Shrinking the Garage

On 2024-09-21 I had written a weblog post titled Objets trouvés = found objects. It mentioned the destruction of the Red Bridge in Kamloops. The post was mainly about objects found in Muustrøparken, the sculpture park in Straumen, 13 km east of Cliff Cottage, where we live. In that earlier post, I admitted regret that I had not taken a photo, but promised to include it in a future weblog post. It is a photo of a very simple garage, the one shown above. In it there is space for exactly one vehicle (on the right), and a compact workshop (on the left). I wanted to include this photo because it shows the maximum space most people have at their disposition if they want to work on/ play with a vehicle. I did not want the doors open, because I wanted everyone to use their imagination to envisage the interior of the garage. For example, I would want an assembly/ finishing/ inspection/ test/working/ workshop pit.

Four years ago today, on 2021-10-29, a weblog post titled Downsizing the Garage, updated an eight-year old post, from 2017-10-29, Stuffing a 10-car Garage. Now, it is time to make a new update, Shrinking the Garage. During these three iterations, the number of vehicles has declined from an initial 10 in 2017 to 6 in 2021 to 3 in 2025. Originally, I had been aiming at four vehicles: a pickup, a van, a rural passenger vehicle and an urban passenger vehicle. Then at the end of 2025-04, Slate was announced. It allowed a pickup to be transformed into a SUV = rural passenger vehicle. Then I discovered the Honda N-van E FUN, which was a van/ MPV = Multi-Purpose Vehicle. At the beginning of 2025-04, I had expected to rely on a Hyundai Inster as an inexpensive urban vehicle. At the time it was expected to cost NOK 320 k. However, when the Nio Firefly was announced it cost NOK 289 k. These prices were far too expensive for families with young children. The Hyundai Inster is now being sold in Norway, at a price of NOK 245 k. This is approaching affordable.

The main selection criteria were: 1) small, 2) inexpensive, 3) battery electric. On 2023-03-05 one source said there were 40 battery electric models available in USA. There are now about 70 models available at the end of 2025-04. In Europe, the Alternative Fuels Observatory claims there have been 371 models available up to the end of 2023. In terms of small, I have tried to find something smallish. Most often I have been attracted to Japanese Kei vehicles. Yes, smallness is more of an art than a science.

Perhaps the hardest criteria to meet has been that of price. Price is always difficult because of a lack of corporate transparency. Consumers do not know how the companies allocate the income from the sale of a vehicle. They suspect that profits are whatever is leftover, but they underestimate the greed of investors. There are four large slices of that pie: material and component costs; labour costs; debt costs; and, dividend costs paid out to shareholders. My suspicion is that shareholders want the largest slice of the pie. This is difficult with EVs, because these vehicles have large material and component costs.

Then there is the problem of software. I have not been impressed with the software on Buzz. It is almost adequate. German society does not do software well. Indeed, I worry that almost the entire automotive software industry, outside of China, should receive a failing grade. Everywhere else, corporations are more concerned about mechanical engineering.

Returning to the opening paragraph, people may be wondering why a garage is so important. The answer is Right to Repair. In the neighbourhood where I grew up, there were youths who had constructed their own hot rods, ideally a deuce (= 1932 Ford, with an emphasis on the 2) coupe = a two seater. Others restored Model A Fords, with varying degrees of success. This does not seem to be done any more, as cars have become more complex and have to meet improved safety standards. Manufacturers are putting limits on what people are allowed to do with their vehicles. The Model A Ford was made between 1928 and 1931, with the model year actually starting in August of the year before, so the oldest Model A is about 98 years old. It is only about six years before those deuce coupes reach the century mark.

With the exception of our 2012 Mazda 5, now owned by Alasdair, all of our previous vehicles have been crushed. At one point, I attempted to buy back our 2002 Citroën Berlingo. However, it too had reached its ultimate fate. I regarded it as the ultimate inexpensive family vehicle in Europe. We bought it with the only two factory options available, a left rear door, and ABS brakes.

EVs are increasing in popularity, and improving, technically and in terms of design. Unfortunately, most of this development is happening in vehicle segments that people should be avoiding . This weblog post presents two EVs made by two companies for four different segments on two different continents. During the year this post has been in development, all of four models originally selected have departed the list, and been replaced by others.

The 2025 United Nations COP 30 Climate Change Conference, is scheduled to be held 2025-11-10 to 21 in Belém, Brazil. This is important because it finally takes the climate change focus into the Amazon.

In Europe, auto segments range from A (mini) to F (luxury). In addition there are sports utility (J), Multi-purpose (M) and sports (S). Our current vehicle, a Volkswagen Buzz EV is in the M category.

Pickup

Pickups are as American as pizza, so there would probably not have been many objections if this slot had been filled by any number of American vehicles including, in alphabetical order by brand, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, the Ford F-150 Lightning, the GMC Hummer EV, the Rivian R1T, and the Tesla Cybertruck, There was a time when this list might have also included the Havelaar Bison, the Lordstown Endurance and the Nikola Badger.

With the exception of the Bison, none of the vehicles listed above appeal to me. They are too massive. I saw a Ford F-150 Lightning for the first time on 2024-06-11, on display at TRD = Trondheim Airport Værnes. However, I will also admit, that the first vehicle I leaned to drive on, at the tender age of 14, was a Chevrolet Advance Design 3100 pickup, probably from 1952, in the farm fields of Okanagan Mission, near Kelowna. It belonged to Harry Raymer. Later, in the early 1970s, I drove Ernie Jickles – whose eyesight was failing and was not allowed to drive – around in his wife’s Ford Courier pickup, so we could photograph. The Courier was a rebadged Mazda B-1800. In the late 1980s, in Inderøy, I drove a Nissan pickup working on a lafted house project out in Malm.

I say that because somewhere deep inside me, I am waiting for a 1) battery electric, 2) small size, 3) inexpensive pickup, like the …

Slate

I have actually begun to spell Slate as sla/Te, which can be manipulated to become Te/sla, or even Tesla. Yes, the antithesis of the non-functional Cybertruck. Most of the specifications for the Slate are below the second vehicle under consideration. Slate makes the comparison that its size is similar to to a 1985 Toyota pickup. However, since numerous pickup owners have tried to impress me with their pickup beds, here are the bed statistics for Slate. Yes, that means that almost a quarter of sheets of plywood will stick out. With the tailgate folded down, about 1524 + 483 + 6 (to create a round number) = 2 010 mm of a standard sheet of plywood would be contained leaving 2440 – 2010 mm = 430 mm sticking out beyond the confines of the truck. There should be no problem with width as a standard sheet = 1220 mm in width.

Bed Size

L = 1 524 mm

W = 1 524 mm

H = 483 mm

Honda N-Van e FUN

The N originally stood for norimono, literally a litter, where two (sometimes more) people carry a high-status person, but which in modern Japanese loosely translates as vehicle. The N-Van is only built for the Japanese market, so it is only available with right hand drive (RHD). This is not a problem, but a customization challenge in left-hand drive territories, such as most of Europe or the Americas.

Current available colours are: Frame Red, French Blue Pearl, Admiral Gray Metallic, Nighthawk Black Pearl, Sonic Gray Pearl and Platinum White Pearl. Discontinued Colours: Premium Yellow Pearl, Surf Blue and Pink. When buying a used N-Van, the exterior colour is not an issue. Indeed to negotiate a lower price, I would even accept some fading, or minor rust damage. I would want to repaint it a fairly unusual colour such as turquoise.

The interior is fully black instead of having grey interior trims seen on many kei commercial vehicles. It is also equipped with a high-performance dust collection filter compatible with PM2.5, an optional special package for driving navigation possibly not suitable outside of Japan, front two speakers, and USB jacks for charging, with 2 quick charging compatible types. Two accessory sockets (DC12V) are fitted, of which one is located at the passenger seat, and the other is at the left rear panel in the cargo area. The rear seats also comes with headrests. The door mirrors are retractable. The front two windows have heat shield IR/UV cut, while the front windscreen has Super UV protection as standard. For the sliding door, rear quarter and tailgate, privacy glass is standard equipment.

So, what is the real reason for promoting a right-hand drive (RHD) vehicle in a left-hand drive (LHD) country? First, it would be interesting to work on a small, inexpensive, battery electric vehicle. Second, I am attracted to vans, not sedans or coupes or even convertibles. Third, this is not a high priority item for me, so I would prefer to schedule it at a time of my life when I don’t have other obligations, such as between 2033 and 2038, when I am between 85 and 90 years old, what some people would call overtime. One of my goals would be to transform it into a LHD vehicle.

There are other models that could work equally well, these include the newly launched design triplet EVs:Toyota Pixis Van, Suzuki Every and Daihatsu Hijet (All made by Daihatsu). These have about 200 km of range. There is also the older Mitsubishi Minicab MiEV. Beyond Japan, there is the South Korean Kia Ray. Of course, another approach is to take an ICE Suzuki Jimney or Subaru Sambar or an older Daihatsu Hijet and convert it to an EV.

This could make a great runabout for Shelagh on her 50th birthday in 2039! Hopefully by then she will have a driving license.

Hyundai Inster

At one time in Norway it seemed that almost everyone over the age of 70 was driving either a Suzuki Swift or a Hyundai i10. The Swift 4×4 hybrid is still available, but I am uncertain how many people are buying it. It costs NOK 345 k. The i10 has been replaced by the Inster. Except, the Inster seems to have attracted younger and more feminine drivers.

Having written a weblog about the Hyundai Casper, I feel no need to repeat myself. Most of the relevant information about the Inster is found at this link. One videograph described the Inster as: More for Less, or was it Less is More.

Company	Model	Segment	Country
Slate	–	Pickup => SUV	USA
Honda	N-Van-e FUN	MPV	Japan
Hyundai	Inster	Crossover City Car	South Korea

Vehicle type	Slate	N-Van	Inster
Acceleration 0-100 km/h (s)	4.0
Passenger accommodation	2 – 5	4	4
Range (km)	550	230	327
Charging Speed 20-80% (minutes)	20	30
Top Speed (km/h)	200		140
Power (kW)	380	47	71
Mass (kg)	2 000	1 060	1 335
Length (mm)	3 861	3 395	3 825
Width (mm)	1 854	1 475	1 610
Height (mm)	1 676	1 950	1 610
Wheelbase (mm)		2 520	2 580
Ground clearance (mm)
Base Price

Yes, some data is missing, so the table will be completed as relevant data emerges.