I think our expectations have changed, too, though.

It might also mean that they could intentionally engineer everything for a lower range of operational speeds, from aerodynamics to crash performance to transmission design to suspension characteristics. At that point the whole system does depend on a governor, but everything around it is still engineered assuming the vehicle won't be driving faster than 25mph.

We can blame consumer reports for not having the Jimmy/samurai anymore. Those things were amazing.

Sole difference is being new vs. 25 years of age or older!

Generally they have to be imported as classic cars, over 25 years old, so they don’t need to meet all the same requirements as a new car.

Jfc we dont have any small affordable cars a Jimny would be fantastic. I saw an old Suzuki Sidekick the other day and I was so jealous. So many of them got gutted into off road vehicles as a cheaper side by side alternative a decade ago.

Pass some of that good stuff my way will ya?

55HP is plenty to travel faster than 25MPH though. The VW Beetle had even less horsepower than that until the 1970s and even then it topped out at 60HP toward the end of their production run. They certainly won't be speed demons but should be fine for most city driving.

An electric option would be good but as someone who works at a campus with tons (like dozens or in the hundreds) of shared Kei-like trucks, golf carts, and side-by-sides, having a place to charge all of them isn't really feasible or safe for all the people who are walking by them all day and night. Here there are just wall outlets strewn about the buildings that they have to run extension cords to and this is just with a fraction of them being electric.

Probably not totally arbitrary. The engine itself is a typical 660cc kei truck engine, which usually means about 55 hp or about 40 kW of power. Typical kei trucks weigh about 700 kg, and have 0-100 kph (62 mph) times of nearly 30 seconds.

I'm more interested in electrified fleet vehicles though. Little vehicles can be interesting but at that point just put an electric motor and battery on it.

Thats a good point. I'm curious how these are handled as imports (as in an individual importing one they purchased) because those are able to be driven on the road. Ive even seen one driving on the freeway.

Bots I assume say things that make sense, lol. What I said wasn't coherent, lol

In case you haven't seen, they did make a factory electric Ranger back in the day - but it's probably more feasible to go with converting a gas Ranger due to it's rarity, outdated tech, etc.

Defeating is likely one thing but being legal and insurable on public roads is likely the big wrinkle.

That's it.

A viable use case before selling to what is definitely a niche market

Honda Acty

And tarrifs

Yeah this is the kind of thing for bringing stuff around the factory, the airport, etc.

Assembled in America and designed in America by a company paying American taxes. China is were human beings make things, that's like being upset that it's made in a factory rather an artisan shop.

There is only one race, the human race.

There is only one economy, the global economy.

I just want the Ford Ranger to come back and actually be the size of the old 90s Rangers, instead of being the size of an F-150 and have a tiny bed like they did with the Maverick 🥺

I thought you were some kind of bot. Maybe you were just super high last night?

Yeah, kei trucks look cool but are so much less practical than an old mini. Parts availability alone stateside make them a hard no for me, combined with the fact your knees are the crumple zone and it becomes a resounding no.

I wish I could buy the new toyota helix but its banned in the us for decisions :(

My assumption is that shipping is now too expensive so key trucks can now only be made locally.

I was reading and started noticing how the toyota guy only has 2 hand posture during his talk. Its either big boobs or wow wow man!.

Here we go, big boobs:.

.
That's a huge rack. But wow wow man, no! Not for me, stop:.

He just repeats between the two gestures with very few instances were big rack repeats several times before wow wow dude.

It's being marketed as American made.