Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

restofworld.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 271 posts

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#181

Post by zbrozek »

Faaak wrote: post #71

I have a Renault Twizy. It's a tiny 2-seater car (one behind the other). It's so tiny that the battery is only 6kWh and thus you can only go for about 80km before needing a charge (which lasts 2h30). But I love it in fact. In my european city it's the best car to go around because you can park anywhere, it costs nothing to operate, and it's so much fun and quiet. Sadly it didn't take on, but other cars are starting t…

I would love to own one. I mostly use a bicycle, but sometimes I buy groceries and I would prefer not to get wet on rainy days. Time to explore options.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#182

Post by MayeulC »

pyrale wrote: post #119
llampx wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing stopping this democratization would be crash-worthiness. While this is more true for Western markets currently, regulations will come to India as well. However many Indians ride in the 3-wheeled death-traps called auto-rickshaws so I don't know... I've personally been in one which almost rolled over when the driver made a sharp turn at (relatively) high speed.

> The only thing stopping this democratization would be crash-worthiness. There is no trouble making small crash-worthy vehicles if the standard vehicle is no more than a few hundred kilos and is limited to 30-50 km/h. On the other hand, the current trend for western vehicles has been to make vehicles that are more and more dangerous for their environment, but which are themselves well-protected. So there is a good a…

> vehicles that are more and more dangerous for their environment, but which are themselves well-protected.

Don't be fooled by what they tell you. A heavier vehicle is more dangerous to its occupants as well.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/02/as-cars-get-heavier-eve...

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#184

Post by xrd »

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.

Gem has street legal cars that go up to 25 mph

"GEM Vehicles are classified as Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs). LSVs are street-legal, four-wheeled electric vehicles with a top speed of 25 mph. Learn more about LSVs here."

I wonder if you could "overclock" them and get them to go 35? No one would even notice...

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#185

Post by elicash »

kiliantics wrote: post #180
kleiba wrote: post #96

A problem with such tiny cars is that they cannot absorb enough kinetic energy in a crash. Although they cannot go very fast compared to traditional cars, a frontal collision between two tiny cars going at full speed will likely have severe outcomes for the drivers and passengers. Of course, it might get worse when they get hit by a faster driving traditional car.

As you sort of suggest, the real problem is the gigantic cars filling the roads these days. Why do we allow this? You can't even see out of them properly: https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WTHR/images/9092b67f-2b... This escalation of destructive potential in vehicles, sold to us as increased "safety", is absurd and horrifying.

The picture also shows seven kids! Now, that doesn't mean they're his but lots of kids would still be a pretty good reason for a gigantic car.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#186

Post by exabrial »

I mean sure, we've seen the capabilities of the Reliant Robin as a tiny 3-wheeled car, so electrifying such a vehicle only makes sense.

First, the incredible handling on cobblestone and narrow streets in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8

Then later, scientists were actually able to launch one into outer space as a viable alternative to the space shuttle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJdrlWR-yFM

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#187

Post by kps »

haspok wrote: post #139
Faaak wrote: post #71

I have a Renault Twizy. It's a tiny 2-seater car (one behind the other). It's so tiny that the battery is only 6kWh and thus you can only go for about 80km before needing a charge (which lasts 2h30). But I love it in fact. In my european city it's the best car to go around because you can park anywhere, it costs nothing to operate, and it's so much fun and quiet. Sadly it didn't take on, but other cars are starting t…

What's the point of "cars" that can't do at least 50mph/80kmh? You can't really use them in the city, because you get stuck in traffic just like everybody else. Here, a bicycle or a scooter / moped is the way to go - or public transport. You can't really use them on city speedways or circular roads, because you are too slow and hold everyone else up. And you can't use the cycle paths either. And motorways - just forg…

> Here, a bicycle or a scooter / moped is the way to go

This is the street outside my window this morning: https://i.imgur.com/ObMrzMn.jpeg

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#188

Post by rank0 »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #178
xrd wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are definite cultural problems to blame for this. A significant number of drivers get angry or offended at any non-car vehicle on "their" roads, because they see them as a threat or an impediment them. There are probably many reasons for this that are not directly related to cars or traffic, but rather to general worldviews, politics, prejudices, aspiration and many others, including seeing bicycles in particul…

People don't like bicyclists because they are observably more dangerous. I think cyclists should have their own paths where possible. But honestly, I think the cyclists are the ones being selfish by disrupting traffic, endangering themselves and others so they can feel "green" or workout or whatever.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#189

Post by ansible »

zdragnar wrote: post #16
endisneigh wrote: post #10

Given that many of these only have three wheels and to my knowledge regulation on “cars” only applies if the vehicle has four wheels- I wonder why these aren’t available in the USA at the same time.

I assume that 3 wheel cars have a bad stigma attached to them dating back to the Reliant Robin- at least the single-wheel-in-front variety. Since most of these cars have low top speeds, they also face a usefulness problem. Parking is too expensive in dense cities for super cheap cars to have a large market, and they are too slow to be useful in suburbs or the countryside.

> ... Reliant Robin- at least the single-wheel-in-front variety.

To be clear, this is because the single-wheel in front vehicles will roll over if turned sharply or at too high a speed. The single-wheel in back designs are much more dynamically stable.

Re: The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

#190

Post by iggldiggl »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #178
xrd wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are definite cultural problems to blame for this. A significant number of drivers get angry or offended at any non-car vehicle on "their" roads, because they see them as a threat or an impediment them. There are probably many reasons for this that are not directly related to cars or traffic, but rather to general worldviews, politics, prejudices, aspiration and many others, including seeing bicycles in particul…

> making hook turns[4] the mandated method for left-turning cyclists

We might admittedly not have the same kinds of roads in mind, but from the perspective of the city I'm living in (where most city streets have just one or at most two lanes per direction excluding turning lanes, which I guess might shape my perspective, as it naturally makes reaching the left turning lane easier) – please, no! Every hook turn means I have to wait an additional traffic light cycle on the cross street as well.

Post reply on HN