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A lot of people in Japan drive "kei cars". These are very compact, have tiny engines and are very simple and cheap. (Not to mention the registration incentives)
by bouncycastle 5y ago
A lot of people in Japan drive "kei cars". These are very compact, have tiny engines and are very simple and cheap. (Not to mention the registration incentives). Until electric cars become simple and cheap, they won't be able to compete with "kei cars".
- antattack 5y agoNumber one selling EV in China is a 'kei car': https://insideevs.com/news/525542/china-wuling-hongguang-sales-july2021/ https://insideevs.com/news/525542/china-wuling-hongguang-sal...
- marto1 5y agoNot to mention bicycle usage, walking, etc. is quite widespread in urban environments.
- baybal2 5y agoIn a lot parts of the world, you cannot sell anything bigger, or more expensive than a Japanese kei car. Most of South Asia, and Africa drives Suzuki Altos, and Suzuki SX4s are considered there as big cars. It's definitely, definitely possible to make small, cheap cars on batteries. In fact, easier than bigger ones as power to weight, and driving range scale non-linearly with the car size. Big, heavy cars pay big premiums for not being able to use stamped parts in suspension for example. Small cars use stamped parts for almost everything. Heavier cars almost invariably have to use more sophisticated suspension designs, with more parts to provide an equal level of comfort to lighter cars of the same class. The amount of energy you lose in rolling resistance also varies non-linearly. You often can get an increase in driving efficiency if you have softer tires when you drive on less than idea roads. Etc, etc, etc
- vagrantJin 5y ago> Most of South Asia, and Africa drives Suzuki Altos, and Suzuki SX4s are considered there as big cars. I saw an F150 once. The thing was a monstrosity that took a lane and a half on a suburban road. Why is a car that big?
- extraAccount 5y agoIt makes sense in the US, where space is cheaper and bigger and you have to drive everywhere, but not anywhere else. I saw a US car with the embassy flag in the streets of Malta. The car was the size of the road, the driver was having a lot of trouble making simple turns in the "narrow" streets and gave up trying to do a 3-point turn. Probably could never find street parking for it, has to be a garage. I never saw an American-made car for American use before and I was amazed at how huge it was. You do see a local limo once in a while, but their drivers are usually more savvy as to where they can go with it.
- MisterTea 5y ago> Why is a car that big? Because it's a light truck. Useful for towing and moving material. Unfortunately used by many as a commuting vehicle.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoThey're also 15% bigger than they were 20 years ago for no apparent reason.
- Cipater 5y ago>Most of South Asia, and Africa drives Suzuki Altos, and Suzuki SX4s are considered there as big cars. This is quite untrue about Africa. I doubt whether you've been to any country in Africa if you think that a Suzuki SX4 is considered a big car there. You'd get mocked for driving a "baby car" if you have an Alto.
- dharmab 5y agoHow does the Mitsubishi i-MIEV compare in price to an ICR kei car?
- bouncycastle 5y agoI'm not sure if i-MIEV are produced anymore, but a new Leaf is about 3.3m yen (30K USD), compared to a kei at around 1.7m (15.5k USD)
- numpad0 5y agoLooks like i-MIEV was discontinued just this March. 10kWh and 16kWh models existed, base model was 2.27m($20k) at that point, launch price was 4.6m($45k) in 2010.
- warning26 5y agoKei cars seem like an ideal candidate for electrification though; they don't need to have high top speeds and are also significantly more lightweight than regular-sized cars.
- rootsudo 5y agoNo they are small - the battery will increase weight and they may not be able to do much to put in a motor and battery. Most kei cars are FWD and have very compact engine/transmissions - like I would say at max 2 milk crates side by side. 3 cylinder engines are common.
- bouncycastle 5y agoYeah, they are small, but seem to fit perfectly on Japanese narrow roads and small garages. For a lot of people in JP, it's the only option because of the size, a larger car would simply not fit in their driveway / garage.
- rjsw 5y agoThere are European electric cars similar to Kei cars. Smart EQ, Renault Twingo, the Citroën Ami is smaller still.
- gregoriol 5y agoWhile the Smart and Renault examples are regular cars but small (Mini and BMW i3 are about the same category), the Citroën Ami is a bit different: it can be driven without a licence, could work for teenagers for example, and some other specialised brands exist for those tiny/simple/quiet cars like Aixam (https://www.aixam.com/en/e-aixam-range https://www.aixam.com/en/e-aixam-range). Renault also had the Twizy in that category.
- numpad0 5y agoSmart or Twingo don’t qualify as Kei cars FWIW. Ami might?
- TazeTSchnitzel 5y agoI've previously heard of a cheap Chinese electric car that seems very kei car-esque to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ytqr8T05OU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ytqr8T05OU As the video says, the car can be so cheap in part because of many safety features it lacks. I assume therefore that such a car would have to be more expensive in the Japanese market. But the space seems perfect for electric vehicles.
- natch 5y agoAgree with you but sooner or later people are going to have to account for the real costs. “Cheap” doesn’t account for the hidden cost to the environment. Small engines, counterintuitively, generally pollute much more per mile than larger engines.