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These might work in a regulatory black hole in China, but they won't anywhere in the West. Smart has had a small electric car for sale for nearly a decade and

by zozin 6y ago

These might work in a regulatory black hole in China, but they won't anywhere in the West. Smart has had a small electric car for sale for nearly a decade and you never see them around. Maybe when the alternative is a scooter an electric golf cart is a step-up, but the electric scooter market isn't exactly throthy in the West. Electric cars aren't that popular because the range is still mediocre for entry level ($25-$30K) cars, the charging rate is simply too much of a stepdown vs. topping up on gas, and there's no good crossover/small SUV offering.

robjan 6y ago
That's a very US centric view. These are also popular in other countries, such as the Netherlands: https://expatinfoholland.nl/help-guides/transport-mobility/dutch-mini-micro-moped-cars/ https://expatinfoholland.nl/help-guides/transport-mobility/d...
- tdeck 6y ago
  Another example from France: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572
ulfw 6y ago
So not true. The Ami from Citroen is going to be quite the thing in Europe: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/citroen/ami https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/citroen/ami Review from UK perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEKtOGmpVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEKtOGmpVI
- jgilias 6y ago
  The only viable place for something like Ami is car sharing in my opinion. The thing is, car manufacturers have been doing this since long before Tesla. They make something that screams 'look, I'm a weird thing that resembles a car, because I'm electric'. And the general population just wouldn't buy them. And then Tesla came along and showed that you can actually make a car that is electric and that people would want to own. In my opinion the market really has spoken. And what it says is loud and clear: "We want electric cars that look like cars and can be used accordingly." I mean, if there was a huge market for small, slow, weird looking things on four wheels, there's no reason why ICE power-train driven devices couldn't have filled that niche a long time ago.
  - eloisant 6y ago
    In Europe the Smart for 2 managed to fill a nice niche despite being as expensive as a regular, 5 people car. The AMI is much cheaper and can be driven by teenagers at 14, so I suspect it can really find its place between the regular car and the electric bike for city. Typically this can be the 2nd car for a family, instead of having the family car + Twingo, you can get this one which is cheaper, easier to park and can be used by your teenager. But yeah, Americans tend to associate their personality with their cars and drive a car as big as their garage can accomodate so it's probably not for them.
    - jgilias 6y ago
      I'm not American, so can't speak for them. Pretty much all kids in my relatively small town have scooters. The girls have Vespas or some Vespa lookalikes, whereas the guys do wheelies on theirs. Some seem to like a Mad-Max style where they get an old scooter, and strip it almost naked, some have nifty ones that look very sports-bike like. Bigger kids have 125cc motorbikes. Some look like dirt-bikes, some look like sports-bikes. You could say that Ami would resist the elements better. But it doesn't seem like the kids mind rain much, or that Ami was particularly well suited for winter months. If I was 15, you'd see me dead in one of them Amis. I'd take a 'naked' scooter I can do wheelies on any day. This seems to be a general problem with these small EVs, people always believe there's someone else that will surely buy them. As long as it's not them.
      - TacticalCoder 6y ago
        > If I was 15, you'd see me dead in one of them Amis. Yes, at least the Smart looks ok. But that Citroen thing is totally ugly: it reminds me of the car that the billionaire was using in one scene in Silicon Valley when leaving the restaurant, where it's actually only half a car. But Silicon Valley is satire. It's weird that a country like France so well known for its luxury brands and "savoir faire" can come up with such an ugly car. I'm not 15 and yet there's no way I'll ever use something as fugly as an Ami. A Tesla Model S or a Porsche Taycan looks good though (and also looks like something that as a higher probability to save your life in case of a frontal crash). But then... As the (french) saying goes: to everyone's bad tastes. My bad tastes are Model S and Taycan, pick yours!
- marshmallow_12 6y ago
  car magazines always exaggerate the positive qualities of their test cars. If they were objective, they wouldn't get free press cars.

by zozin 6y ago

robjan 6y ago

That's a very US centric view. These are also popular in other countries, such as the Netherlands: https://expatinfoholland.nl/help-guides/transport-mobility/dutch-mini-micro-moped-cars/ https://expatinfoholland.nl/help-guides/transport-mobility/d...

tdeck 6y ago
Another example from France: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572

ulfw 6y ago

So not true. The Ami from Citroen is going to be quite the thing in Europe: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/citroen/ami https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/citroen/ami Review from UK perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEKtOGmpVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEKtOGmpVI

jgilias 6y ago
The only viable place for something like Ami is car sharing in my opinion. The thing is, car manufacturers have been doing this since long before Tesla. They make something that screams 'look, I'm a weird thing that resembles a car, because I'm electric'. And the general population just wouldn't buy them. And then Tesla came along and showed that you can actually make a car that is electric and that people would want to own. In my opinion the market really has spoken. And what it says is loud and clear: "We want electric cars that look like cars and can be used accordingly." I mean, if there was a huge market for small, slow, weird looking things on four wheels, there's no reason why ICE power-train driven devices couldn't have filled that niche a long time ago.
- eloisant 6y ago
  In Europe the Smart for 2 managed to fill a nice niche despite being as expensive as a regular, 5 people car. The AMI is much cheaper and can be driven by teenagers at 14, so I suspect it can really find its place between the regular car and the electric bike for city. Typically this can be the 2nd car for a family, instead of having the family car + Twingo, you can get this one which is cheaper, easier to park and can be used by your teenager. But yeah, Americans tend to associate their personality with their cars and drive a car as big as their garage can accomodate so it's probably not for them.
  - jgilias 6y ago
    I'm not American, so can't speak for them. Pretty much all kids in my relatively small town have scooters. The girls have Vespas or some Vespa lookalikes, whereas the guys do wheelies on theirs. Some seem to like a Mad-Max style where they get an old scooter, and strip it almost naked, some have nifty ones that look very sports-bike like. Bigger kids have 125cc motorbikes. Some look like dirt-bikes, some look like sports-bikes. You could say that Ami would resist the elements better. But it doesn't seem like the kids mind rain much, or that Ami was particularly well suited for winter months. If I was 15, you'd see me dead in one of them Amis. I'd take a 'naked' scooter I can do wheelies on any day. This seems to be a general problem with these small EVs, people always believe there's someone else that will surely buy them. As long as it's not them.
    - TacticalCoder 6y ago
      > If I was 15, you'd see me dead in one of them Amis. Yes, at least the Smart looks ok. But that Citroen thing is totally ugly: it reminds me of the car that the billionaire was using in one scene in Silicon Valley when leaving the restaurant, where it's actually only half a car. But Silicon Valley is satire. It's weird that a country like France so well known for its luxury brands and "savoir faire" can come up with such an ugly car. I'm not 15 and yet there's no way I'll ever use something as fugly as an Ami. A Tesla Model S or a Porsche Taycan looks good though (and also looks like something that as a higher probability to save your life in case of a frontal crash). But then... As the (french) saying goes: to everyone's bad tastes. My bad tastes are Model S and Taycan, pick yours!
marshmallow_12 6y ago
car magazines always exaggerate the positive qualities of their test cars. If they were objective, they wouldn't get free press cars.