cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40818280
If there’s anything we should take from Japan, it’s treating cars like second class citizens behind transit instead of the other way around. The cute tiny cars are more a side effect of that.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40818280
If there’s anything we should take from Japan, it’s treating cars like second class citizens behind transit instead of the other way around. The cute tiny cars are more a side effect of that.
Oh those cars don’t go 70 mph very easily. Yeah maybe you could do it if you have a turbocharged one and then your engine will be fried in a few months
They’re not designed for prolonged, US highway speeds.
Because they don’t need to be.
Because Japan has a functional mass transit system of bullet trains for moving medium to long distances.
Kei cars would fine now if we’d started a mass rail renovation/rebuild/extension program 15 years ago.
Like, you’re not wrong, Kei cars would burn themselves out on the US highway system.
… A possible middle ground could maybe be hybrids that are basically what we in the US call subcompact sized.
I used to have a Prius C.
Its fast enough and powerful enough that I once got it up to 105mph, it can maintain at 70mph no problem.
But its stupidly more efficient in mpg terms at city speeds, roughly 50 mpg if you drive it like a not maniac.
Not as small or cheap as a Kei car, but … a better ‘default’ car than mega suvs and mega trucks, far smaller, lighter, cheaper and efficient than either of those.
Main problem with a subcompact hybrid is the massive cost of repair or replacement of the battery pack… maybe the new sodium ion tech could lead to something there? Not sure.
Eh it’ll sit in traffic like the rest of ‘em just fine.
Nah, i frequently see a 1000cc non-turbo car goes at around 100/110kmph on highway. They’re pretty much capable to do that. Not stable though.
I know someone with a Ford Ka+ (1l/1000cc with around 80hp), can easily do 140km/h without feeling unstable. But it definitly is bigger than a kei-car, and I think kei-cars are limited to 660cc?
I’m mostly refer to daihatsu mira, a kei car that sometime fit with 850cc and 1000cc engine. Narrower than ford ka, which explain the stability. Very popular in my country at the time. Used to drive the L200 with 660cc engine and it’s pretty wobbly on 120kmph, and you can feel the turbulence when someone overtaking you. Fun car though, great for city driving, parking with this is never a problem.