The Japanese electric van may be small on the outside, but it offers ample interior space and advanced connectivity features
  • mastrdestruktun@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I like small utility vehicles, and there is a small market for these; I know of multiple places that use 25 year old imported kei vans. But to sell more than hundreds in the US they need to be highway capable and that’s a big hurdle.

    • MMRS2000@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      What does highway capable mean in US terms? I have a Kei van - Suzuki Every DA17. I do plenty of road trips. It’s fine on the highway on Japan, will happily cruise along at 110 or 120km/h. It’s perfectly comfortable and stable at that speed, even alongside large trucks. It’s affected by crosswinds of course, but that’s to be expected.

      I understand Kei trucks are less suited to the highway due to usually having lower gearing and a shorter wheelbase.

      I don’t understand why people think these cars aren’t highway capable. Are they ideal for the highway - no, that’s not their design focus. But they’re perfectly fine on the highway as needed. And if you need a primarily highway vehicle, you shouldn’t be buying one of these ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

      EDIT: Oh hell yeah, I’ll be buying one of these if they become available to retail customers!

      • mastrdestruktun@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        What does highway capable mean in US terms?

        In the USA there is a vehicle class called NEV, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, that are restricted to 25 mph ~ 40 kph and local city streets, and my understanding is that in Japan the kei class have similar restrictions, though not quite so onerous. Though the i-Miev did sell in the US and was highway capable, so I don’t claim that kei cars can’t be.

        I am not sure what all of the requirements are to move a vehicle out of the NEV category and into the general purpose motor vehicle category. It wouldn’t surprise me if crash test standards factored in somehow. And, obviously, it has to be able to reach highway speeds.

        I say that it needs to be highway capable to be successful in the US because US suburbs tend to be connected by highways, and any time you want to go somewhere you need to get on a 55 mph road. For example I do that to get to the grocery store 2 miles away. Sometimes you can stick to slower streets but not always; my local quiet country roads are 45 mph so a NEV wouldn’t be allowed on them.