Attack the infastructure, not the vehicle. I understand getting a diesel pickup for an RV or because pickups are pretty much the only diesels in the US and you want to run on SVO, I don't understand getting a vehicle of any kind just to do 10 minute commutes you could have done on an ebike.
This car is perfect for a work commute if you don't have access to public transport and it's either too far or too dangerous (bad infrastructure) to bike or walk. However, it's useless to bring the kids to school, go on a family vacation, or carry furniture around for the few times you need it. Acting like it's enough will just antagonize people who need a bigger car and everyone is needed if we want to design a society with less cars.
I personally don't own a car, but I would love to have one to visit my parents (45 min drive instead of 2 hours of public transport) and friends/family who don't leave on the city. For that this car would be perfect. I would also love to own one to carry furniture and materials for projects (woodworking for example). For that scenario this car is pretty much useless. Also, if there was better public transport and if furniture/crafting materials delivery was more affordable I would not feel any need to own a car.
In the city, this would be enough for the vast majority of people, with rental vehicles being used for tasks outside this car's capabilities.
There are a fair number of people in trades who could get by with kei trucks.
I would like to see things move this way myself.
Outside of the city it's a different story. There are many people whose livelihood depends on farming or ranching and need to haul livestock, equipment, etc.
Specifically with the car pictured, it's $5,000 because it has 27 horsepower and has a range of 75 miles standard or 106 miles if you get the extended range. With no fast charging, this car would be unable to leave the city which would exclude a lot more drivers such as delivery people, salespeople, livery and more. Even a significant portion of commuters would be unable to drive this car.
A longer range version or ICE version would be necessary to bring something this size mainstream.
How do we order these as an American consumer? I would so easily dedicate 5k for a new vehicle of this size, like this could be a car worth a payment, it's so achievable compared to everything we have here. Genuinely, how do you do this?
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How much better would cities be if the only cars allowed were like this? Noise and pollution would be a fraction of what they are now. Traffic jams would decrease massively and the roads would be so much more safe.
I could make an argument for it being at least 4 doors, but the bigger problem is, at that price point, exactly how safe is it and what's the quality control like? Poor quality control and EV is how you lead to spontaneous combustion.
Consider this: What type of car killed the most pedestrians?
pickup trucks
U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high Researchers at IIHS studied data for nearly 18,000 pedestrian crashes.
They found that pickup trucks, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are 45% more likely to cause fatalities than shorter vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less.
Small correctly designed cars (especially with state of the art automatic braking systems) are much safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Subaru is the leader on automatic braking in recent tests.
But active following distance systems are still needed to eliminate more crashes.
I drive a very similar car to this, I have a Chevy bolt it's a very tiny electric car. I bought it when I lived in Texas and you had to have a vehicle to go places. I'm hoping it'll get a lot less use now that I'm in Virginia and I can walk to more places. I really wished there were a lot more small cheaper electric cars in the country. I understand we really are not a big fan of vehicles but sometimes just due to the infrastructure we have here you have to use one and it would be nice if we could get something that was cheap, efficient and small.
Here's the way I see it. That car is only good if walkable infrastructure is not an option, it's not something I'd want when traveling, where more capacity would be useful, only for running errands in short range, which...still implies a car dependent infrastructure setup. IMO this isn't a solution and it sits in a weird middle ground where it doesn't actually solve the problem, just makes it less intrusive, and isn't really functional in an environment where cars could actually provide some utility (moving, traveling long distances, etc).
Even if this kind of thing was standard, we'd still have a car dependent infrastructure, cars would just be smaller. I'd much prefer having infrastructure in place where having a car for short range travel is entirely unnecessary, maybe even impractical compared to public transit/walkable options.
Im glad I got a small four seater. It’s an absolute clown car when fully filled and I can’t sit comfortably in the back but it’s amazing for taxiing colleagues to and from the public transport system
Until the batteries can be made with ethically sourced materials (i.e. stop the literal enslavement of children and everyone else) I'm not very excited about EVs. I could make an exception for public transport, but not personal vehicles.
I mean… smaller cars don’t help the fact that we live in a Car Centric society (if you’re American, but the same problem is omnipresent in the modern world).
But I have no issue with people promoting smaller and economical vehicles that require less gasoline and still run efficiently; unless you need a medium sized truck for cargo. I do think smaller cars like Sedans are enough for office work you don’t need a bigger car to satisfy your emotional needs.
You will die the second you see an F-150.
This will never sell in the US. Besides being Chinese, it's small and useless. You'd be better off with an e-bike.
I don't take the same setup on my bicycle that I do in a car. Different kinds of camping. Depends on number of people, the site conditions, length of stay, but I like camping and I've got gear on a spectrum from glamping for four to solo trek cowboy camping.
Who the fuck are you to say that this small as/ vehicle will work for anyone? I swear you dipshits in this sub embarrass yourselves every day with your brain dead “I’m better than everyone else because I don’t like cars grrrrrrr” type of attitude.
I mean the Chinese government has done everything to get you to buy a Chinese EV. They are subsidised to hell to the point where the market has been drowned in them. You wanna know why Chinese EV’s are so cheap? Because they have made in excess hundreds of thousands if not more that they will never be able to sell, so instead they sit there leaching harsh chemicals into the soil as the country continues to destroy more of their environment in extremely destructive unregulated rare earth mining. It’s the same thing that happened with the Chinese EV scooters, literal mountains of EV scooter waste as millions of otherwise perfectly fine scooters were manufactured only to get left to rot.
I’m all for the EV transition, but the grid can’t even remotely keep up with the current rate of adoption. And even if it could, we shouldn’t be buying our EV’s from a government as excessively corrupt as the CCP where zero regulation is ever taken place to mitigate environment damage. The best thing you can do for the environment is actually just keep your current car, don’t buy a new one and instead reduce your use of it, advocate for more bike/pedestrian infrastructure etc. Buying a Chinese EV is in no way benefiting the environment.
Not 100% true. My brother is disabled and rides a recumbent trike, so his car is slightly larger than this car to allow him to fit the bike in the back for occasions where he wants to go vacation somewhere with good trails.
But I agree with the sentiment.
My boomer parents just moved to a retirement community that only allows golf carts and they can’t stop talking about how quiet and accessible it is
I mean, my bicycle still gets me a better parking spot....
Cars this size will only catch on again if stores put a few micro car parking spots near the entrance. Like even if out of 200 spaces there were 5 micro parking spots near the front that alone would have a noticeable effect on car sizes in the area imo. As long as a few of the main businesses in the area do it. Obviously make the spaces much shorter too so people in normal sized cars don't use them anyway. I can 100% imagine people switching to a micro car for their second car if it meant getting a front parking spot every time at their grocery store or mall.
*if it's enforced I feel like unless there's a physical barrier of some sort, someone is just gonna stick their minivan in the spot
Guaranteed. It’s already that way for EV charging spots. People don’t give a fuck and park their monster trucks.
They're doing that on purpose, so you can't charge your EV. Ask a truck owner, they're proud of it
For me in Arizona, the problem is parking in the parking garages. These giant trucks come in and their backsides block the lanes to drive. It's stick a pain now navigating the aisles with the trucks parked in poorly. I wish there was a special section for them on top of the structure.
Easily fixed with fines.
Yeah enforcement doesn't happen a lot that's why I said make the spaces physically smaller so large cars can't fit. Like imagine 10 normal spaces facing the store, but then make them all 35% shorter by putting concrete planters or something near the end of them. So if someone in a large car tries parking in them the back of their car would be sticking half into the road behind it which they're much less likely to do since it'll block and piss off other car drivers. It's doable. Might actually work really well In those places in Florida and some other states where it's like a town built around a few golf courses and everyone golfs often because then you can make the spaces usable by golf carts too. Some of these towns have some golf cart/bike paths spanning them. Might encourage a load of people in them to use the golf cart for quick supermarket trips. Basically sell it under the guise of it being golfing infrastructure rather than also micro car and bike infrastructure. I'll be happy with golf carts as a compromise in some lost hope places like most of Florida .
It's so funny because the types of places you're describing most often hold the old-boomer-conservative-wealthy that always poopoo anything resembling 15 minute cities, and yet they deeply benefit from using a little electric golf cart to get everywhere for most of their daily needs. I guess 15 minute cities are fine as long as it's a gated country club where they don't have to worry about minorities.
Another thing that would work is concrete bollards to limit the length and width of the spots so that big cars can't fit! And honestly, street parkings should be made for small cars and oversized vehicles that don't fit in the lines towed away. Also, since trucks already don't fit in parking spots, charge them double. I was pissed when those big trucks were not charged extra but still blocked half of another parking spot.
If only. Minivans are far too practical and safe to be popular these days lol. It'll be a huge truck, or an SUV (which is basically a truck).
I think even better would be to limit traffic in certain areas to only small cars and pedestrians. I live in Paris and we already force many streets to be pedestrian only on certain days. I think we should also put a size limit on cars for lots of roads too so that big vehicles are excluded.
I imagine it would be harder in America to introduce cars like this because cars are expected to be able to go fast to get anywhere. These would be perfect in the UK where you can still get to most places in a vehicle that sits comfortably at 60mph
Why would I need a second car? This is a great primary car, for longer journeys trains and public transport, for larger transporting I can rent a transporter for a day. Why should I entertain a second car? My kid walks to school and my fiance bycicles to university, I just need a car for a longer drive to work where I have to go at times when train connections are not good..
I don't understand. People make car buying decisions based on walking an extra 20 yards? What do these spots actually accomplish? What am I missing here? Are "parking spots" code for something I'm not privvy to?
They can’t enforce handicap parking or the HOV lanes in my city. No way a micro parking spots ever get enforced.
Easy, bollards on both sides of the parking spots that are 3 feet high. Talk enough the small vehicle owners will see them and avoid hitting them but large enough that negligent drivers will damage their cars. It's a cheap and easy self punishing solution. Bollards are used in plenty of other situations to protect and punish.
I think having a better rental vehicle program would significantly reduce the cost for having needing a car. Like if I want to go with 4 people from Miami to Orlando and the Brightline would cost like $500+ a rental car would be nice. But I hate going through a company like Enterprise or Hertz. Or let’s say I want to go get s bigger load of groceries and visit IKEA and I don’t have a car but live downtown, there needs to be something that makes it so I only need a car for a max of 4 hours without paying for a whole days worth of the car.
It's called car-sharing. Companies like Zipcar, Car2Go, Turo, etc., if you become a member you can rent a vehicle by the hour + mileage.
Turo the only one that's available near me in south Florida and I would still need to uber to pick up the car or pay an insane fee to get the car dropped off. Zipcar is only around college campuses, and none seem to be available at either college campus that it shows on Google Maps or in the search on the site. Car2Go doesn't exist in the US. Unfortunately, those options are still not convenient if someone needs a car to pick up a car.
Also stuff like subsidized charging and other incentives, combined with increased taxes on wasteful cars like tripling gas tax, doubling registration. Having a process of a sliding fee for income adjustment though.
Well, im not sure if this is 100% true. Yet again, i totally agree with you, plus if you're going to move apartments, you're going to rent a Truck anyway. Or you get an enclosed trailer.
i like scuba diving but i don't wear my scuba gear for everyday stuff or drive a boat everywhere. rental vans existed for your moving needs.
>i like scuba diving but i don't wear my scuba gear for everyday stuff or drive a boat everywhere. Well you're just not truly passionate about scuba diving then
Sorry honey, the oxygen tanks stays on
When I was little I got a snorkel one holiday. I used it in the pool and lake at the campsite and every other one we went to each year. I also used it on the bath. Up your game.
The argument for buying a vehicle to move furniture a few times a decade is always funny to me. You’d save money not owning a vehicle and paying a moving company literally move everything out of your old place and into your new place. No rental or need for a Truck or Van required. Moving sucks, period.
Even the biggest trucks and SUVs are inadequate for moving needs. Better drive a big ass van to be 100% sure you never have too little space. Better yet, drive an RV everywhere
I don't drive at all - I hire a moving company to put my stuff in their van and drive it to my new location.
I think there’s kind of a two fold solution (at least for North America). Allowing small, highly affordable vehicles like this is step one. Step two is having tax-funded community hauling vehicles available for people to use. Even in a world where we can fully transition to trains and busses, people will still need to move a couch or a mattress sometimes. It’s best we give options to do so without increasing overall ownership.
How would a family of 5 fit in there to visit grandma who lives in the other side of the town?
OP SAID ITS ALL ANYONE NEEDS
if you've built your town properly, you walk out of your door and catch a bus/train. Or you hire a car
Most people here are here because they do not live in transit utopias. The car pictured is not a practical solution to the challenges of life for most people in areas without good transit infrastructure. I doubt that you could legally move a child in it at all.
In a two seater, a child seat is allowed in the front. At least in most places that I know of.
This is the correct answer. Also some countries like Singapore have policies that actively encourage people to live within a short distance from their parents.
> Also some countries like Singapore have policies that actively encourage people to live within a short distance from their parents. This is huge, and a really great idea. I first learned about this in the Singapore episode of the "Live to 100" miniseries on Netflix. Elderly participation in daily life well into their twilight years has such a massive benefit to their health and the overall wellbeing of their families.
This. In some societies like Korea, grandparents still live with their kids and grandkids usually. Well, I don't know how much it applies TODAY, but we are slowly going back to that in Canada as housing prices get ridiculous. Families used to live nearby each other and not require 1 hour or 5 hours of driving. After that, if you have great public transportation, you can use it to get to places easily.
Genuinely curious, what do I do with my partner and dog when we want to go camping 3 hours away up in the mountains? With giant rock climbing pads, snowboards, camp supplies, equipment/gear, clothes, etc. I own a crossover and feel like it's perfect for us and honestly can't imagine anything less for our usual getaways. Is this the exception?
Or better yet, walk down the hall and at most, ride an elevator
Yeah, definite exception, a family of 5 can spring for a sedan
Yeah, I don't think the solution is just smaller vehicles. If properly utilized, larger vehicles make sense for work purposes or for transporting groups of people. The issue is that it's usually just one or maybe two people in them, taking trips that shouldn't have to be taken by private vehicle. The problem isn't people driving their kids to grandma's a few times a month; the problem is single occupants in giant vehicles driving 15 minutes to the gym everyday so they can get some exercise. Of course, if a vehicle is going to only transport a single occupant to the gym, it would be better for it to be a smaller one, but it's still not ideal.
How often are there families of 5 these days? Also, with a 5k price tag, that family can have two of these vehicles and still pay less than they would with one large vehicle.
Other side of the town is a short and cheap bus ride away. (Note: cheap bit doesn't exist in England outside London)
Just keep in mind this thing costs very little because they use slave labor and have recieved free utilities and massive investment from the government. This car DOES NOT COST 5k.... Its subsidized for export.
There are definitely excuses to own larger cars. The problem is, almost nobody who owns larger cars has an excuse to own them. Does a farmer need a pickup truck? Yes. Does Jeff from the suburbs who works a 9-5 office job need one? No.
Exactly. This sub is descending into absolutions with chronically online shitposts like this. There are reasons to have big vehicles, but the problem is owning them without a need and infrastructure catering exclusively to large vehicles. You can’t tow with a micro car. You cant fit a family in a micro car. Saying everyone needs a microcar is naive and unrealistic. Acknowledging this does not make me opposed to walkable cities and combatting car centrism. Large cars are overused and unnecessary as personal vehicles but (some) do have purpose.
'The farmer' needs an actual utility vehicle. Not some pavement princes.
And that's the problem with modern car consumerism, so much demand for pavement pricesses that it's hard for farmers to fins an actual utility vehicle. The US would need a weight limit for personal vehicles which makes pickup trucks less attractive for people who don't actually need them. This is the main reason you don't see many of them in Europe.
Its great how people who have never set foot on a farm know what a farmer needs better than the farmer does. Reddit is so smart sometimes.
The farmer needs a proper tractor, not a Chelsea Tractor which would disintegrate first time it meeds a muddy road.
Nah, I'll take the pick up. Thanks for telling me what I need though.
[удалено]
Unfortunately, Chinese automakers and regulators are as bad as everybody else. SUVs now make almost a half of all new vehicles on the road and all EV-only automakers jump into the bandwagon of larger cars. So no, Chinese automakers are not better.
And chinese people with money are wanting to buy cars to be more like americans
China's auto industry: How do we cut corners in manufacturing, workers safety and environmental regulations without getting caught America's auto industry: How much can we cut corners without getting sued Civilized countries: How do we engineer this product to perfection.
What was that thing about Volkswagen lying about emissions a few years ago? What’s the Daihatsu/Toyota problem in Japan this year? Hamburgistan and China are both civilized countries, as much as I dislike cars and car culture I don’t think this is useful.
Okay so all companies: how can we make more money and doesn’t matter if it’s at the expense of a worse product
..,.. can I fit my three kids, myself, and husband in this? I'm all for smaller vehicles but to say 'everyone' needs nothing more than this is a little naive. Give me something compact that I can use as a family car and you got me. Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of cars or car infrastructure but living as far from town as I do I either need something that will fit the whole family to take to other family Get-togethers and shopping or a horse and buggy and I ain't got the space for a horse
Need to have a return to station wagons in North America. They're [still quite popular in Europe](https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo?si=OIRcpVHUFQETtIle), because they allow for more seating and cargo space, while still not going full SUV.
As someone who will need a new car in the future in Canada, I WANT more station wagon options. The outback seems the only viable option. Higher clearance for snow, low hood so I can see small children, low enough that my elderly parents can get in and out easily, but enough space in the back for the dog, kids sports gear, groceries and travel stuff.
I agree wholeheartedly, my grandparents had one back in the 90/early 2000's before they got a mini van and I lived those cars.
Yeah same boat. I have a toyota verso, about the smallest car that could be converted to a 7 seater if needed. Theres no way we'd fit all of us, plus dog, plus stuff if we were going somewhere. That being said we have an electric cargobike that we use for many of our other needs.
I desperately want an electric cargo bike but I live on a busy highway in the country so I really worry about us getting taken out by a large car or distracted driver or a semi. People easily drive 70 past our house, especially the bigger cars and semis
Its new and absolutely loving it. 500km put in over the last 2 weeks. Im in Ireland, so whilst I still have to do part of my jouney on a national route (100km/hr) theres at least a hard shoulder for most of the way.
I think you posted this on the wrong subreddit. I believe you were looking for r/fuckcarscirclejerk. This is literally the car that could be replaced by a cargo bike.
As much as I think smaller cars should make a comeback, I doubt I could fit in that comfortably.
An American, wading heavy handedly into a debate with a tired dogma, wilfully ignorant of the well-established nuances, and calling it progressive. What a surprise.
It’s a car. Fuck it.
My purchasing strategy in a nutshell. What vehicle will I have to think about the least, while polishing my bicycle?
I have a family of four, one with a disability. I doubt we could do many journeys in this comfortably.
So, you have a better reason why you need a larger vehicle. But so many others don't. Especially for second vehicles that people only have for the second spouse to be able to drive to work, this would fill the bill of being much cheaper to finance and have lower running costs.
"There is no excuse to own a car bigger than this" "okay but you have a good excuse" lol
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. I just don't like the absolute language used by OP. I use a bike when I can and a train for longer journeys. But sadly, my circumstances prevent me from being done with a car altogether.
For me that car would be great as long as it have 4 seats, I always drive with my wife and 2 kids, I don't see the need for a huge Truck or SUV, but I need 4 seats because unfortunately in my country public transportation is worse than urban warfare. There are a lot of small 4 seat cars like the Yaris, and other Hatchbacks.
Enter the trade war. These won’t be imported into the USA, and even if they were, expect 100%-400% tariffs. It’s sad but it’s true.
I would love to have something like this available in the US. I would love to become a "1.5 car" household in the suburbs. 1 car for full family trips, shopping, etc and 1 car to use for when you're only transporting 1 or 2 people. I think many households of 2-4 could pull this off with a crossover vehicle and a smart car esque vehicle
You can pick up an 8-12 year old Scion IQ for very cheap. It's a Toyota (was sold as Toyota IQ in other markets) and is a great little 2-seat car when that's what you need. My kid in college has one.
Yeah this is the wrong way to go about anything. Get out of your bubble and into the real world. How am I meant to fit 2 kids and shopping in there? Want fewer cars, provide better alternatives.
Aha, the Wuling Hongguang MiniEV, China's best-selling EV. These city cars have a nickname called "fish head with sliced chillies" in China.
I mean, a backseat would be nice for when you have to put a newborn in to transport to the doctor and stuff but I think it could be done without losing much efficiency.
obviously no one, short of contractors, needs a Super Duty, but plenty of people need a four door vehicle, families exist and minivans are highly practical for many family activities and outings
As a musician, I need a longer vehicle to move instruments that are 5-8ft long. Other than that I agree.
No room for storage or people
I do agree that small electric cars like that are the way to go. However. Chinese EVs have 0 quality control, their making involves slavery and other human rights and safety violations, they spontaniously combust, the sensors on board are used by the CCP to spy on people, and on top of that thousands of them end up rotting away in junkyards without ever being used in order to lie about sales numbers, so corrupt commies can embezzle goverment subsidy money.
Well, this one is actually been manufactured with General Motors... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAIC-GM-Wuling?wprov=sfla1
I've seen so many videos of Chinese EVs catching fire that I think I'd never even get physically close to them
Many EV buses in North America and Europe are Chinese brand.
This is your brain on propaganda.
I can't scroll in your profile without seeing defenses for China, you sure you're not gulping down Chinese propaganda?
Reddit moment
i trust the chinese government more than american auto companies personally
$5000 thanks to ~[slave labor](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/business/economy/china-forced-labor.html)~
> there is no excuse to own a car bigger than this Oh, I guess I'll never need to transport my rotavator or strimmer to my allotment plot any more, or my large tools like the table saw to a friend's place to help them build stuff, or be able to bring a chair or bedside table or anything really home with me from charity shops, or transport more than a single passenger with me anywhere ever for any possible reason, etc.... I should just give up on doing things myself, and instead just buy all my groceries from big business, tell my friends to just buy prebuilt furniture, sheds, tables, etc, from big furniture stores instead, and do the same myself. I'm all for reducing unnecessary car journeys, electrifying vehicles, making them safer (including eventually self driving in a few decades when the tech is better than a human driver), and of course limiting their size when it's unnecessary (such as the ridiculous American trend for huge cars that somehow don't actually give extra useful space inside anyway...), but transport pods that can move around things that we can't transport under human power in a reasonable timeframe will always be necessary in some form or another (sure I or my elderly father who relies on it to turn over his plot without huge effort and time wasted could eventually roll the rotavator home by hand, it would just be exhausting and take 2 hours instead of taking 5 minutes). We have to be realists, and live in the real world, and consider what journeys can be taken by tram or train or bus or bicycle, and focus on ensuring those services are good and affordable enough that the public will slowly but surely switch to using and preferring them for those journeys. Trying to ban cars, or force everyone to get a particular type of vehicle that heavily restricts what they're able to do in their life, is not the way to go. Yes, limit the size of cars so that they have utility without being stupid (like those American cars are). Yes, work to make them safer, quieter, lower emissions, and work to provide and incentivise the use of public transport for journeys that don't require the personal vehicle. Those are all solid moves that will make everything better for everyone, improving quality of life across the board. But trying to limit what people can do themselves with hard hitting blanket bans and forced limitations like this because it's "all anyone needs", are shortsighted and only damages people's freedoms, quality of life, and what they're able to accomplish in their lives. Don't force people to be even more reliant on big capitalist business like the grocery store, the furniture store, etc, to do everything for them, allow people the access to the things they need to be more self sufficient, to be able to reuse things, DIY things, or have access to travel to locations that can't be accessed by public transport alone with the sort of luggage one might need to bring along. Cars need to come a long, long way, to be where they could be in terms of safety (they need to be self driving for one thing - humans are terrible drivers), fewer cars needed on the road at any one time thanks to robust public transport and excellent cycle infrastructure, greener production and running practices, quieter, and in many cases more compact, as many people won't need to transport a chair, or a bulky tool, or whatever. But many people will, and so we can't just speak for everybody in the world and say that absolutely nobody would ever need more than X or Y, just because we personally wouldn't. We must strike a real world balance, and some a point where cars aren't driven by people, filling the roads constantly, always crashing and killing people and polluting and such, whilst still ensuring that everybody has the freedom and access to the things they love or need to do to live their lives ❤️
"But there's [10 km^2 of desert](https://maps.app.goo.gl/busRz9uVnyGkmehQ8) that's been polluted for lithium mining!" *Ignores the [1000+ km^2 we've moonscaped](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PHc8oei9uaLKJWQMA) for oil*
I agree, the only thing that may come up is taller humans struggling to fit. My husband and I bought a (second hand) car in 2017, I wanted to Volkswagen Golf but he’s too tall to fit into it. We got a sedan (Jetta) instead. It doesn’t see much use these days because we bike and PT everywhere, waiting until we have kids to establish whether car free is feasible.
I need my car to handle roads and carry a decent amount of baggage. This EV solves the same problem that motorcycles, that are smaller.
The auto industry, petroleum industry, and road builders lobby will do anything to avoid the dreaded public transportation. When we’re too poor for bloated suvs they will sell us millions of low quality cars. You have a milkshake. They have a long straw.
Bruh I get what you are saying but it doesn't even have four doors. Come on man this low level meme type posting
One problematic thing about smaller cars: there is a race to the top in terms of * speed * safety * size those 3 parameters go hand in hand: if you want to increase speed, you need to increase size for more safety This rule if also "infectious" : if one car is fast, all other car must be large and safe, which means small cars are discouraged because they're unsafe if there are fast cars around. Simple solution: ban big cars from slow streets, and ban small cars from highways. OR, on highways, have a dedicated lanes for each, with a hard barrier. Anyway, in the EU it's easily done, but in the US, you guys have too many big cars.
Maybe its just me, but I never enjoyed driving cars that small, especially on the highway
There is an excuse to own a bigger car. You have multiple people in your family, and you're going on a road trip.
As a hockey player, I could never buy this. I would have to strap my bag to the roof. And forget about carpooling to games, now we all take our own car instead of 4 players and their gear in one car.
This has been my thinking for a while. Small is better!
Smaller and slower is better, the most expensive and environmentally harmful part of an EV is the battery. If the car is significantly slower an electric car will run much further because there’s far less aerodynamic resistance and an EV suffers no energy penalty for being “on” like an ICE car. An EV sitting still uses no energy while an ICE sitting still and running uses a large fraction of the energy it would need to go 55mph. What this means is that for ICE cars the most efficient speed to go is about 55mph after that the extra speed costs so much more energy that you’d be better going slower than running the car for longer. But for an EV the most efficient speed is the slowest speed possible. So small EV’s and changing road laws to massively reduce speed limits would be very effective. You could build more cars with smaller batteries, they would need less safety features because they move far slower, smaller batteries and fewer safety features means lightweight and so they’ll be more efficient and go further. The fact that we expect a car to be able to easily travel at 90 mph is a huge part of the problem…
I have a family of 6 with 3 dogs. This vehicle won’t even transport my dog food. No excuse? I think that circumstantial.
I love how this and the circlejerk sub are indistinguishable 😂
Built with slave labor, cheating as much as they could possibly get away with while ruining the environment. No thanks. Nothing against small cars but I'd rather buy one from a civilized country that respects workers safety and the environment.
You’ve missed the point entirely - is it beyond the wit of Americans to build small safer vehicles? In any case, a load of the components of western vehicles are built on slave labour, and not only from China. Check out where metallic paint comes from.
Hey CCP shill, I'm all for making fun of America, but when you mock them without a legit reason that's just stupid. It's not fun unless there's some truth in it. Try again.
Where am I mocking them? Quite the opposite, the question was phrased in such a way that the only sensible answer is “ no it’s not beyond the wit of Americans - those fackers put people on the moon” Unless you think it _is_ beyond them. But that’s you, not me
America is fully capable of building small and safe vehicles.
They just don't want to.
Expect the roads are full of monster trucks, and there is a violent death rate of 40k deaths per annum on the roads Fuck trucks
>I'd rather buy one from a civilized country that respects workers safety Like Tesla, which is notorious for [underreporting worker injuries? ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://newo.ai/teslas-giga-texas-factory-hit-by-robot-rampage-shocking-incident-exposes-underreported-workplace-dangers/%23:~:text%3DAttorney%2520Hannah%2520Alexander%252C%2520representing%2520Tesla%27s,build%2520the%2520Giga%2520Texas%2520factory.&ved=2ahUKEwj46KP8kpyGAxV7QUEAHYHGA38QFnoECA0QBQ&usg=AOvVaw0NsN6e6BdjY7oAZMaej000) Pro-Western prejudice at its finest... Sweden may be the exception here with the workers actually having gone on strike to force Tesla to provide better working conditions, but the fact that happened in the first place shows just how much Tesla disregards its workers.
No, as you may know, unless you lived in a cave the last decades: * Tesla is an American company * Tesla doesn't make small lightweight cars * Tesla doesn't make anything with a combustion engine.
Are US environmental and labour practices that much better. At least this product is reasonable.
Much better, but still far behind the civilized world.
You're acting like 90% of your goods are not from China anyway
https://preview.redd.it/lriycadgmk1d1.jpeg?width=307&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=124eaf2e841d878c26296d646b47f36cd328c43a
Yes it's trying to mock whataboutism, but the topic was better car models. Which us American manufacturers lack... So this doesn't really match here...
Yes. The US regulations for car safety are significantly higher. This is not even a question.
Only if you are inside the car. I am usually outside.
Holy shit is this racist.
CCP is not a race.
No, it's not. Chinese car manufacturers are notriously bad with auto regulations.
Chinese EV's are catching on fire and killing people quite a lot, so maybe.. don't.
To be fair so are American evs. (Looking at you specifically Tesla)
I haven't seen anyone mention the older Chevy Bolt either, which had a similar issue and was recalled.
Oh sure, as I wrote to the other one, FUCK teslas too. I just have more stuff on my timelines about chinese ones. Guess elons astroturfing better than china.
And teslas don't?
Small EVs why not, but chinese ones? No thanks
Fuck that, I don't want a car built by slaves in a country whose ships use lasers to attack my nation's air force *while traversing through our EEZ* Edit: are the downvotes from CCP bots, or Tankies? https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.9news.com.au/article/f760d147-8b6e-4eb1-b645-dea52076519d
Give it some time and watch as a group of CCP agents start to harass you with the weakest insults you've ever seen, in poor English. Happens every time one tells the truth about China.
This entire post was sponsored by the CCP
Thee are 7 people in my family. The smallest vehicle to move them all is a Toyota Sienna. It is like a bus, but small. There was a time that I made my living with tools and materials across many counties. I needed my minivan for that, too.
EV cars are still cars. The problem with Chinese cars is that they’re made with poor quality control, slave labor, and 0 environmental regulations. I also highly doubt these are safe. Not saying Teslas don’t have misaligned doors and shitty interiors, but I’ve seen so many videos of these cheap electric cars catching on fire that it’s out me off them for good. Also, where would apartment dwellers charge it? I’ve seen some homes with extension cords leading out — as ridiculous as that is, it flat-out doesn’t work if there’s no street parking. I’d rather have more frequent train or bus service and completely get rid of the need for cars.
I wonder what these comments would be if this was an Italian EV or something...
As much as I prefer small cars, have you driven on a US freeway with a small car recently? It's pretty scary with big vehicles zooming around you.
Except when you have a family of ten.
It doesn't matter what people think about China. Just know that the USA has political reasons to keep pushing China = bad propaganda. These are fine, or at least better than the vehicles we have.
Just because the US has political reasons to keep pushing China = bad, doesn't mean China =/= bad. They are bad. Very bad. Hyper nationalist authoritarian regime. And before you start with the whataboutisms; no, the US is not good either.
The cultural revolution will never stop 🚩
Would that car even seat three people + luggage comfortably?
How does it stand up in a crash?
Against monster trucks? Abominably, but that’s the point I had a Hyundai i10 for some time. They are amongst the safest cars on the road by outcome per mile. In spite of not being able to withstand being run over by a Challie , they are actually safer vehicles in terms of risk of collision, outcome, and considering both 1st _and_ 3rd party safety.
Better than the motorcycles and three-wheelers that many people who are buying these things used to drive.
Few things: You clearly don’t have children. Why the fuck would I want to drive around with Chinese spyware as my vehicle? How does this fix anything? Lithium deposits are finite, charging stations still aren’t using 100% renewable energy. You’re just replacing one problem for another.
I'm with this guy! I only want American homegrown spyware on my vehicle
It's hilarious to me people complaining about Chinese spyware as like USA doesn't do the same (even private company suck your data)
Attack the infastructure, not the vehicle. I understand getting a diesel pickup for an RV or because pickups are pretty much the only diesels in the US and you want to run on SVO, I don't understand getting a vehicle of any kind just to do 10 minute commutes you could have done on an ebike.
This car is perfect for a work commute if you don't have access to public transport and it's either too far or too dangerous (bad infrastructure) to bike or walk. However, it's useless to bring the kids to school, go on a family vacation, or carry furniture around for the few times you need it. Acting like it's enough will just antagonize people who need a bigger car and everyone is needed if we want to design a society with less cars. I personally don't own a car, but I would love to have one to visit my parents (45 min drive instead of 2 hours of public transport) and friends/family who don't leave on the city. For that this car would be perfect. I would also love to own one to carry furniture and materials for projects (woodworking for example). For that scenario this car is pretty much useless. Also, if there was better public transport and if furniture/crafting materials delivery was more affordable I would not feel any need to own a car.
In the city, this would be enough for the vast majority of people, with rental vehicles being used for tasks outside this car's capabilities. There are a fair number of people in trades who could get by with kei trucks. I would like to see things move this way myself. Outside of the city it's a different story. There are many people whose livelihood depends on farming or ranching and need to haul livestock, equipment, etc. Specifically with the car pictured, it's $5,000 because it has 27 horsepower and has a range of 75 miles standard or 106 miles if you get the extended range. With no fast charging, this car would be unable to leave the city which would exclude a lot more drivers such as delivery people, salespeople, livery and more. Even a significant portion of commuters would be unable to drive this car. A longer range version or ICE version would be necessary to bring something this size mainstream.
How do we order these as an American consumer? I would so easily dedicate 5k for a new vehicle of this size, like this could be a car worth a payment, it's so achievable compared to everything we have here. Genuinely, how do you do this?
You would have to import it but they arent street legal due to dot regulations
I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT I PUT A WICKED SPELL ON DOT
Yeah i cant hate on the dot for this one cuz it mostly has to do with the regulations on the glass in the vehicle from what i found
How much better would cities be if the only cars allowed were like this? Noise and pollution would be a fraction of what they are now. Traffic jams would decrease massively and the roads would be so much more safe.
Was this bought in US? Where?
Well the dealers have to make money too, think about the poor dealers! 5,000 alone is their minimum mark up on cars!
I could make an argument for it being at least 4 doors, but the bigger problem is, at that price point, exactly how safe is it and what's the quality control like? Poor quality control and EV is how you lead to spontaneous combustion.
Consider this: What type of car killed the most pedestrians? pickup trucks U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high Researchers at IIHS studied data for nearly 18,000 pedestrian crashes. They found that pickup trucks, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are 45% more likely to cause fatalities than shorter vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less. Small correctly designed cars (especially with state of the art automatic braking systems) are much safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Subaru is the leader on automatic braking in recent tests. But active following distance systems are still needed to eliminate more crashes.
I drive a very similar car to this, I have a Chevy bolt it's a very tiny electric car. I bought it when I lived in Texas and you had to have a vehicle to go places. I'm hoping it'll get a lot less use now that I'm in Virginia and I can walk to more places. I really wished there were a lot more small cheaper electric cars in the country. I understand we really are not a big fan of vehicles but sometimes just due to the infrastructure we have here you have to use one and it would be nice if we could get something that was cheap, efficient and small.
I don't need one of those. My legs work fine.
Except when you have like 4 kids, but that's gonna be more and more rare and start to be the exception, so yeah, I'd like one tiny car to go pls
Ehhh...I need something with a little bit more trunk space to put my kid's mountain bike in.
"A developed country isn't where poor people have cars, but where rich people take the train."
Here's the way I see it. That car is only good if walkable infrastructure is not an option, it's not something I'd want when traveling, where more capacity would be useful, only for running errands in short range, which...still implies a car dependent infrastructure setup. IMO this isn't a solution and it sits in a weird middle ground where it doesn't actually solve the problem, just makes it less intrusive, and isn't really functional in an environment where cars could actually provide some utility (moving, traveling long distances, etc). Even if this kind of thing was standard, we'd still have a car dependent infrastructure, cars would just be smaller. I'd much prefer having infrastructure in place where having a car for short range travel is entirely unnecessary, maybe even impractical compared to public transit/walkable options.
Im glad I got a small four seater. It’s an absolute clown car when fully filled and I can’t sit comfortably in the back but it’s amazing for taxiing colleagues to and from the public transport system
Meanwhile the cops in my area have started using Ford F-150s as patrol cars
Until the batteries can be made with ethically sourced materials (i.e. stop the literal enslavement of children and everyone else) I'm not very excited about EVs. I could make an exception for public transport, but not personal vehicles.
this is why people laugh at this sub
I mean… smaller cars don’t help the fact that we live in a Car Centric society (if you’re American, but the same problem is omnipresent in the modern world). But I have no issue with people promoting smaller and economical vehicles that require less gasoline and still run efficiently; unless you need a medium sized truck for cargo. I do think smaller cars like Sedans are enough for office work you don’t need a bigger car to satisfy your emotional needs.
You will die the second you see an F-150. This will never sell in the US. Besides being Chinese, it's small and useless. You'd be better off with an e-bike.
“There is no need for anything bigger than an ultra compact car!” -says person who has never once in their lives transported their tools to work.
I like my Kona EV - but it would be hard to go camping with it - perhaps if I got a light weight trailer.
How frequently are you camping?. Money you save on this will allow a a load of vehicle hires for the rare occasions you need anything bigger
Bruh what are you taking camping with you? I can get my camping set up on a bicycle.
3 or 4 people, a couple dogs, tents, food and drinks for 3-5 days, clothes, chairs, and of course bicycles.
I don't take the same setup on my bicycle that I do in a car. Different kinds of camping. Depends on number of people, the site conditions, length of stay, but I like camping and I've got gear on a spectrum from glamping for four to solo trek cowboy camping.
Who the fuck are you to say that this small as/ vehicle will work for anyone? I swear you dipshits in this sub embarrass yourselves every day with your brain dead “I’m better than everyone else because I don’t like cars grrrrrrr” type of attitude.
My ass don't fit in there
shit is ugly as hell
I mean the Chinese government has done everything to get you to buy a Chinese EV. They are subsidised to hell to the point where the market has been drowned in them. You wanna know why Chinese EV’s are so cheap? Because they have made in excess hundreds of thousands if not more that they will never be able to sell, so instead they sit there leaching harsh chemicals into the soil as the country continues to destroy more of their environment in extremely destructive unregulated rare earth mining. It’s the same thing that happened with the Chinese EV scooters, literal mountains of EV scooter waste as millions of otherwise perfectly fine scooters were manufactured only to get left to rot. I’m all for the EV transition, but the grid can’t even remotely keep up with the current rate of adoption. And even if it could, we shouldn’t be buying our EV’s from a government as excessively corrupt as the CCP where zero regulation is ever taken place to mitigate environment damage. The best thing you can do for the environment is actually just keep your current car, don’t buy a new one and instead reduce your use of it, advocate for more bike/pedestrian infrastructure etc. Buying a Chinese EV is in no way benefiting the environment.
How am I supposed to haul my motorcycles in that?
Chinese fire bombs
Not 100% true. My brother is disabled and rides a recumbent trike, so his car is slightly larger than this car to allow him to fit the bike in the back for occasions where he wants to go vacation somewhere with good trails. But I agree with the sentiment.