A bill that will soon be introduced at the Colorado legislature would allow Japanese mini vehicles on most of the state鈥檚 roads.
Kei cars and trucks, known as Kei-jid艒sha, or light vehicles, in Japan where most of them are made, But many states in recent years, categorizing them as off-road vehicles unfit for roads or citing safety concerns. U.S. buyers can import older kei vehicles for .
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Colorado鈥檚 Division of Motor Vehicles also them last year, though . Some kei vehicle owners, however, say the state is still trying to keep them off the road by refusing to allow them into the emissions testing process.
Now, proposed legislation could settle the issue of the tiny vehicles鈥� legality. One of the sponsors of the coming bill, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, said kei trucks can be useful for farm work and in dense cities where space is tight.
Ad:鈥淲here you need to parallel park, you need to get into narrow alleys, you need to get around traffic, hauling [construction] site stuff, but to be able to do so with a vehicle that鈥檚 the size of a Mini Cooper instead of an F-150,鈥� Hinrichsen said in an interview.
Hinrichsen and other advocates readily admit the micro vehicles, which have top speeds of around 60 miles per hour and can lack modern safety equipment like airbags, are not appropriate for the state鈥檚 interstates and other major highways. His bill would restrict them from such roads, he said.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 absolutely no reason why they can鈥檛 be safely operated on city streets or on farm roads [or] state highways where the speed limit鈥檚 55,鈥� he said.
The bill already has the support of Gov. Jared Polis. A spokesperson said he is 鈥渆xcited to expand consumer choice to affordable vehicles and looks forward to supporting kei freedom.鈥�
Kei vehicles, however, have historically faced opposition from law enforcement agencies, motor vehicle administrators, and auto dealers.
One Colorado kei truck owner鈥檚 kei truck journey started with a trip to Japan.
Ryan Albarelli, a Broomfield software engineer, grew up wanting a truck. But as an adult with kids and bills, he could never justify the of a typical .
Then, on a trip to Japan, he noticed kei trucks and thought one of those might fit in the sweet spot between utility and thriftiness 鈥� brawny truck commercials be damned.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the opposite of a large masculine truck. It is a small, as weak of vehicle as you could possibly imagine,鈥� Albarelli said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 a pickup truck and it鈥檚 cool and people like it. So that enthusiasm is threatening to some people, I think, that sell vehicles.鈥�
Albarelli eventually bought a 1990 Honda Acty once owned by a Japanese tree-trimming company and powered by a tiny 660cc engine. He has to squeeze a knee past the steering column and his head is just inches from the roof. The top speed capable of coming from the three-cylinder engine is about 55 mph.
But the bed is just about the same size as the standard 6.5-foot bed on a new F-150.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to tow a camper with it,鈥� Albarelli said 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to haul an entire bed of gravel with it to landscape your house. But brush or anything you pick up at the Home Depot or any hardware store is going to work.鈥�
Albarelli was able to register and get permanent plates for the larger Toyota. The smaller Honda, though, is stuck in a bureaucratic doom loop. He said he got it titled through his county DMV office with no trouble. But his local emissions testing office has refused to test it, he said.
So Albarelli has revved up his advocacy work, publishing and talking with bureaucrats and legislators. He even started a , Colorado Kei Advocates, though he admits he hasn鈥檛 put much work into that yet. He hopes the legislature will legalize the vehicles so he won鈥檛 have to keep pressing people to let him drive it.
鈥淚 want to have a win-win situation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 agree that we should have restrictions, but I also think that we should be allowing these vehicles.鈥�
Some big players in the state and nationally have fought kei vehicles for years, though.聽
Colorado legislators have tried to legalize kei vehicles before. Failed bills the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association and the Colorado State Patrol in 2015 and 2016.
Both groups declined to comment on the coming bill from Hinrichsen. But Tim Jackson, former president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, said the arguments against legalizing kei vehicles at the state level boil down to two issues: pollution and safety.
鈥淚t does set up a two-tier system on both emissions and safety, and I think it contradicts everything that Colorado as a state has been trying to do,鈥� Jackson said, referencing Colorado鈥檚 various efforts to improve road safety and clean up the state鈥檚 dirty air. Older kei trucks, including Albarelli鈥檚 Honda, lack modern systems like fuel injection that lower emissions.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a national group that represents and lobbies for motor vehicle and law enforcement administrators, kei vehicles across the country for years. The organization did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Two senior officials at the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles and the State Patrol .
The Colorado DMV also declined an interview request. Asked why the DMV proposed and then pulled the rule explicitly banning kei trucks, spokeswoman Jennifer Giambi said in an email that the rule 鈥渁imed to clarify existing state laws regarding vehicle classifications to ensure consistency and better understanding.鈥�
鈥淜ei Vehicles have never been eligible for on-highway title and registration in Colorado,鈥� Giambi wrote, adding that the rule was pulled because it 鈥渨as already covered by existing statutes.鈥�
Albarelli, however, disputes that existing state law explicitly bans kei vehicles, pointing out that he was able to get temporary plates for his Honda and only got hung up in the emissions testing process.
The state鈥檚 Air Pollution Control Division declined an interview request, saying it does not comment on proposed legislation. A spokesperson, however, said the division, 鈥渄oes not have an appropriate testing process for these kinds of vehicles.鈥�
Josh Juhasz, president of Revhard Motors, a Denver-based dealership that specializes in Japanese models, said he鈥檚 imported a handful of kei vehicles for customers who鈥檝e been able to successfully register them in counties where emissions tests aren鈥檛 required.
But, he said, state officials have made the emissions process a 鈥渂rick wall鈥� and so he鈥檚 discouraged potential customers from buying kei vehicles 鈥� at least for now.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see any reason why they shouldn鈥檛 be legal,鈥� he said.
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