Urban Microcars

I get the points that you are trying to make but those micro cars are shit for the consumer for those prices. Yes, you have a small car that isn't powered by fossil fuels, but

• You can't transport jack shit. I've sat in the Opel thingy and while it's comfortable for the two passengers you have literally no boot.
• If you consider one of those most likely you live in a densely populated urban area an can use public transportation as well. And one of the last things public transportation sucks, is transporting unwieldy stuff with you. And your mini car doesn't provide a solution to this, so you have to pay a rental again.
• Those things are waaaaayyyy to expensive for what they offer. Atm you're paying the early adopter premium to drive in a speed restricted, range restricted, and payload restricted vehicle for 10k.

I've been riding public transportation almost exclusively for the last 10 years or so and only had to consider getting a car for long distance travel and transporting shit. And at that point you'll be better off spending 4-7k for an older station wagon than those things.

Also I'm not entirely sure how eco friendly it is to buy a brand new mini EV rather than driving around with a 15 year old car where nothing new has to be produced. Depends for sure on the yearly mileage. Which isn't high in my case, but you for sure won't be driving 15000 km a year in a mini car.

If we compare new regular and new EV? Sure, but then I'll wait until real competitive alternatives in the low-price sector pop up.

What cities actually need:

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Looks like we are back to the 1950's and the time of the "Smooch bubble" BMW Isetta. I always loved the look of this car.

Hmm, I wonder how many of these cars are used to replace existing ones...

Most of the micro cars I see are parked by a highschool so to me it seems like people view them as a stop gap between no car and car ownership and not as a way to replace existing cars.

It's making cars more viable, especially to young people and I fail to see that as a positive thing.

These microcars can be very useful for people with disabilities or other special needs, but for everyone else the best car replacement is an electric cargo bike: they're cheaper and give you more capacity for groceries.

You see these fairly often in Amsterdam; half of them are driven by the elderly and disabled and the other half are driven by burgeoning adult daughters of the rich as some bizarre fashion statement. There's a local company too called Heen & Weer (which means "there and back" or "back and forth") who taxi the elderly and disabled in one of these for €1 a go, which is a splendid, splendid idea.

I personally saw almost all these models in Amsterdam and Belgium this year. They are pretty great addition to existing solutions like trams, metros, busses, and cycling.

No reason to need to have a 4 seat car when most of the time you may be the only person in the vehicle. Would be cool if we could find these in North America more easily. I do find our personal vehicles are becoming too large causing more sprawl and larger parking lots, which in turn nesesitates car dependency when everything is so far apart because of our vehicle infrastructure.

ie. When was the last time you walked across a Wallmart parking lot plaza to go to the store on the other side? Its usually quicker (and safer) to drive...

I like the one on bottom right. So cute ❤️

Nevermind all of that. The number one reason not to drive in Belgium is Belgian drivers. In other countries there's the occasional assholish driver, in Belgium, it's completely normal and expected to drive like a cunt.

$4,389 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuling_Hongguang_Mini_EV

Half of these are literally a citroen ami with a different plastic shell

The twizy is old, and nobody uses it.
The topolino, and opel rocks are a citroen ami, it's just a rebrand.
The next generation of twizy is smarter, it will be a micro cargo car, it will be for deliveries in cities.

almost permanent super heavy road traffic congestion, bad climate statistics, high polution values, very limited available space left

Fixing that starts with congestion charges. If the charges go up with more polluting and heavy vehicles, electrical lighter vehicles and public transportation suddenly become a lot more interesting.

Drive in dense traffic in a vehicle with effectively no crumple zones? Hard pass.

Hate how inefficient the market is, mostly because of alcohol and now mobile phones while driving, safety has made larger cars more marketable. I don't trust my fellow Americans to drive properly and not crash into me with their oversized trucks that never do any trucking work

Or

Electric bicycle / electric bike / electric trike.

Half the price, double the mileage, double the speed+acceleration, half the charging time, half the cost, half the parking space, 1/4th the traffic.

there need to be taxes on larger vehicles where its .05% times the weight of the vehicle.

Were I live, you see them mostly in rural areas were public transport is scarce and you are basically stuck without a car. They have been proven to be a good alternative for seniors and young people that are not old enough for a full drivers licence (18).

I just had a conversation with my BIL, who told me that his company (a big tool manufacturer) and others in the area give them as some kind of signing bonus to new apprentices. They have recuting issues for a while and making young people mobile and independent from public transport seems to be effective.

The funny thing is that those cars are available and no one buys them because they don't fit with the objectives of the car buyer.

• Safety is poor - especially if there are traditional cars on the road.

• They are missing most ability beyond "go there". What about carrying things to and from places?

• Can I never go camping again? Where does my dog go when we camp?

• Am I not permitted a family?

The use cases for micro cars is very limited to "getting a person to a place" but shit for all other use cases. Let's move to a metro/rail solution and allow vehicular travel for use cases (rentals for parks, road trips, etc.)

In Japan there is something similar they have a class of cars called kei car and it is not as small but close and have limited engine size like under liter for combustion variant and some other rules that they have to comply and those are less taxed and much cheaper but what suprised me at least in cities i visited last year still majority of the cars there was the regular ones

Now that you say it, it's been a while since I last saw a 'smart ForTwo'...

...they stopped producing those in March this year?

I'm not really fond of microcars. Every time I see one I'm like: "Just buy a bike it's cheaper and it doesn't look like a motorized dumpster!". Not to mention that to drive one in France you don't even need a driving license. Talk about a security hazard... My thinking is they're a lot pricier than great top of the line E-bikes (hydraulic breaks and the whole shebang), you can carry as much as a cargo bike and for the rain, a waterproof coat and pants work just fine (tropical regions get a pass I guess).

Why would you only put expensive European brands here? There are Chinese cars like this for 5000€ that have sold millions in China.

Ah, the eternal dream of hew "pod".

"most car journeys are 1 or 2 person"

So why have 5 seats ammiright?

#accountant-brain

You cant rollerskate in a buffalo herd but you can be happy if youve a mind to

Yuck, no sense of aesthetics. Something can be small but still designed beautifully. I think Mazdas MX5 fits the bill, though it’s more elongated. So I think maybe Fiat 500? There are a lot of EV/non-EV affordable hot hatchbacks which are also great

Edit to say I am not passing judgement on the car designs in OP, just speaking from my own pov. Sorry if it seems judgmental, honestly it doesn’t matter

Just buy a motorcycle and a jacket instead?

WHAT. The Opel is basically exactly what I wanted for months. Why isn't it on the ADAC page??

Oh. Probably because it's an ebike. 45km/h max, wtf.

I don’t really understand the benefit if microcar over golf carts.

Is my understanding correct?

Microcar

• built to car safety standards
• silly looking
• inconvenient to anyone above average size
• Don’t appear to too useful
• expensive
• fit at most a single person

Golf cart

• different class of vehicle, limited use
• can be built cheaper
• Already a huge variety
• easier access
• Useable by people without drivers licenses
• more usefulness options in sizes, cabins, even trailers
• cheaper
• can support families

Instead of proposing we all squish into tiny toy-like cars that are unsafe in car infrastructure, wouldn’t a better proposal be to organize downtowns around cheaper, lower speed golf carts that already have a variety of models and customizations? It would save everyone money, and paperwork, while filling the same efficiency improvements

How are urban places (i'm in Belgium) with almost permanent super heavy road traffic congestion, bad climate statistics, high polution values, very limited available space left, no self-sustaining energy production and high traffic accident statistics still pooring in billions and billions in subsidies year after year into "regular" big heavy SUV-like vehicles instead of these?

The answer is corruption.