As governments encourage Canadians to reduce the automobile's environmental footprint, Les Smith believes he's already done his part thanks to his decision to purchase his Honda Acty.

"It looks like one of those big Hino trucks, only it's been through the wash," says the Vancouver school board worker. "It's very tiny."

The diminutive pickup truck belongs to a class of Japanese vehicle know as kei jidosha — literally, lightweight vehicle. They must conform to strict size and power limits, but in return get generous government tax breaks and special parking privileges in Japan's auto-choked cities.

Sales of kei cars and trucks, as they're called, have boomed, accounting for about a third of the total in a country where gasoline prices are only slightly higher than Canada's, but where conservation is fostered because Japan relies totally on imported oil.

Minicars, including models slightly larger than Japan's kei class, make up about 35 per cent of auto sales in Europe, where drivers pay the highest fuel prices in the world.

The challenge of putting comfort, space and driveability into a tiny package has often pushed designers and engineers in innovative directions. The 2007 Mitsubishi "i" was named Japan's car of the year.

Ottawa promises green tax credits

Environmentalists and transportation specialists believe minicars could be part of the solution to growing urban congestion and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

'What we found with the Smart is you could have a safe vehicle that was small and still fuel efficient.' —Patricia Procter, Transport Canada

Ottawa and provincial governments are encouraging the purchase of gasoline-electric hybrids through tax credits. Vancouver offers 50 per cent discounts for fuel-efficient vehicles parking on city-owned lots.

Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon also announced this month it was expanding research into environmentally friendly vehicles through a new ecoTechnology program.

Transport Canada program manager Patricia Procter says her $15-million, four-year budget almost quadruples the money the previous Advanced Technology Vehicle program had available to evaluate promising automotive technologies such as battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles.

"Our goal is to not only show the consumers what could be available, but actually work and have some tangible results that we would share with the auto industry and the consumers about the benefits of introducing them into Canada," says Procter.

4,000 Smart Cars sold in 2005

The earlier program looked at a number of vehicles, including several Japanese kei cars and trucks, but didn't have the money to do rigorous testing, says Procter. It did manage to facilitate the introduction of Mercedes-Benz's Smart car, a diesel-powered two-seat urban runabout, in 2005.

The company sold about 4,000 Smarts in its first full year but sales slid to just over 3,000 last year — still ahead of expectations, says spokeswoman JoAnne Caza.

Based on surveys and her program's displays at auto shows, Procter says there's some appetite among consumers for small, fuel-efficient vehicles, at least for city use. But North American motorists remain leery of tiny cars in their world, where trucks and SUVs rule the road.

"Consumers had a big fear of the size of vehicle. If it was small it wasn't really safe," Procter says of the car show feedback. "What we found with the Smart is you could have a safe vehicle that was small and still fuel efficient. Large doesn't necessarily mean better."