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Kei cars are death traps and I don't think the US would accept going back to gruesome, brutal car wrecks as the norm. as far as big consumptive engines, Kei Ca

Kei cars are death traps and I don't think the US would accept going back to gruesome, brutal car wrecks as the norm. as far as big consumptive engines, Kei Cars consume around 3-4 Liters/100km a prius is not that much worse at 4.4 L/100km It's all kind of moot anyway with EVs coming.

yellowapple 5y ago
Better mileage than a Prius without even being a hybrid seems like exactly the sort of reason why someone would want one. And with EVs coming, kei cars/trucks seem like perfect candidates for EV conversions. Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things?
- josephcsible 5y ago
  > And with EVs coming, kei cars/trucks seem like perfect candidates for EV conversions. Is there enough room for batteries for them to have a reasonable amount of range?
- OneEyedRobot 5y ago
  >Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things? That's a good question for any older car. I can think of a number of measures, but it would be interesting to see some real engineering go into retrofits. Besides new/proper seat belts an interesting angle would be a partial roll cage that is safe for a helmetless driver. I'd love to a have a Kei truck purely for around town (we don't have any traffic lights to give you an idea) in snowy weather. Small = good when the streets shrink due to plowing, small = good for dragging out of a ditch, cheap = good just because it's easy to hurt a car in serious snow.
- fnord77 5y ago
  > Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things? Mass and/or crumple zones help absorb and deflect energy in crashes. There's no room for a crumple zone in a kei car's perimeter. Smart Fourtwo got close, but those are as wide as a normal car. And perfectly rigid vehicle is dangerous because it transmits the collision forces to the passengers - high G deceleration will destroy your organs

yellowapple 5y ago

Better mileage than a Prius without even being a hybrid seems like exactly the sort of reason why someone would want one. And with EVs coming, kei cars/trucks seem like perfect candidates for EV conversions. Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things?

josephcsible 5y ago
> And with EVs coming, kei cars/trucks seem like perfect candidates for EV conversions. Is there enough room for batteries for them to have a reasonable amount of range?
OneEyedRobot 5y ago
>Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things? That's a good question for any older car. I can think of a number of measures, but it would be interesting to see some real engineering go into retrofits. Besides new/proper seat belts an interesting angle would be a partial roll cage that is safe for a helmetless driver. I'd love to a have a Kei truck purely for around town (we don't have any traffic lights to give you an idea) in snowy weather. Small = good when the streets shrink due to plowing, small = good for dragging out of a ditch, cheap = good just because it's easy to hurt a car in serious snow.
fnord77 5y ago
> Re: crash safety, I wonder if it's possible to retrofit some extra safety measures on these things? Mass and/or crumple zones help absorb and deflect energy in crashes. There's no room for a crumple zone in a kei car's perimeter. Smart Fourtwo got close, but those are as wide as a normal car. And perfectly rigid vehicle is dangerous because it transmits the collision forces to the passengers - high G deceleration will destroy your organs