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The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

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Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#101

Post by markvdb »

ricardobayes wrote: post #91

How about we start regulating ship engines? There are currently no regulations involving large ships' emissions. But they are extremely dirty, emitting tons of unfiltered sulfur in per voyage. They use different fuel, with much 3.5% sulfur content while road cars' fuel is 0.001%. This all goes in the air. I find it unacceptable that we consumers bend over backwards changing our habits, but the largest emissors don't…

This used to be true, but it's quite little bit less so since about a year:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/01/shipping...

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#102

Post by a9h74j »

xrd wrote: post #47

What's the hack to get something like this in the US? I don't want to drive my kids around in it, but I have a short drive on 35 mph roads to my co-working space and I would love to go electric.

FWIW, video titled US Electric Bike Laws Explained[1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v71dkOM4NuE

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#103

Post by imtringued »

VW has trouble selling electric cars in China. There are too many low end competitors and VW simply doesn't offer the right kind of car for price sensitive customers in China.

Tesla is doing well in China, precisely because their cars are primarily luxury cars.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#104

Post by taneq »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #75
brainless wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a software engineer and I am not crazy enough to build a minimal ICE vehicle. But after spending decent teenage and college years in battery and small motors, I am actually confident enough to build a 3 people mover, slow and all, but it will go. There really is an order of magnitude difference in the complexity. The typical ICE already has electric batteries and motors. But the EV does not have the ICE parts. N…

Yet every yokel with a garage, builds an ICE car for fun. Not even college educated. Some disconnect here?

In practical terms the GP poster is wrong. If you consider an internal combustion engine to be a single unit, an ICE-powered vehicle is of equivalent complexity to a battery electric vehicle. They both need body, suspension, steering, seats, etc. etc. The “ice-ness” adds effectively nothing to the build complexity from the overall vehicle builder’s standpoint.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#106

Post by Mauricebranagh »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #39
gedy wrote: post #18

This is much better for the environment vs gasoline I'd assume?

It's probably much better for the urban environment, in terms of people not breathing gasoline exhaust (doubly so for breathing two-stroke gasoline exhaust from a motorcycle, which is more of an alternative than a big car). The lead-acid batteries on some of the cheapest ones are a little iffy, though, and the carbon consumption isn't a huge win.

I think most places have banned two strokes Vespa certainly stopped making two stroke scooters years ago.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#107

Post by dazc »

xrd wrote: post #49
brij0102 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electric assist bikes could serve you well if the distance works out

I've got a cargo electric bike. My route has a few 35 mph roads that wind through rolling hills and no bike lanes. I've tried biking it, but the cars are aggressive. I really want a car for this commute.

I have a similar issue although only a two-mile each way journey, perfect for an e-bike or scooter but other drivers are the problem.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#108

Post by [deleted] »

filoleg wrote: post #78
midasuni wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US tax on $50k median wage is about 20%, take home about $40k U.K. tax on $43k median is about 20%, take home pay $43k, but no health care costs Average car cost in US 60c/Mile https://www.bts.gov/content/average-cost-owning-and-operatin... In the U.K. is 41p/Mile or 58c https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-cost-run-car-uk

Fair, but you didn't address the part about the cars themselves costing more + the fact that the gasoline is still significantly more expensive per gallon (UK people just seem to drive much less miles per year than those in the US). In that second link you posted, it lists the starting price of base VW Golf as £38k (around $53k), while in the US the same model costs about $23k. Even if you tack on all the taxes and r…

[deleted]

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#109

Post by jgilias »

ulfw wrote: post #54
zozin wrote: post #14

These might work in a regulatory black hole in China, but they won't anywhere in the West. Smart has had a small electric car for sale for nearly a decade and you never see them around. Maybe when the alternative is a scooter an electric golf cart is a step-up, but the electric scooter market isn't exactly throthy in the West. Electric cars aren't that popular because the range is still mediocre for entry level ($25-…

So not true. The Ami from Citroen is going to be quite the thing in Europe: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/citroen/ami Review from UK perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEKtOGmpVI

The only viable place for something like Ami is car sharing in my opinion. The thing is, car manufacturers have been doing this since long before Tesla. They make something that screams 'look, I'm a weird thing that resembles a car, because I'm electric'. And the general population just wouldn't buy them. And then Tesla came along and showed that you can actually make a car that is electric and that people would want to own. In my opinion the market really has spoken. And what it says is loud and clear: "We want electric cars that look like cars and can be used accordingly."

I mean, if there was a huge market for small, slow, weird looking things on four wheels, there's no reason why ICE power-train driven devices couldn't have filled that niche a long time ago.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#110

Post by eloisant »

lancefisher wrote: post #90

Not just tiny cars, but scooters. I visited a friend in Beijing before the pandemic, and riding her scooter around town was the best way to travel. Cheap, faster than any alternative, and you can park it anywhere.

A tiny car is in fact in-between a scooter and a regular car.

Slightly bigger than the scooter but you can have one passenger, more luggage, and you're protected from the weather.

Also there are handicapped people who can't ride a scooter but can ride a small car.

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