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Scion Is Back! And It's Going To Sell A Freaking Kei Truck In America (www.theautopian.com)
submitted 10 hours ago by to c/automotive@discuss.tchncs.de
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[–] 4 points 7 hours ago (1 child)

it has a limited top speed of less than 25mph and is only legal on roads with a posted speed limit of less than 35mph.

Meanwhile in Japan, I take my kei van on the expressway at least once a month.

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    • [–] 3 points 9 hours ago (7 children)

    With its friendly little 660cc engine and CVT transmission, the KEI-01 was certified to meet American low-speed vehicle safety standards, meaning it has a limited top speed of less than 25mph and is only legal on roads with a posted speed limit of less than 35mph. This makes it not really usable as a daily driver, but keeps it in this beautiful sweet spot where it has a shocking number of commercial and agricultural uses.

    That certainly is...something 🤷‍♀️

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    so they had to kneecap it into a low speed vehicle category, greatly reducing potential sales, due to them not being road legal as is?

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  • [–] 1 point 32 minutes ago

    If it was gonna be cleared to drive on higher speed roads, then it would have to meet other regulatory requirements that would make it way more expensive than being the cheap workhorse that it is.

    As a low speed vehicle it just needs basic safety equipment and technology. It doesnt have to meet a high standard of crashworthiness. So on and so forth

    By the time you get done making it a highway-safe truck according to those standards, you have something probably not far off from the $40,000 normal truck market. All those would be preferable to a buyer over a KEI truck if the KEI truck only cost like $5k less

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  • [–] 2 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

    It does kneecap any real demand.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

    Yeah a real k truck will max like 50-55mph. 25 is a joke. My bike does 28…

    Maybe they’ll have an aftermarket fix to get at least 45.

    I mean it looks cool, but 25 is a damn joke.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 hours ago (1 child)

    It works fine in cities where these should be used. I'd get one for my local hardware runs. I never really hit any roads above 30mph for those anyway.

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    • [–] 1 point 9 hours ago

    The BKE concept is clearly trying to label itself like an ebike but it looks more like a scooter. The article mentions "rugged off-road wheels" but those tiny tires would get swallowed by bigger bumps. I guess it's more portable than an electric dirt bike though.

    The kei truck seems to have limited utility if it can't be driven on a road with more than 35mph speed limit. I'm brainstorming an earthship community with some friends and this vehicle would be perfect if I could actually drive it on rural roads.

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