Hi MM, There are at least a couple of levels to this in Europe. One level is of smaller cars. I believe the VW Lupo and the Polo fit here. They are both smaller than a Golf/Jetta-Bora/New Beetle, but easily reach highway speeds. They can go long distances, albeit one would want to stop and stretch frequently. Then, recently I have been seeing more of the three and four wheel vehicles which are totally enclosed against the weather and are classed as motorcycles. Their classification depends upon the maximum engine displacement, which I believe is 50 cc. They don't reach highway speeds and are frequently seen tooling along the shoulder of the road being passed by the larger vehicles. They are great for city use as they go fast enough for city traffic, are much much easier to park, and are relatively inexpensive.
I can still remember something of a 'duh moment' a bit after I first went to Europe and I first realixed that the VW Beetle that I considered to be a small car, was a large car by the European standards of the time. Still today, one sees plenty of the smaller VW Polos and similar sized cars. Clearly there are larger vehicles, which are basically the same as the imported European cars seen in the US market, but the percentage has to be fairly low. The vast majority of the vehicles would appear to be VW Golf sized. Part of this is the different transportation model seen in Europe when I first went there. Cars were mostly used for transportation locally, and often only when the city bus wasn't available or convenient. Many people didn't have a car. Any travel between cities was by bus or train. I think Europe has moved slightly away from this model as cars have become more popular, more divided highways have been built, and long distance car travel has become more accepted. Derek > Thanks for the info. If true, this would fill in a gap. I've heard from > several builders of proposed "city" type cars, or smaller cars that were at > highway speeds or maybe only went to city speeds, that some sort of problem > like > this with DOT regs is the factor in preventing them from reasonable access to > U.S. markets. The REVA people, when I spoke to them, were already on the road > with hundreds of cars in India and maybe one or two other places, and were > keen > to come to the US, if not for this type of problem with DOT regs. The car was > designed here but had to be made and sold elsewhere. > > Funny, but I've never heard anyone go over this issue outside of these > discussion groups and outside of industry people. I don't think I've ever > seen > a news article on it. > > About the Honda you mention: I never knew about that tiny little Honda until I > saw an ad for their resurrection of the small little convertible idea and they > had some history of the matter as to the first car they brought here. > > MM > > On Mon, 10 May 2004 08:36:43 +0000, you wrote: > > >Hi, > > > >Back in the mid-70s Honda began importing into the US market their first > >car. > Earlier they had just imported motocycles. A friend of mine had one and he > loved > it. Unfortunately, after a couple of years that model was discontinued and > Honda > only imported larger vehicles. I was told that the DOT regulations were > changed > to require cars to have a longer wheel base than that early Honda. At the > time, > I thought it was for safety reasons. Now, I wonder if there wasn't some other > reason why those regulations were put into place. Anyway, when I lived in > Europe > in the 80s, I often saw neat small city cars, like the Fiat 500 and the > original > Mini. Again, I was told they weren't exported to the US market because they > were > too small to meet regulations. So...my take on why the VW Lupo and the MB > Smart > Car aren't in the US market is based on these DOT regulations, not on some > sort > of problem with the engine. And, that is why they are considering an upsized > model of the Smart Car in 2006 for the > >US market. If we want to see these small fuel efficient models in the US > market, even just for city/town use, something needs to be done about the DOT > regulations which require a minimum wheel base. > > > >Derek > > > > > >> I wonder, will Smart make the little SUV (Smart Urban Vehicle?) weigh in at > >> 6,000 lbs to qualify for the tax write-off? ;) > >> > >> Ryan > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: Neoteric Biofuels Inc [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 7:38 AM > >> To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > >> Subject: Re: [biofuel] Re: smartcar > >> > >> > >> > >> RE: name...Maybe SUV "Sport Utlity Vehicle" is a name that needs > >> reclamation anyway...the ones out there now are neither sporty nor > >> utilitarian. > >> > >> Edward Beggs > >> > >> > >> On Thursday, May 6, 2004, at 07:51 PM, Brian wrote: > >> > >> > "Smart" does have plans to start marketing in the US in 2006. They > >> > are designing an SUV for our market, and not planning to market the > >> > fortwo here. Isn't Smart SUV an oxymoron? I'm thinking that the > >> > name of the company says it all when it comes to why they're not > >> > selling in the US. No market for such a product here. > >> > > >> > Brian > >> > > >> > --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, murdoch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> On Thu, 6 May 2004 17:11:34 -0500, you wrote: > >> >> > >> >>> Murdoch, > >> >>> > >> >>>> Isn't this partly an issue of Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel not being > >> >>>> commonly available here, yet, the way it is in Europe? If the > >> > fuel > >> >>>> appropriate to how they designed the engine were common, > >> > wouldn't they > >> >>>> be more inclined to sell the vehicle here? > >> >>> > >> >>> I'm not familiar with the fuel requirements of the Lupo. > >> >>> > >> >>> However, ULSD is only a few years away in the US, market wide. > >> >>> > >> >>> Todd Swearingen > >> >> > >> >> I think, by one measure, a few years is probably not that much > >> > time. > >> >> A refinery engineer, looking at the costs or difficulties, might > >> > have > >> >> a thing or two to tell us about this. > >> >> > >> >> But at the same time, I think this few years has been part of why > >> > we > >> >> haven't seen the advent of such cars as the LUPO or many other > >> >> affordable promising mileage-oriented excellent New-Diesel- > >> > Technology > >> >> vehicles in the U.S. > >> >> > >> >> It could even be used as a pretext to prevent (for awhile) > >> > admitting > >> >> the Smart Car. Apparently, though, the diesel fuel in Canada won't > >> >> take the engine out of warranty, so I don't know about that. > >> >> > >> >> As I mentioned, with respect to the Smart Car, I think we should > >> >> anticipate that devilish pretexts will be used to delay or prevent > >> >> admission of something as promising looking as the Smart Car. If > >> > I'm > >> >> wrong, then I will be the happiest about this. I am just erring on > >> >> the side of assuming that "the opposition" (for want of a better > >> > way > >> >> to put a face to a name) will not discontinue operations because > >> > we've > >> >> finally found a promising alternative. > > > > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > > >Biofuels list archives: > >http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > > > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > >To unsubscribe, send an email to: > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuels list archives: > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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