What exactly are our options for small cars in the US?

Nesagwa · 04-30-2008, 06:35 AM

I really like the Smart, but I wont be able to get mine until next June or beyond.

I also saw this today:
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/04/29/...tech-in-milan/

The car has been around for a good long time and is basically just a rebadge and $20k price increase, but it got me thinking.

In other countries they have these affordable types of either high efficiency gas or all electric vehicles made for city commutes.

What kind of thing do we in the US have? Theres of course bicycles and motorcycles (which Im seeing a lot more of on the road - more scooters too.) But what about small electric vehicles? Do they even exist?

Bum-bling-B · 04-30-2008, 07:43 AM

Small cars or Microcars? For small 3dr hatchbacks you have:

Yaris (do a search here and a few have found it be OK for them)
Accent - Hyundai - I like it and Hyundai has come a long way in quality

Those are two that I had looked at in the past just to see what they were like.

Nesagwa · 04-30-2008, 10:01 AM

Smaller both in size and price. Anything with a backseat is pretty much excluded.

Im talking a pure city commuter for people traveling less than 15-20 miles and thats it.

Somewhere between the Smart and the Corbin Sparrow / NO-MORE-GAS or something like these http://www.cityel.de/c_pro_00200_d.htm

Im assuming nothing here in the US yet.

Bum-bling-B · 04-30-2008, 10:56 AM

addedAhhh, I see. I was about to mention Sparrow - that's pretty much all that I could think of. ZAP had one that I was interested in that was a small gas motor car not unlike the Smart but sportier, it was made in Brazil. The name escapes me though it was really cool - I wrote them about it and they sent me info about the companies progress every so often and now it seems to have just disappeared. I think it was named after an animal.

BEAVR · 04-30-2008, 11:18 AM

There's the yaris S hatchback, which an equivalent comparison to the smart is about $3000 more: $1200 for factory installed leather (at select dealers), wabaso sunroof $1000, sports packages, comfort packages, fog lamps, ect to match the smart, but then y'know, in my opinion, its still kinda a boring car.
there is a can-am spyder 3 wheel vehicle capable of holding groceries, and doesn't require a motorcycle license in some states.
around the beach area here, there are these little moped engine 3 and 4 wheel vehicles, where 2 can sit side by side, its very low to the ground and restricted to under 45 mph zones, looks very unsafe.
the mini cooper is still pretty small, but much more expensive.
too bad that they quit making the honda insight, had the same CC of the smart car but got 60-70 MPG, and for under 20 grand was a bargain.

Nesagwa · 04-30-2008, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

addedAhhh, I see. I was about to mention Sparrow - that's pretty much all that I could think of. ZAP had one that I was interested in that was a small gas motor car not unlike the Smart but sportier, it was made in Brazil. The name escapes me though it was really cool - I wrote them about it and they sent me info about the companies progress every so often and now it seems to have just disappeared. I think it was named after an animal.

Xebra is the name of it. I was just looking at it, 11k for the sedan and 12k for the truck version (which looks pretty cool.)

45mph and 25 mile range. Perfect for what I wanted really, but from what Ive read and heard about ZAP! recently, they are pretty shady and unreliable as a coproration.

It looks like someone is selling them in Florida for 13k (The truck version, which I like) but I just dunno about it.

EDIT: http://tampa.craigslist.org/car/661245158.html seems like a dealer though, they have about 5 ads exactly the same up.