I don't know how difficult it would be to make the car compliant with US specs. It might be trivial (especially if it was designed along those lines) or it could require major reengineering. I honestly don't know. Some of the specs like safety glass are non-issues. Others, like emissions requirements, could possibly be tough to meet with a diesel. I'd like to see cars like that on the US market soon and predict they'd sell a lot of them.
I don't know if I'd buy one or not because of concerns about driving it on snowy roads. I had 6" of snow in my driveway this morning from an impressive overnight storm (have you ever seen "thunder-snow?") - snow driveability is a major factor in my purchase decisions. It would meet my needs for 90% of the year but it doesn't make much sense to me to have to have another vehicle to meet my needs when the weather is bad.
One thought that occurred to me is that the 20 HP LS model would be a natural for a hybrid-electric setup like Honda uses. Honda essentially adds a 15 HP electric motor along with the necessary compoents for regenerative braking and battery powered acceleration. The electric motor would greatly help acceleration and would be powerful enough for a lot of city driving without needing the diesel power much of the time.
Off Topic » in reply to Does it say if the car has what is needed to make it U.S.-legal?
Not that I saw
The whole thread (41 posts)
- 157 mpg car to go on sale soon.
- Having looked it over a bit, I have some comments.
- Basic version only goes 75 mph. Not sure I can drive that slow. (n/t)
- I want a one-seat car
- How much does it weigh? How many does it carry? How much trunk capacity? (n/t)
- The LS model is probably too underpowered for the US market
- It's a Beauty