Japan has a microcar category that has much lower operating costs as well as lower fees. The vehicles are intended for local use. The so-called Kei cars started with tiny engines - a 360cc limit, but have gradually grown to a 660cc displacement limit (still tiny by Western standards!) and a power limit of 47 kW. They have become sophisticated with automatic or cvs transmissions, airbags, forced induction engines, air conditioning and so on...
I doubt they would catch on in the US, but they probably fit part of the profile for a multicar family and would save serious money. Here is a current example from Toyota - over 70 mpg and a price with taxes of under $10k. You can get a four wheel drive variation for a bit more, but the fuel mileage drops to 63 mpg. It would park almost anywhere with a 11 foot length and a width under 5 feet - the turning radius is 14.5 feet.
$8/gallon gasoline would probably bring them to our shores... This class of car may be the first to find a serious expansion of electric cars. They are small and light meaning you don't need big battery packs. The expected driving cycles mean 100 mile ranges are probably ok for most drivers. Many of the current visions of megacity cars are based on platforms of this size - or even a bit smaller...
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