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The World Is Embracing S.U.V.s. That’s Bad News for the Climate
- ocdtrekkie 9y agoAs someone who moves a lot of computer equipment around, the sedan was painful to work with. So I'm definitely attached to the RAV4 if mostly for the hatchback trunk and fold down seats. I don't have one, but hybrid RAV4s are on the market now.
- joncrane 9y agoAbout 20 or so years ago, the big knock on SUVs was how dangerous it supposedly was for a much heavier vehicle to crash with a "normal" vehicle, e.g. a compact car. Does that hold any weight?
- spamizbad 9y agoI think it depends what you're crashing into. Anything robust and stationary you're probably worse off. Fatal roll-over crashes were significantly worse for SUVs in the 90s, but I believe modern SUVs are now much safer. Accord to this graph (http://bestride.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/deaths-per-vehicle-type-graph.png http://bestride.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/deaths-per-ve...) the safest vehicles seem to be large cars and midsized SUVs. Pickups and large SUVs seem really dangerous. With that said, consider the role of each class of vehicle: Large cars (station wagons, vans) and mid-sized SUVs are all likely "family cars."
- Hasz 9y agoCrashing with a very large vehicle (semi scale) is still incredibly dangerous. Most SUVs are not even close to semi scale though. Large pickups (1-ton) are about ~7000lbs, more if loaded. A semi maxes out (by law) at nearly 80,000lbs, fully loaded. Crash technology has improved so much in 20 years that I would bet the risks posed by large SUVs is negligible, especially compared to a semi or similar. You may find this interesting. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2015 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-t...
- mirimir 9y agoYes, I'm sure that it's so. I mean, it's basic physics. There's more mass, higher center of gravity, and sometimes more ground clearance. So in collisions, the velocity and direction of the SUV change less, and it tends to ride over smaller vehicles. All of which are bad for them. On the other hand, those are all selling points for SUVs. In places with bad roads, especially ground clearance. That's why VW bugs and Ford pickups used to be so popular in Mexico, as I recall.
- impostervt 9y agoI've noticed a growing number of people at my work's parking lot seem to have giant trucks, the type that barely fit into the parking space. Given that they work in IT (as everyone in the building does), I wonder why they need such large vehicles. When my kids get bigger, I'm getting a Fiat (or something small). Seems like it would be more fun and less hassle.
- mieseratte 9y agoLiving in the South, this is all too common. All time favorite was a lawyer, had a lifted F-250 such that the lower bar was about crotch height on my 6'3" frame. It's a "display of virility." The look at me, I'm a real man. I smoke Marlboro Reds and write C++. Fun Fact: With the rear seat down, a Honda Civic can fit reams of 2x4s just fine, with the trunk closed. I've done it plenty.
- Hasz 9y agoAny chance you can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood into a Honda Civic?
- joecool1029 9y agoI can probably do it in the Miata, just gotta put the top down :D
- mieseratte 9y agoBased on the "barrier" between the trunk and rear seat, likely not. You could fit it about half of the way in, and tie it down. Alternatively, Thule racks make it easy to haul over-sized lumber with a sedan.
- unsignedchar 9y agoIs it common for people driving sedans to need to carry 4x8 sheets on a regular basis?
- refurb 9y agoYour rant reads a lot like "stop liking stuff I don't like." Who cares if your coworker likes lifted trucks?
- lawrenceyan 9y agoOr just buy a Model X. :p
- mirimir 9y agoWell, they're 2300-2500 kg. That's about the same as large SUVs, given the battery weight. Tesla Model 3 are 1600-1700 kg, vs 1200-1400 kg for compacts generally. Maybe make a hardened Tesla compact. Add more batteries in the front, plus a serious steel space frame, and depleted uranium armor :)
- rayiner 9y agoConspicuously missing is any attempt to put a number on how much greenhouse emissions would be saved if people who bought SUVs had bought sedans instead. Also: if SUVs are 30% less efficient, it’s the same as someone who chooses to live 10 miles from work versus 13 miles. That’s a difference that wouldn’t even register in conversation much less warrant a New York Times article.
- scythe 9y agoI thought driving distance and speed were both targets of the New Urbanism movement? I would certainly support efforts to reduce them.
- rayiner 9y agoDriving into the city from the exurbs versus taking public transit, maybe. But even New urbanization would find it hard to get worked up over someone driving in from a slightly further suburb versus a slightly closer suburb. SUVs engender disproportionate reaction because of visibility.
- JBlue42 9y agoIt's a bit easier to choose what you drive / commute with than where you end up living.
- candiodari 9y agoBut the problem with that is that the basic assumption is that less energy usage means better for the environment ... except of course ... First of all, that flies in the face of economic logic. Specifically Google "Jevon's paradox" for an explanation. So first of all, this reasoning just isn't true. Second, you want to use things that cost less energy ? That's easy : use the cheapest possible thing. By necessity it will have less energy usage, since energy still is the major cost in pretty much every product. But when you look at the Green movement, you see the exact opposite. The Green movement has very little success among the poor. It's a rich person's game ... and so they have plenty of products they push, Tesla's for example, that are absolutely not good for the environment, but are a high-cost way of "proving" you care for the environment, which of course is a very good way of achieving the exact opposite.
- bryanlarsen 9y agoWhy haven't SUVs fallen prey to the soccer Mom curse yet? Station wagons and minivans fell out of fashion because they were family vehicles. That's what SUVs are now, yet they're still cool.
- MagnumOpus 9y agoThey're cool among soccer moms doing school runs and javascript developers. "Chelsea tractor" is the common ephitet, I think. Give it another 5 years and they will go the way of the minivan in the US. (Problem is China, where they love to warm up US trends from a decade ago, and amplify them hundredfold...)
- bryanlarsen 9y agoI predicted the same thing about 10 years ago. I believe we'll both be right, eventually. But I'm afraid that your 5 year estimate is too optimistic.