• goldenlocks@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My coworker lives in a downtown apartment with a cramped parking garage and bought a full size pickup to drive 1.5 miles to the parking garage at our workplace to write code. I’m embarrassed for them and keep telling them to buy a bicycle

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        A Honda Fit would be marginally better. A bicycle would be vastly better.

        • nexussapphire@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I wouldn’t know, riding a bike around here would be a death sentence. Roadrage can often end in a drive-by in Oklahoma if the news is to be believed and drunk driving is a pretty common sight in the area I live. There’s also no bike lane, usually no sidewalks and long stretches of road without a crosswalk in sight.

        • nexussapphire@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Haven’t you’ve heard! Priuses are cool now. Who knew a major face lift and .5 more liters would change public opinions so much.#Glovebox

          #Glovebox 😂

            • pedz@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              As long as you’re in Europe. Those things could be useful in North America but I can’t see how they will ever get approved in Canada or in the US. I don’t know about micro cars in Mexico and their laws but in Canada, everything between a full fledged car and an e-bike is considered “too dangerous, unsafe, not serious, toy-like” and is generally forbidden to go on roads and/or bike paths.

              For example, in Quebec, it’s illegal to use an e-bike under 18 years old without a scooter licence. So the Ami has no chance at all here, unfortunately.

                • pedz@lemmy.ca
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                  1 year ago

                  They are very different “vehicles”. The class which allows Ami to operate in most European countries does not exist in most North American jurisdictions. A Smart is classified as a car and is road legal but an Ami is considered a quadricycle and as such is usually not considered road legal in most of North America.

                  Where I live it’s not considered as any type of valid vehicle. If it sticks to quadricycle, the law is going to require pedals, limit it to 25 kph and a helmet for the passengers.

                  There are places in the US that have some “neighbourhood EV” laws that make these legal on local roads, but it’s far from being common.

                  So if you are successful in importing one, you will most likely only be able to use it on private land.

                  Also, no insurance company is going to want to insure it.

                  And, to top ot all, the dealer, Stellantis, is apparently much more interested in selling pick-ups to North Americans.

                  …don’t expect to get one through Canadian or USA Stellantis dealer networks. They are 100% obsessed on moving EV versions of Jeeps, RAM pick-ups, the new Airflow crossover and their ProMaster truck offerings.

                  sources:

                  https://citroenvie.com/the-ami-100-electric-isnt-coming-to-us-but-get-ready-for-sarit/

                  https://www.motorbiscuit.com/electric-citroen-ami-coming-us-cant-buy/

          • 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖞 𝕿𝖚𝖓𝖆@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I used to own an HR-V. They’re good cars, but slow as stink. They took something with the wind profile of the CR-V and put the same engine in it as the '06 Civic. Still did like high 30s/low 40s on gas most of the time. So that was cool. Plus, it’s pretty spacious. It just needed like 40 more hp. Or a manual. Or both.

            It was built on the same platform as the Fit so it’s got the neat rear seats that flip up. Seriously useful small car. I once hauled a whole ass 60" countertop halfway across the state in it. I guess they just decided the American market wants to go upsize. The Fit is probably one of the best suburban cars ever.

            At least we can still buy the VW Golf.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Jesus. And I felt guilty for my commute only taking about 10 minutes down a highway. However, I didn’t have a choice because the only access to the industrial park where I worked was from that highway. I still felt bad about it.

    • UnfortunateDoorHinge@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Driving 1.5miles twice a day everyday is a sure way to drain the car battery and multiply the wear and tear on the engine. Short trips are fine occasionally, but sooner rather than later the check engine light will pop up.

        • SheDiceToday@eslemmy.es
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          1 year ago

          It depends. The battery issue is a nonissue, but the short trip can absolutely have an effect. It takes longer for your engine to reach true operating temperature than the oil/water coolant to get to temp. There’s videos out there that can explain the equations for larger engines, but if the drive is less than 15 minutes, it’s likely he’s building up carboxylic acids from nonvaporized water in the pistons. That ain’t a good thing.

        • UnfortunateDoorHinge@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          I’ve owned many cars and ran a van hire company.

          Look at the owners manual in your car, and it will say trips less than a couple of miles are considered severe duty, and the oil needs to be changed more often. Your can get condensation in the engine that can break down the oil faster.

          Cold starts are where most of the wear and tear occurs.

        • bitwolf@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          I believe it comes from a saying that most wear is in the first ten minutes of driving.

          Which I also believe assumes you don’t “wait for the car to warm up”

          That saying. I still find some truth to it. While modern cars can adjust fuel mixture to different conditions. There still is an unavoidable few minutes where the engine runs in an open loop and wear is greater.

          That said, in my vehicle when I listen for the engine to “close” it happens in less than 5 minutes.

    • ZiemekZ@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      This distance is perfect for an electric scooter, even basic Xiaomi M365 will do.