A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
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Kia Ray is a compact car, currently only available in South Korea. It's tiny yet can carry a lot so a lot of small businesses have these as a van alternative.
I hate cars. But getting rid of them has a long way ahead and I think this kind of small-but-big kind of car can appeal general public and make cities better.
I have a Nissan NV200, which has a similar design.
I use it whenever my bike isnt practical, like visiting my family which live kinda rural or transporting something big. I also built a platform for my matress, so I can also camp with it.
It doesnt take up more space than the average car, but it has a lot of storage space.
This looks to be as tall as a person? How is that 'tiny'?
Damn, and I looked at it and thought: it’s shorter than a tiny woman and the seats are near vertical …. I wonder if it would fit an average adult outside of Korea, let alone someone even a little big or tall.
I'm 6ft and it's more than fine for me
The car being taller doesn’t mean it takes up more space on the road. It does mean an increased rollover risk however.
For space taken up on the road, being half a meter shorter or longer doesn't make much of a difference, since the distance between cars is much larger. And for parking, being as tall as a person greatly reduces street visibility for pedestrians. Don't get me wrong, this car is much better than a truck or SUV, but it is not 'tiny'.
I think, fuck cars.
Also wanted to add that these are readily available for rent(even just for about few hours!) I honestly think this can be a future, where people usually drive their bike and then 1% of cases when car is needed, you rent it for few hours/days.
It looks similar to what I drive. I like it. It is spacious enough for a family. It is also roomy enough for a tallish person (around 190cm) to drive comfortably. My partner uses it for their commute daily, and we use it for family outings or shopping.
I do also walk or cycle for certain things, but where I live a car is a necessity if you have a family.
They use a lot less fuel and have a much smaller footprint, which is good. But have just enough oomph to go on the expressways here.
To me the idea of "fuck cars" is not so much about cars as a concept, but rather the scurge of car dependency.
You don't want a society built around cars to the point that you cannot reasonably live your life without one.
That said, even in a perfect situation with ample public transit and walkable/cyclable cities everywhere, there will still be people in situations who need a car to get around. And for those people I'd prefer it if they would be driving around in compacts like this or smaller, rather than some of the cross-overs, SUVs and pickups you see today.
Some people will always need a car, and practical compacts like this would be perfect for that role.
When I visited Europe, I didn't mind small cars on small roads. It was cozy and felt safe even for cyclists and pedestrians. But in the US I truly hate what cars have become: tank sized SUVs and giant stroads are unholy abominations
@Humanius @praise_idleness That and shared car ownership is an important part of the picture. When everybody owns a private car, everyone has taken on the sunk costs of ownership and feels an urge to drive more to justify it, plus cars dominate the landscape. Having to walk a few blocks to pick up a Zipcar and then pay a rate that to some degree reflects the cost of the trip significantly reduce discretionary driving by those who can walk/bike/use transit.
I live somewhere that very much isn't car dependant, but there's still too many of them and it's still shitty. But I do agree that for those times that they're still necessary, the smaller the better.
I also live somewhere that isn't car-dependent (the Netherlands)
While I would like to see fewer and smaller cars, I don't particularly mind the current state of things over here.
I have a Kia Soul for that reason. It's small, but can haul a decent amount of stuff. The back seats are spacious enough for my tall friends, and with the seats folded down I can even fit furniture like couches and dressers. It also has a low hood, so I probably won't be murdering any children. Gets pretty good mileage too.
I'm not a 100% anti-car extremist, but I definitely wish we had way better infrastructure for public transportation, bikes, and pedestrians in my city. I work just outside the city limits, and my 30-40 minute car commute would be like 1.5-2 hours on a bus. In my current reality I am chained to my car, so I went with one that I felt fit my needs without being horrific.