Sure, measured by our standards in the wes a little van, like the one on this post, is dangerous. Even with airbags, a Little Van’s safety rating would be well under our standards being that the first crush-zone would be your face. Still, trucks like this Little Van are huge on utility.
Their curb-weight begins at just under 2,000 lbs.
A Little Van like this model (there are numerous ones – from many automakers) puts out between 60 to 90 horsepower and 50 to 110 lbs-feet for torque. Engine sizes range from under a liter to about 1.3-liters. Most of these vans are rear drive and have either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.
These babies can hold up to eight (small) people. The load capacities for the Little Van are well over 1,500 lbs.
The ones I’ve traveled in were pretty peppy, even when loaded with six, good sized Yanks and a Chinese driver. They aren’t as tippy as they look from the outside and parking one is a snap.
Some of the newest small vans come with an optional electric powerplant. Some of the more primitive electric vans come with lead-acid batteries and have a limited range of around 40-ish miles and carry less given the weight addition of the batteries. Others are powered my nickel-metal base batteries which give the Little Van greater range and payload capacity.
How cool would it be to have a small fleet of these vans here?
I mean – despite the danger et-all.
Speaking of vans…
