Rat Man
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Back in the 60s gas was cheap and America built and sold mostly big cars with big V8 engines. My first two cars had V8s. As the price of gas went up dramatically American auto makers continued to make big cars with big V8s, completely ignoring the wants and needs of their customers. Japanese companies like Datsun (now Nissan), Toyota, Honda, etc. began selling small, cheap, fuel efficient vehicles here in the U.S. They completely took over the market. Unfortunately these Japanese companies have forgotten their roots. America is on the verge of switching over to electric cars. But have you priced one lately? They average about forty thousand dollars base price. Why? Because they are too big, have more speed and range than necessary, and are loaded up with every superfluous gizmo and piece of high tech crap possible to drive the price up. America and Japan are ignoring what people can actually afford and what they need. I would like to buy an electric for my next car but I don't have forty grand. I don't have twenty grand. But I can scrounge up ten grand. In 1988 I purchased my first new car... a Suzuki Samuri 4X. It was tiny, had a small engine, and was a plain Jane without power steering, power brakes, power windows, an air conditioner... it didn't even have a radio. But it was $8600.00 brand new and was everything I needed and nothing I didn't. I had that car for twenty six years and it is to this day my favorite of all the 4Xs I have owned or driven. China is the Japan of the 2020s. They are about to flood the market with small, cheap electric vehicles that real people can actually afford. Pictured below is the Kandi K27. It has a top speed of 63mph and gets a hundred miles on a charge. That might sound underwhelming but being retired a car like that would suit my needs exactly. And it doesn't cost forty grand. It doesn't cost twenty grand. With state incentives it costs about ten grand. Soon there will be little, cheap Chinese electrics everywhere and once again American auto makers will miss the mark as will the Japanese.
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