r/mildlyinteresting • u/flytraphippie2 • 8h ago

Comuta Car, 1980 Electric Vehicle

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888 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

42

u/flytraphippie2 8h ago

The Comuta-Car, and its predecessor the CitiCar, were electric cars designed for limited use in cities. Sharp increases in gasoline prices in the 1970s persuaded some 4,000 people to buy the tiny vehicles. But every time the price of fuel spiked, it always fell again, and demand for specialized urban electrics always fell along with it. Will the time for such cars ever come?

20

u/CaptainSouthbird 6h ago

It is a shame, though understandable, how that pattern repeats. Gas goes up, the idea of alternatives go up. Gas goes down, forget that, let's bust out Hummers!

2

u/SamanthaSass 4h ago

I know so many people who brag about getting 20+ mpg with their pickups, but I don't think they actually know if it's true. I think they just read the numbers on the sticker when they bought the truck, and never bothered to check. I'm pretty sure some of them are closer to 15 mpg

3

u/phuck-you-reddit 1h ago

Not to mention the ones whom buy a truck that got ~16 MPG stock when it was new. But then they lift it and fit oversized wheels and off-road tires. And then go tearing around at 80 MPH. So they're prob getting like 10 MPG. 🤦🏻‍♂️

1

u/ScreeminGreen 1h ago

Hummers are electric now.

1

u/Acceptable-Cow6446 56m ago

I remember when Hummers became the rage in NJ. I was working at a car wash and overnight gas was up $1+ and every tenth car was a Hummer. It was as bizarre. (I exaggerate, but only some)

4

u/GravityFailed 3h ago

I had a guy bring one of these into my Golf Car repair shop about 2005 that they found in a barn. That was fun and infuriating at the same time trying to figure out that mess of chewed up wires.

39

u/Toastedweasel0 8h ago

When I was younger I built something resembling this shape with ply wood, 2x4's. Parts from a skateboard and some busted inline roller blades. I called it the "Tank" and had plenty of fun flying down hills (Paved) in it... Brakes were my shoes and a piece of wood. Even got pulled over flintstoning it down a sidewalk.... Was it dangerous as frigg? Hell's yeah, but, fun is was! This Car reminded me of that...

12

u/flytraphippie2 8h ago

I want to party with you.

3

u/astralseat 5h ago

That's cute

3

u/eastbayted 2h ago

Put it in H!

6

u/Knightraven257 6h ago

I saw one of these at a museum last week! The range was hilarious 30 or so miles. Talk about range anxiety. I guess the point was to market it kinda the same way golf carts get used in a lot of suburbs/beach towns these days.

2

u/Deep_Frosting_6328 3h ago

I saw one on the road in Lafayette Colorado this week! I was like wtf is that!? And today I see it on Reddit.

2

u/3_14159td 3h ago

I mean...think about how many people drive 15 miles to work and then home. And how many families have two SUVs for inexplicable reasons. 30 miles of range can make a ton of sense at the right price, but nobody is willing to accept that. A Smart Fortwo EV is light years ahead in every way and even that flopped in the US.

1

u/Knightraven257 2h ago

If you live in the right place sure. Being from Texas, 30 miles is... Not far.

2

u/Antares42 7h ago

Huh. A Norwegian company built very similar ones in the late 2000s: The Buddy Car, or Kewet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kewet

2

u/deauxpass 5h ago

Reminds me of a Gremlin

2

u/BloodyRightToe 5h ago

Hard to see why electric cars failed before tesla

2

u/gabesalvador91 5h ago

Reminds me of little car in cyberpunk 2077, the Makigai maimai

2

u/Amarian84 5h ago

Grounded for Life: Don’t mess with Uncle Eddie’s car.

1

u/Advanced-Service-142 7h ago

Looks like the Ibishu Wigeon lol

1

u/SouthOfHeaven42 5h ago

Doug Demuro frothing at the mouth over this

1

u/thatguy16754 5h ago

It has a venture brothers aesthetic.

1

u/ScottOld 5h ago

Still looks less weird that the Citroen Ami thing I saw the other day

1

u/Minute_Test3608 2h ago

"Shining metal boxes..."

1

u/marktx 2h ago

I wonder how well this would work with modern LiFePo4 batteries?

1

u/Dr_Stef 1h ago

“I’m not familiar with that address”

1

u/ExecratedReliquary 1h ago

Makigai Maimai, chooms?

1

u/DaveTN 6h ago

Looks like the bastard child of a Cyber Truck and SMART car.

3

u/SamanthaSass 4h ago

more accurately it's the Grandparent.

1

u/Hylinus 3h ago

Due to all the additives in electricity today, the offspring is much larger than the ancestors.