NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 35,712
I suspect in crowded cities it's also a maneuverability and parking issue.
Certainly!
Back in 2009, I made a thread where I posted the following photo I took in the suburb of Amsterdam in a 2004 trip. FIREd (was FIREDreamer back then) contributed that it was a mini car called Canta made by a Dutch company.
That thread is here: https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/car-to-solve-us-energy-problems-44457.html
This little car had a 160cc engine, had a top speed of 28 mph, and cost between 11,500 and 17,000 euros, as FIREd found out. He also contributed this find:
These minicars, top speed 45 km/h, can be driven without a driver's license. Originally meant for the elderly, handicapped or those who for some reason are unable to pass their driving test, they are increasingly thought to "cool" and driven by 16yr olds.
I saw some of these Cantas even parked on sidewalks. The young driver in my photo was driving his on dedicated bicycle paths, where it was legal.
Now with Chinese mini EVs costing 1/20 the price, and being greener to boot, would they be better than these Cantas? However, as with anything else, when too many people have the same idea, that no longer works as the roads become crowded and congested again with the little vehicles. Witness the street anarchy in the streets of Vietnam with the zillions of scooters in a video I posted earlier.
It's not easy and cheap to solve these problems. What works for a few individuals may not work when the whole crowd is doing it.
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