this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2024
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Fuck Cars

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Urban Microcars (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/fuckcars
154 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Society's got priorities wrong.

  • most car travels are 1 person or sometimes 2 person

  • the majority of car travels are quite short, less than 40km.

  • many car travels are just to get some groceries or drop of a little package or just say "hi" to someone, carrying nothing but themselves.

  • cars are fucking expensive, to buy and to maintain

  • accidents become way worse with heavier vehicles

Microcar is a valid answer to all of these, while still being sheltered from weather.

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? It's beyond my comprehension. The only real valid reason i somewhat get is the collective scare of being in a crash and not wanting to be in the smaller vehicle. We could save the climate, we choose not to.

  • MICROLINO: 17.990 €
  • OPEL ROCKS: 8.699 €
  • CITROEN AMI: 7.790 €
  • RENAULT TWIZY: 13.000 €
  • FIAT TOPOLINO: 9.890 €

A lot of people here casually spend more on a sunday racing bike every few years for fucks sake.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

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

[–] scrion 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Maybe since they are from Belgium and Chinese EVs currently play no role in the larger European market? There are maybe 10 vendors importing Zhidou cars in all of Germany, for example. Even if a buyer is aware of Chinese brands, they're not as readily available as domestic / European brands, with Chinese products also still fighting with their perceived quality.

Why not improve your comment and simply post some of these brands, along with sources on where to get them?

I moved to Germany a while ago, so here is my contribution:

https://greenspeed-online.de/produkt-kategorie/elektrofahrzeuge/

https://www.ari-motors.com/

https://myxev.de/neufahrzeuge/yoyo/

https://www.elaris.eu/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

My point is just bringing awareness to the existence of cheaper alternatives to the same product. Thank you for your contribution of places where people can actually get these cars! And yeah, the prejudice against Chinese electric cars is outdated at this point, they're as good as European ones for a fraction of the cost.

[–] anew1642 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Are Chinese vehicles up to European safety standards? Could you share the characteristics of the vehicles you are referring to?

Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) is an independent organization that evaluates the safety of new cars in Europe. Here are some key aspects of the vehicles they assess:

  1. Crashworthiness:

    • Frontal Impact: Assesses protection for occupants in a head-on collision.
    • Side Impact: Evaluates protection in a side collision.
    • Pole Impact: Tests the car’s safety when it crashes into a rigid pole.

  2. Safety Assist Technologies:

    • Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB): Tests the vehicle’s ability to automatically brake to prevent or mitigate a collision.
    • Lane Keeping Assist (LKA): Evaluates systems that help keep the vehicle in its lane.
    • Speed Assistance: Assesses systems that help drivers comply with speed limits.

  3. Pedestrian and Vulnerable Road User Protection:

    • Evaluates how well the car protects pedestrians in case of an impact.
    • Tests include pedestrian head, pelvis, and leg impacts.

  4. Rescue and Extrication:

    • Examines how easily occupants can be rescued after a crash.
    • Assesses availability of information for emergency services.

  5. Child Occupant Protection:

    • Tests the safety features for child passengers.
    • Uses child dummies in various seating positions to evaluate protection.

  6. Driver and Passenger Protection:

    • Evaluates protection levels for both the driver and adult passengers.
    • Includes assessment of airbags, seat belts, and overall structural integrity.

  7. Post-Crash Safety:

    • Assesses features that assist after a crash, such as eCall systems that automatically alert emergency services.

These characteristics highlight the comprehensive approach Euro NCAP takes to evaluate the safety of vehicles sold in Europe.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 3 weeks ago

Pretending that the EU cares about the safety of people in the first instance is laughable, most of these tests are performed at high speed crashes which you wouldn't expect to have in the type of trips that a tiny EV with an autonomy of 170km would perform.

If these were priorities, SUVs would be forbidden instead of promoted in Europe. They have lower visibility, they hit people higher up in their body which increases damage, they're heavier so the occupants of the vehicles they crash against are hurt more severely because of conservation of linear momentum, and they consume more fossil fuels so they increase pollution and global warming. How well a vehicle will handle an impact against a pole at 100km/h isn't relevant to me.

And how well do second-hand, comparably-priced cars in the used market perform in these tests? Because it's pointless to compare 5000€ vehicles to 20.000€ vehicles in terms of that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

He is in Europe. The cheap Chinese cars are likely not available or road legal.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 weeks ago

So let's talk about Chinese cars which are much cheaper at comparable quality so that people understand that and push for the introduction of Chinese electric cars