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Comment by bitcurious | Hacker News Reader

I don't entirely understand the market for the "city car." Living in the city, the only times I need my car are when I leave it. Maybe half of those trips wouldn't work with this car's range.

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It’s sounds better in marketing materials than “commuter/groceries car” which is basically what most of these things are likely intended for. I suspect a staggering percentage of these will end up as 2nd cars for commuting/school runs/oh crap I’m out of milk etc. It’s not exactly crazy-affordable, affluent two car families are surely a huge part of the target market here. The limited range isn’t really an issue for most in the context of a 2nd car either.

There’s rarely anything all that “sporty” about giant “S”UVs either, one doesn’t have to take the marketing label too literally...

Agree with this. Whenever I go to a city, I tend to leave my car in burbs and public transport in (Cal train when going to SF and Go Train when going to Toronto). Bring a car into the city is a hassle with parking and associated costs. Everyone I know whose recently moved to the city, have usually ditched they cars.

I think it depends on the city. I've lived in the Bay Area, New England, and Dallas. For NYC and SF that's definitely but for Dallas it is not. NYC and SF almost go out of their way to make cars difficult. But Dallas was developed with cars in mind and is rather weak in public transit. I can see a car like this working OK in Dallas, depending on the availability of chargers.

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