I'm thrilled that they're finally looking at these issues. I would like to own a tiny pickup, like the old Tacomas, but the way the regulations are written prevents anyone from manufacturing something small and efficient, all trucks are behemoths now. I'd love to kill the trend of making everything an SUV as well. Bring back the more efficient sedans. Families going to soccer practice should have a station wagon or minivan, not a four wheel drive Suburban.
The SUV Loophole was not a consumer decision. It was a bill passed by Congress after lobbying by the big three automakers who had a niche they could compete against the Japanese and the Europeans. Without it, our domestic automobile industry would have died. It won’t be closed unless the big three have another profitable path forward. I expect electrification is that path with products like the F-150 lightning. The vehicles will not get smaller once battery density and price points are met. I’d actually predict them to get larger. If I could drive an electric suburban, charged by my solar array - why wouldn’t I?
IMHO Americans might like these if they ever got a chance to buy them : <a href="https://www.autotrader.co.uk/cars/citroen/berlingo" rel="nofollow">https://www.autotrader.co.uk/cars/citroen/berlingo</a>.
Super practical. Not exactly beautiful but hardly worse than a lot of things that cost 4x the price. Take tons of stuff around with you. Fuel efficient. Affordable new, without a huge income. What's not to like? Well, apart from some people being anti-French, they aren't sold in USA presumably because US car-makers and lobby groups have kept them out.
I've been looking for a new small car in the US. There really aren't any options any more. Even the 'small' cars are all 4 doors and I only want 2. All I can come up with is:<p>Mini and MX-5<p>I'd love to go electric but the Mini-E range is terrible (~100 miles). They are supposed to be coming out with a new version that doubles the range though, so at least that is good.
So regulations on small cars forced people to buy larger vehicles, and their solution is even more regulations, just this time on larger vehicles? How about just relax regulations on the smallest vehicles, making them more feasible?
I’d limit the carveout to trucks with a certain minimum bed size. If you’re using most of the space for seating instead of a cargo bed, you aren’t actually using it as a utility truck.
What's always missing from this discussions is mention of the social norms of the upper middle class who do the bulk of the new car buying and who's preferences determine the shape of the new and used car market. Sure, the CAFE rules are dumb but the behavior of the people who who are spending $50k on midsize pickups and $40k on electric sedans can't solely be explained by a nudge at the margins of tax policy.<p>As long as the people who's demands and preferences do the lions share of shaping the new car market act like stuffing two car seats into anything less than a 3-row SUV or hauling bulk material on a tarp in a station wagon/crossover is some large burden SUVs/crossovers and pickups will continue to fly off the metaphorical shelves. And this is a self-reinforcing pattern. If people feel like buying a lot of vehicle is the kind of thing that successful white collar professionals do then that's what people with that kind of money will do, at least at the margins.
People wanted rear wheel drive, American made, V8 powered cars. Detroit stopped making those, so people compromised and bought pickup trucks and SUVs. Now Detroit will be forced to stop making those.<p>Just let people but what they want.