I've noticed a large increase in what I call "idiot cars" in Denmark too, these giant monstrosities that seem impractical in every way except for driving through smaller cars and making sure the driver survives whatever incompetence lead them to buy it in the first place.<p>I feel it might be time to legislate this, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to drive a very large car, like, you live 100 miles from the nearest town and there are no roads, only swamp, marsh and desert between you and the grocery, or you haul around your pet cow all day.. Good, have your car, you need it.<p>In every other case. You don't and you're an idiot helping to accelerate the problem as this now becomes a weapons race on the road, nobody with a normal-sized car will want to drive it surrounded by idiot-cars, as they're simply too dangerous to be around in anything besides an idiot car.
As for the "why": I'd love to learn about all of the historical and regulatory incentives here. From what I've managed to cobble together, this is partly due to CAFE standards[1], partly due to Section 179 of the US tax code[2], and possibly(??) due to contractor demand[3].<p>[1]: In 2006, the NHTSA adopted a "footprint" approach to CAFE standards, where fuel efficiency standards are set based on the vehicle's wheelbase multiplied by its average track width. I haven't dug into why this is the case, but people seem to agree that this results in less stringent fuel economy targets for larger-sized vehicles. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy</a><p>[2] A key piece of U.S. tax code, Section 179 allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment up to $1M(!) For trucks, the vehicle must have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) over 6000 pounds to qualify for the Section 179 deduction. This incentivizes businesses to purchase larger, heavier trucks. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_179_depreciation_deduction#Large_vehicles" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_179_depreciation_deduc...</a><p>[3] A friend told me (citation needed!) that the ability for a truck bed to carry 4x8-foot drywall sheets is often advertised as a selling point (is this true?). I suspect a lot of this is just the US market lusting after "bigger is better", but I'd love to hear anything others know about this.<p>Anyone have details they could add to this?
I've always driven a small car and it's what I prefer to drive. They're easy to handle, I like being able to not worry as much about navigating tight curbs, and fit into smaller or "small car only" parking spaces, etc.<p>But man, sometimes I pull up beside one of these absurdly huge modern trucks and I'm basically just staring at their wheels. It's terrifying to think if I collided head-on with one of these, they'd probably just run me over. Or the entire truck body would shave off the top of my car, along with my head.<p>It makes me want to upgrade to a stupid big vehicle too, just for my own safety.
Given how horribly the biggest trucks drive around me (NYC suburbs), I’m all in favor of treating trucks like trucks.<p>If you’re over 3000lb then you get speed limited to 55, require additional driving licensing for the heavier, more cumbersome special purpose vehicle, etc.<p>Treat trucks like trucks and encourage behavior in the direction that’s societally appropriate.<p>The cars overtaking me the most are 5,000lb F250s and 2500s doing 80+. They’re the same ones racing on 25mph residential streets, and over taking school buses.<p>The size and protection is a moral hazard that causes incredibly bad behavior.<p>And that’s before you get to the morons with the serious lifts and 35”+ tires, deliberately rolling coal as they drive around.
A lot of the analysis on this issue relates to the supply side of the market - manufacturers maximising margins and increasing safety standards - but the demand side plays a role too. For the past fifteen years, we've lived with negligible interest rates and (for most people) stagnating wages. This encourages consumers to cut back on small-ticket items but splurge on items bought on credit (mostly houses and cars).<p>This environment is crumbling: many older people went into retirement (or were forced into it) during the pandemic, and many working mothers found that the cost of childcare exceeded their contribution to the household finances; this reduced labour pool coupled with increasing interest rates (in part a response to that smaller labour pool) will push car buyers to be more thrifty. I expect to see smaller cars return to dealer forecourts in the next couple of years, especially in Europe.
Ughhhhh -- yes, I constantly dream of a pickup truck on a car-size chassis, and often mentally hack off the back of cars on my jogs to imagine what they'd look like as trucks (my version of imagining girls naked ;-))<p>* The Auzzies had an old version of this: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)</a><p>* There's an awesome Tesla pickup truck mod that I'd buy long before the Cybertruck: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35gWBtLCYg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35gWBtLCYg</a>
As my modest contribution to the battle against SUVs/crossovers/other bloat, I am attempting to popularise the term ‘bimbo box’ - the credit of which belongs to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash
I don't believe that it is the end. Because small cars make more sense than big ass SUVs from a whole lot of angles: safety on the roads, energy efficiency, parking, traffic in cities, cost for the consumer.<p>It is a policy failure that we ended up in this situation, a hard one to fix, but I still think that it is inevitable that we will revert to smaller vehicles, eventually.
Cities should start putting in bollards that prevent wide vehicles from passing but let narrow ones through. Make the bollards retractable into the ground. If you want your big-arse vehicle to go through, you have to stop and then pay 10 $/£/€
Some say that traveling educates, meantime people coming back from a travel to US immediately turn into "I want big-ass loud intimidating pickup occupying two parking spaces!"
There's actually a new class of cars that doesn't go by the name: L7e. L7e is the EU's name for light electric cars. 90 km/h top speed, 200 km range. Cheap.<p>While small "cars" might disappear, I think the L7e class will see a lot of improvements.
Is there a street-legal modification we could make to small sedans that would massively increase the risk of death to an SUV/truck owner (and ideally only that) in the event of a collision? Until the lethal calculus is equalized, the arms race is going to continue. SUV drivers have to start dying.<p>I know it sounds extreme, but the fact that they <i>don't</i> die and that the <i>other guy</i> dies instead, is the entire reason they <i>choose</i> the SUV, even if they don't say it.<p>Until that changes, the best-response function is just going to keep returning "bigger SUV".<p>This is literally a matter of life and death, so fucking play to win. You need something like MAD, but specifically targeted at SUVs.
This video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM</a> explains why small pickup trucks can't really be sold in the USA anymore. This explains the drive to larger pickups, but I don't know what explains the drive from cars to trucks/SUVs.<p>We were considering a wagon when we bought our last vehicle, an SUV. The ability to occasionally carry more than five people was the deciding point. I believe crash standards prevent the selling of wagons with a "wayback" anymore.
This is true.
I'm in the UK and cars are getting bigger and uglier for no reason, just like taller versions of existing cars. People don't realise that big cars look stupid.
Oh the unintended consequences of government regulations. CAFE and Section 179 incentivize larger vehicles, so the market reacts rationally and fills that demand.<p>P.S. I love small trucks with big wheels.
While the author rightfully decries the bloating of the Rav4, it's pretty close to a perfect size for a couple who consistently travels outdoors. Our '14 Subie crosstrek just shit its transmission out and we migrated to a used pre-facelift Rav out of necessity, being in a small city with little pub transport and poor infrastructure.<p>I just really, really wish a carmaker would make something that size, and put it on a real 4x4 platform. AWD is okay, but if you're really gettin' out there, sometimes you just need that extra capability. As of right now, there's basically no true 4x4 out there that has decent cargo space and isn't absolutely gigantic. New Jeeps are as big as old Hummers (which used to be considered massive), the Bronco has piss-poor cargo space for just how bloated the thing is. The 4Runner is getting bigger almost every year.<p>There simply are no worthwhile new, small, capable vehicles for sale. A Rav4 or Outback sized body-on-frame 4x4, with an 8 speed auto or 6-spd manual, good suspension, cupholders that fit a Hydroflask, and some sturdy roof rails and a hitch to hold a bike rack is the ideal outdoor vehicle, imo. Toss in the new niceties like wireless phone charger, CarPlay/Android Auto, and blind spot detection, adaptive CC, etc. to make paved driving a bit nicer, and you're golden.
In the US, small trucks disappeared because of the EPA mandates for fuel mileage. The idea that there is no market for them is plain wrong. Even small trucks like the ranger got much larger because the engines are not efficient enough to meet the EPA mileage and emissions requirements for small wheel base vehicles.<p>The idea that the move to larger vehicles is due to an arms race or due to insecurities is simply wrong. It may appear this way but the truth is that mileage requirements drive design including wheelbase. The EPA requirements are frequently revised and are too aggressive to allow any of our beloved small cars and trucks to exist on the road today in any form.
It's hard to know what to mourn more here: the subsumption of NSU into Volkswagenwerke AG, or the demise of Citroën in the USA. Both manufacturers had genuinely fresh ideas; both provided truly mold-breaking machinery.
They are disappearing for the same reason as stick-shift cars or small phones. Consumer demonstrate with their preferences they think bigger is better.
Don't worry, they are disappearing in Europe as well, mostly (imho) thanks to ever stricter security standards. I read that it's very hard to design a small car that adheres to modern standards.