4 ms·

Wouldn't a kei car be used for shorter distances than a full-size car, and thus not need so large a battery?

bouncycastle 5y ago
For many in Japan, it's the only car option, so I assume that the distance it needs to go is the same as a full-sized car. (I often see them on inter-city expressways). They do tend to go much slower & the acceleration is awfully clunky, but their range & efficiency is amazing.
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  Chances are they don’t go far. Most people drastically overestimate how far they drive. Iirc the 95th percentile commute in America is still like 40 miles or so, trivially reachable for even the lowest quality EVs on the market. I doubt that your average Japanese car commuter travels further than your average American car commuter.
themihai 5y ago
I believe this is the biggest misconception among automakers...that people like to buy multiple cars: city cars, long range cards and ...mountain cars? In reality people like the city car to be able to do long range trips as well as that's the only car they can afford/want to buy. People don't want to buy two cars, one used 90% for everyday trips and the other 10% (i.e in holiday etc).
- lucb1e 5y ago
  I wonder if we will be able to get used to renting things when we need them only sometimes, or if indeed people will continue to want an all-purpose car which then lugs around half a ton of batteries while they run errands all year. Having a rich daddy with too many cars, it was honestly quite the realization that I could just rent a car and not buy one (or, up till that point, borrow it from dad). The year before the pandemic is when that hit me and so I did that with some friends to go to a conference. Was quite happy with the experience: luxury car for 5 days for iirc 250 euros plus petrol, divided by four people.
  - themihai 5y ago
    >> I wonder if we will be able to get used to renting things when we need them only sometimes I think there are several issues: 1. The renting process is quite involved, it's still expensive and the variety of cars is limited. Something like Uber for renting cars with heavy marketing + some city regulation might make people consider owning a city car and renting a "specialized" vehicle for long trips or just renting both the city and the long range one. 2. There is a social aspect to this issue as small cars are seen as "cheap"/worse cars and for some reasons many people seem to like big off-road trucks even if they never go off-road and even if they are over their budget. Like it or not the car you drive matters to many/most of the people just like the clothes you wear and the mobile phone you use. I believe a "simple" and single solution to fix all these ills would be to be full self driving capabilities. That way we could hail the car we want when we want it perhaps directly from automakers or from a tech company such Apple/Amazon. I guess the "pride" being driven in a big truck would decrease as well so we would see less of them on the roads.
- tolien 5y ago
  > People don't want to buy two cars I mean, shouldn’t that be obvious? There’s a bunch of fixed costs to owning a car (space to store it, registration, insurance/vehicle duty, servicing and maintenance) that vary directly with the number of cars owned (yeah, I know maintenance/insurance gets more expensive if you’re doing above-average mileage but that’s on top of a mostly fixed base) and not the number of miles you drive. I guess the Renault Zoe, with its battery rental model, is a nod to the direction the automakers really want. Instead of buying more than one car, you can buy none and rent the one you want!
numpad0 5y ago
They’re also used for deliveries and sales in urban areas. In a sense those are short distance purposes but may need some range.
fomine3 5y ago
Kei car is also often seen in highway, but less frequently than streets. Some kei car buyers buy it as a second car for family (example: husband buy Prius or Noah minivan, wife buy kei car like Tanto), so their second kei car replacement by EV kei car is possible market (though still difficult task). Some people buy kei car for the only car, it's more difficult to replace.

For many in Japan, it's the only car option, so I assume that the distance it needs to go is the same as a full-sized car. (I often see them on inter-city expressways). They do tend to go much slower & the acceleration is awfully clunky, but their range & efficiency is amazing.

ashtonkem 5y ago
Chances are they don’t go far. Most people drastically overestimate how far they drive. Iirc the 95th percentile commute in America is still like 40 miles or so, trivially reachable for even the lowest quality EVs on the market. I doubt that your average Japanese car commuter travels further than your average American car commuter.

themihai 5y ago

I believe this is the biggest misconception among automakers...that people like to buy multiple cars: city cars, long range cards and ...mountain cars? In reality people like the city car to be able to do long range trips as well as that's the only car they can afford/want to buy. People don't want to buy two cars, one used 90% for everyday trips and the other 10% (i.e in holiday etc).

lucb1e 5y ago
I wonder if we will be able to get used to renting things when we need them only sometimes, or if indeed people will continue to want an all-purpose car which then lugs around half a ton of batteries while they run errands all year. Having a rich daddy with too many cars, it was honestly quite the realization that I could just rent a car and not buy one (or, up till that point, borrow it from dad). The year before the pandemic is when that hit me and so I did that with some friends to go to a conference. Was quite happy with the experience: luxury car for 5 days for iirc 250 euros plus petrol, divided by four people.
- themihai 5y ago
  >> I wonder if we will be able to get used to renting things when we need them only sometimes I think there are several issues: 1. The renting process is quite involved, it's still expensive and the variety of cars is limited. Something like Uber for renting cars with heavy marketing + some city regulation might make people consider owning a city car and renting a "specialized" vehicle for long trips or just renting both the city and the long range one. 2. There is a social aspect to this issue as small cars are seen as "cheap"/worse cars and for some reasons many people seem to like big off-road trucks even if they never go off-road and even if they are over their budget. Like it or not the car you drive matters to many/most of the people just like the clothes you wear and the mobile phone you use. I believe a "simple" and single solution to fix all these ills would be to be full self driving capabilities. That way we could hail the car we want when we want it perhaps directly from automakers or from a tech company such Apple/Amazon. I guess the "pride" being driven in a big truck would decrease as well so we would see less of them on the roads.
tolien 5y ago
> People don't want to buy two cars I mean, shouldn’t that be obvious? There’s a bunch of fixed costs to owning a car (space to store it, registration, insurance/vehicle duty, servicing and maintenance) that vary directly with the number of cars owned (yeah, I know maintenance/insurance gets more expensive if you’re doing above-average mileage but that’s on top of a mostly fixed base) and not the number of miles you drive. I guess the Renault Zoe, with its battery rental model, is a nod to the direction the automakers really want. Instead of buying more than one car, you can buy none and rent the one you want!

numpad0 5y ago

They’re also used for deliveries and sales in urban areas. In a sense those are short distance purposes but may need some range.

fomine3 5y ago

Kei car is also often seen in highway, but less frequently than streets. Some kei car buyers buy it as a second car for family (example: husband buy Prius or Noah minivan, wife buy kei car like Tanto), so their second kei car replacement by EV kei car is possible market (though still difficult task). Some people buy kei car for the only car, it's more difficult to replace.