The little trucks, known as kei trucks, may soon have a big presence on Colorado roads.
Last week, Governor Jared Polis signed into law. It legalizes the starting in July 2027. Drivers who want to apply to register their kei cars and trucks will have to wait until January 1, 2028, however, in order to give the state time to make the changes to the DMV and emissions systems.
Ryan Albarelli, the owner of a kei truck and an advocate for legalizing the vehicles, watched Polis sign the bill on the back of his 1990 Honda Acty with the bill鈥檚 sponsor, State Rep. William Lindstedt, on hand.
鈥淚 do really appreciate the support of Representative Lindstedt and Governor Polis and his office to help get this over the line,鈥� Albarelli said. 鈥淏ecause at the very beginning of this process, the authority, so to speak, relayed the message like, 鈥楽orry, you鈥檙e never going to get this title. Why don鈥檛 you just go pass a law?鈥� And I was like, 鈥極kay, let鈥檚 do that, I guess.鈥欌��
The new law authorizes a kei vehicle to operate on the state鈥檚 roads and requires the vehicle to be 25 years old, issued a certificate of title, be registered, and to obey monitor vehicle traffic laws. Kei vehicles will be allowed on roads with speed limits up to 55 miles per hour. Albarelli said the bill is consistent with other states鈥� rules and statutes.
鈥淲e went with that kind of concept and I think that鈥檚 a fair trade-off. People really shouldn鈥檛 be taking these little kei trucks on an interstate,鈥� Albarelli said. 鈥淚t can鈥檛 go fast enough. It certainly isn鈥檛 going to be safe in a high-speed rollover or any kind of crash that鈥檚 on the interstate. So, the rule just kind of reinforces it鈥檚 something to keep around town, around where you live.鈥�
has faced its share of opposition in Colorado and other states.
Albarelli, who saw kei trucks during visits to his cousin in Okinawa, Japan, purchased his kei truck from an owner of a Japanese tree-trimming company. He said he always was a fan of small and efficient vehicles. He noted he doesn鈥檛 use his kei truck for daily commutes to work. His family has other vehicles for that.
鈥淚 bought it just as a sort of tool around my neighborhood to go to the grocery store or the Home Depot, that are only a mile from my house, maybe take it to a parade, whatever fun little things to do with the vehicle.鈥�
Albarelli said he was able to get a title from his county DMV. Others weren鈥檛 as successful due to other county DMVs and the Colorado State Patrol鈥檚 refusals to perform emission tests on the vehicles.
鈥淪o, all three parties were sort of pointing at each other, saying it wasn鈥檛 allowed and you couldn鈥檛 really escape from that,鈥� Albarelli said. 鈥淪o, that鈥檚 where we started digging into the law, finding other people that were stuck in the same situation and trying to find what was the best way forward to this problem.鈥�
The Division of Motor Vehicles had kei vehicles last year. But, that proposal was . The Division of Motor Vehicles issued a rule that stated that kei vehicles and mini trucks 鈥渄o not meet the definition of Motor Vehicle鈥� under Colorado law because they weren鈥檛 designed for American roads or North American standards.
Other states have them and categorized them as off-road vehicles, citing safety concerns. But some .
Editor鈥檚 Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Ryan Albarelli in a photo caption.
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