• JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    The Japanese should sell electric KEI cars. Perfect for small runabouts, just make sure the interior also holds up.

    • Enceladus
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      3 hours ago

      The KEI cars by design don’t fit all safety and environmental ratings at higher speed the consumers cars have to adhere to in North America.

      They exist as a very specific portion of the automotive market created in Japan by legal limitations that defines their profiles and capacities for taxes purposes. The fact that KEI trucks can be imported is actually a lack of extended regulations to farm equipment in the US.

      The North American automotive market has no monetary or legal incentives to sell even inspired KEI cars since they are to cheap to make a reasonable margin and no tax loophole exist to prop up the industry.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    17 hours ago

    Honestly, I live in a mostly rural area. It’s 40 miles to the biggest large town/city, I’m 15 minutes to a grocery store. I’m lucky to work from home, but before that, I worked 20 minutes away. Even something with only an 80 mile range would do what I need it to do, so long as I can charge in public. I wouldn’t like having that range, but I’d take it. IF IT DIDN’T COST AS MUCH AS A SHITTY HOUSE. Seriously, give us some cheap EVs that people can upgrade from later on and sell in the secondary market so poor folk like me can buy the equivalent of 98 Toyota Corolla.

    • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
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      3 hours ago

      I’m up in the mountains and remote too.

      Just picked up a secondhand Dacia Spring with a still-200km range for 8k €

      Perhaps the problem isn’t that you can’t get the cars, perhaps it’s that you think cars have to be big

      • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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        2 hours ago

        Nope. I happily drove a geo metro, and I longed for a smart car for year. That particular vehicle isn’t available in the US, either. But thanks for the assumption!

            • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
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              6 minutes ago

              I wasn’t clear either, sorry. Pretty sure Dacia is part of the Stellantis group of greedy cunts and therefore Dacia would be very much available if there was a market for it where you are

              But no, tiny-penis trucks abound!

  • HeroHelck@lemm.ee
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    18 hours ago

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t part of the problem that the auto industry wants to chase the higher profit margins on larger vehicles? As long as the perverse incentive is present it’s going to be an uphill battle to get them to produce more compact, cost effective cars.

    • cmhe@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      An argument I heard was that larger and luxurious cars finance the technology development necessary to produce more economic cars. Which I guess is true to some extend.

      But there are also many other aspects that favor large and expensive cars over cheap and economic. We still should demand tighter regulations on cars.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOPM
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      18 hours ago

      That’s exactly the problem — in the US there’s an extra tariff on larger vehicles, so the manufacturers face less competition and therefore earn greater profits if they only make big vehicles.

    • gidostro@lemmy.cafe
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      16 hours ago

      Omg warn a person they might actually orgasm looking at that car! God that is sexy. Of course, it’s very expensive and won’t ever be “affordable,” but I would buy one immediately if I could justify that cash on a vehicle.

      I’m a bit faint now.

        • gidostro@lemmy.cafe
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          2 hours ago

          Right. $50kUSD for what is essentially a go cart with no airbags and a manual retractable fabric roof and paper clip roll bar.

          Realistically, the original Mazda Miata is a safer car with more features. It would fit perfectly into my mid-life crisis by sitting in my apartment carport collecting dust because I can’t afford the insurance on this gorgeous death trap.

          But… let’s touch it again with our eyes:

        • gidostro@lemmy.cafe
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          11 hours ago

          I know right? I think I would cry if I got in it. It’s a masterpiece.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Smaller cars need a good balance of range and charging speed. It’s fine if the car only goes 150 miles to the charge if it can recharge to full in 20 minutes.

    Past compact EVs have gone around 80 to 100 and only come with slow charging. That’s not going to cut it anymore.