Minicars in the news

[fb81rx7]

lol at 3:03

[TheRichardDeurloo]

I want one :D

[Thesportyowl]

Go buy a kawasaki ninja 250 AND a honda cbr 250r and spend only about 9,000 USD.

motorcycle = WIN

[FireDropTechnologies]

You could go buy and repaire a 1973-79 honda civic they get 40mpg,

Or an old Simca.

Or a Geo Metro, The metro gets 60mpg.

[tcw00]

These are Amazing:) I want one

[edcardinal]

OK, how the hell can these little pieces of crap get only 33 mpg around town and 40 hwy when my 85 Honda CRX Si got 35 and 40 and was a REAL car that was fast as hell and handled like a cheap PORCHE. And THAT was 25 years ago. Am I missing something ? I would think these would get like 50 or 60 mpgs. What is the deal. Were the engineers drunk when they designed them ?

[freddotu]

@edcardinal, most of the really tiny ones used 2-stroke engines, which are far from economical. Certainly the technology has improved over the time since there were produced. My 89 Honda CRX hf was good for 50-60 mph, but had much higher gearing than the hot-rod si models.

[rockandrollmetalhead]

here is the answer to our pollution problem. that blue one has 3 wheels, which means it can also be legally registered as a motorcycle. So we could make one of these today and get a motorcycle liscense and cheap insurance for something safer than a motorcycle. I want one.

[freddotu]

@rockandrollmetalhead, unfortunately, the engine in the little Peel is a two-stroke. This means that oil has to be mixed with the fuel to lubricate the engine and a good portion of it is in the exhaust. A far worse polluter than many of today's cars.

It really only needs pedals to make it pollution free, but that type of vehicle is called a velomobile and there are many designs for that.

[rockandrollmetalhead]

@freddotu That sucks, maybe they can make a four stroke version and convert it to bio fuel, and increase the stroke length and add a larger carburator with a good filtered exhaust system.That should be much cleaner, with high revs to go along with it. Maybe the filter could be interchangeable and have a decomposable structure so that it can be ground up into fertilizer, If carbon monoxide is edible to plants directly.I dont know how that wold be all put together, If possible.I have never tried.

[astrialkil]

@rockandrollmetalhead they have forced injection for 2 strokes now , lots of conversions in India for their mopeds.

[rockandrollmetalhead]

@freddotu Have they made a pedal car that is like a traction toy? With that big spinning wheel, it could probably have an electric motor being powered by a few batteries, and be rechargeable (and able to plug into the wall) through an alternator attatched to it, having an all round gear spinning the alternator with a much smaller gear for faster recharging. If I had the tools and materials, I would try to make these things. Why can't I find micro cars on ebay? all I found was a goggomobile.

[freddotu]

@rockandrollmetalhead, you aren't far off when it comes to pedals and vehicles. If you search for velomobile, here on YouTube or on the net in general, you will find dozens of models, thousands of videos about a vehicle that is human powered, fully enclosed and some of them can have electric assist installed to make things easier and sometimes faster.

An electric vehicle of any sort cannot use an alternator to recharge, but regenerative braking is used in some designs (BionX) and in EVs also.

[rockandrollmetalhead]

@freddotu Thanks for the info

[astrialkil]

@freddotu screw pedals and put in a electric motor and a clean 4 stroke weed whacker engine to recharge your battery serial electric 3 wheel motorcycle !

[freddotu]

@astrialkil, I'm not fond of anything burning petroleum products or even biofuels, as the carbon footprint is still excessive. EVs are great, pedal power even better. A Peel with an electric motor and LiFePO4 batteries would be a very useful compromise, in my opinion.

[richardmaudsley77]

America:

Ten years behind everyone else.

[Georgie2500]

i want one

[leifscheele1]

I hope car industry build small cars again...

[drumzstix666]

Hey man, have u ever tried going into a super market with your velomobile? Its small enough right?

[freddotu]

I could get in the doors, probably, especially the big wholesale clubs, but I don't think management would appreciate that at all.

I have taken my Focus Designs Self-Balancing Unicycle into Sam's Club and when no one was looking, zipped the length of the store. When I was heading out, three of the workers asked me to show them how it works. That was enough reason for me!

[drumzstix666]

awesome man!

[drummaboi93]

@freddotu thts a good question i may be only 14 but i would love to hav a car like tht to go to a store but i really dont think theyll let u stay for long

[Billy1RBstudios]

1:16 a micro fiat 500

[Teejayflex]

thats cool specialy since you can drive in the supermarket

[CiarnC81]

Ha, Im looking to downsize

[pripp98]

U sure can!!

[babydollkiller]

ahh the trident. I like it only slightly less then the peel p50...which is one of my fav microcars in existance

[BlakeFox95]

LoL

[richard47129]

33 in the city and 41 on the highway? My little 97 Ford Aspire already gets that. And it seats four and only cost me $1100! I like the Smart, but it's not really all that "smart".

[3bomberr]

Those number are for the newer gas powered smart cars. The older deisel cars got around 60 mpg.