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How can you actually call that an SUV? (I guess they got away with it for the X)

by dlgeek 8y ago

onychomys 8y ago
Is it supposed to be? It looks a whole lot like the Model 3. Maybe a hatchback version of that. It looks like most places are calling it a "small crossover", which is basically just a sedan with a couple of inches of extra space in the back.
- dlgeek 8y ago
  Elon himself on stage called it a "midsize SUV".
  - dr_ 8y ago
    It apparently seats 7 people. I don’t know any sedans that can do that.
    - sjwright 8y ago
      At the risk of being that person, the Tesla Model S can.
      - r00fus 8y ago
        Do the rear facing child seats count? Also you can’t install those after market.
        sjwright 8y ago
        Who said you could install them after market? Are there any cars on the road that let you install additional seats after market?
      - tqi 8y ago
        https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/tesla-model-s-third-row-seats-are-suitable-only-for-kids/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/tesla-model...
        sjwright 8y ago
        I dunno how many crossover/midsize SUVs you've sat in, but few of them have third row seats and the ones which do are rarely suitable for adults.
    - semi-extrinsic 8y ago
      The Toyota Prius can seat 7. This looks a lot more like that than any sort of SUV. That's the kind of overlay I would want to see.
- azhenley 8y ago
  A lot of sedans are actually longer than SUVs (when I was looking to buy a car I had a spreadsheet with all the dimensions). Eliminating the trunk and lifting it a few inches seems sufficient to call it a crossover or SUV.
zaroth 8y ago
They say it has 66 ft³ of cargo space. An Audi Q5 has 53 ft³ of cargo space and Q7 has 69.6 ft³ (with seats folded), so... If it comfortably seats 7 adults and can actually haul that much cargo, without being a lumbering hulk of an actual vehicle, I'd say that's a feature. Admittedly some people want to drive a lumbering hulk of a vehicle down to their local elementary school or shopping mall, but perhaps they have to stick with ICE for now.
- lazyjones 8y ago
  It's obvious that the large cargo space in the standard version and the optional 7 seats are mutually exclusive.
  - ec109685 8y ago
    At least with the X, they fold down.
    - kylec 8y ago
      But they still take up volume in the back
- 7e 8y ago
  The Model S has 60 cubic feet of cargo space. Is it an SUV?
  - function_seven 8y ago
    I'm reminded of Meet the Parents ("I have nipples Greg. Can you milk me?") I'm sure my parents' Caprice station wagon had more volume. That's also not an SUV. But car categories are definitely blurring these days. A lot of so-called SUVs just look like cars with the roof bulged up a few inches and a juice to the ride height. It's weird. The BMW X6 is an ugly abomination in my book ("let's take a car, and just... inflate it a bit, yeah?")
    - 8y ago
RyanCavanaugh 8y ago
Looks pretty similar to a Subaru Crosstrek in terms of size and shape, which is generally called an SUV or SUV Crossover
- sliken 8y ago
  Indeed. I have an love my 2004 Forester XT. The new forester is MUCH larger and drives like a boat, no Turbo, and they added a CVT. The new crosstrek is near identical in size to my forester XT, but is MUCH slower. So I put off buying another Subaru and am looking closely at the model Y.
azhenley 8y ago
He said the X stands for "Crossover SUV". Take a look at the Jaguar I-Pace. I think it is a particularly odd classification of SUV.
manicdee 8y ago
Crossovers are — and I intentionally oversimplify — half way between a station wagon/minibus and SUV (4x4 wagon). The main features are higher ride, more head space (the roof of the Y is significantly higher than in the 3), more seats, hatchback instead of a trunk, and flexible seating. The X and Y are well into crossover territory, they aren’t minibuses or SUVs.
JohnJamesRambo 8y ago
Yeah I was expecting an SUV and thought I got my wires crossed, it just looks like a car.
- alkonaut 8y ago
  Isn't the whole "a truck isn't a car so an SUV must not be a car" is an americanism based on some weird US regulation history? Outside the US SUVs are cars. And the largest SUVs such as the X5/Q7/XC90 are built on the same platforms as their non-suv siblings. The truck-based-original-SUV isn't a thing except in the US I believe.

How can you actually call that an SUV? (I guess they got away with it for the X)

by dlgeek 8y ago

How can you actually call that an SUV? (I guess they got away with it for the X)

Is it supposed to be? It looks a whole lot like the Model 3. Maybe a hatchback version of that. It looks like most places are calling it a "small crossover", which is basically just a sedan with a couple of inches of extra space in the back.

dlgeek 8y ago
Elon himself on stage called it a "midsize SUV".
- dr_ 8y ago
  It apparently seats 7 people. I don’t know any sedans that can do that.
  - sjwright 8y ago
    At the risk of being that person, the Tesla Model S can.
    - r00fus 8y ago
      Do the rear facing child seats count? Also you can’t install those after market.
      - sjwright 8y ago
        Who said you could install them after market? Are there any cars on the road that let you install additional seats after market?
    - tqi 8y ago
      https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/tesla-model-s-third-row-seats-are-suitable-only-for-kids/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/tesla-model...
      - sjwright 8y ago
        I dunno how many crossover/midsize SUVs you've sat in, but few of them have third row seats and the ones which do are rarely suitable for adults.
  - semi-extrinsic 8y ago
    The Toyota Prius can seat 7. This looks a lot more like that than any sort of SUV. That's the kind of overlay I would want to see.
azhenley 8y ago
A lot of sedans are actually longer than SUVs (when I was looking to buy a car I had a spreadsheet with all the dimensions). Eliminating the trunk and lifting it a few inches seems sufficient to call it a crossover or SUV.

zaroth 8y ago

They say it has 66 ft³ of cargo space. An Audi Q5 has 53 ft³ of cargo space and Q7 has 69.6 ft³ (with seats folded), so... If it comfortably seats 7 adults and can actually haul that much cargo, without being a lumbering hulk of an actual vehicle, I'd say that's a feature. Admittedly some people want to drive a lumbering hulk of a vehicle down to their local elementary school or shopping mall, but perhaps they have to stick with ICE for now.

lazyjones 8y ago
It's obvious that the large cargo space in the standard version and the optional 7 seats are mutually exclusive.
- ec109685 8y ago
  At least with the X, they fold down.
  - kylec 8y ago
    But they still take up volume in the back
7e 8y ago
The Model S has 60 cubic feet of cargo space. Is it an SUV?
- function_seven 8y ago
  I'm reminded of Meet the Parents ("I have nipples Greg. Can you milk me?") I'm sure my parents' Caprice station wagon had more volume. That's also not an SUV. But car categories are definitely blurring these days. A lot of so-called SUVs just look like cars with the roof bulged up a few inches and a juice to the ride height. It's weird. The BMW X6 is an ugly abomination in my book ("let's take a car, and just... inflate it a bit, yeah?")
  - 8y ago

RyanCavanaugh 8y ago

Looks pretty similar to a Subaru Crosstrek in terms of size and shape, which is generally called an SUV or SUV Crossover

sliken 8y ago
Indeed. I have an love my 2004 Forester XT. The new forester is MUCH larger and drives like a boat, no Turbo, and they added a CVT. The new crosstrek is near identical in size to my forester XT, but is MUCH slower. So I put off buying another Subaru and am looking closely at the model Y.

azhenley 8y ago

He said the X stands for "Crossover SUV". Take a look at the Jaguar I-Pace. I think it is a particularly odd classification of SUV.

manicdee 8y ago

Crossovers are — and I intentionally oversimplify — half way between a station wagon/minibus and SUV (4x4 wagon). The main features are higher ride, more head space (the roof of the Y is significantly higher than in the 3), more seats, hatchback instead of a trunk, and flexible seating. The X and Y are well into crossover territory, they aren’t minibuses or SUVs.

JohnJamesRambo 8y ago

Yeah I was expecting an SUV and thought I got my wires crossed, it just looks like a car.

alkonaut 8y ago
Isn't the whole "a truck isn't a car so an SUV must not be a car" is an americanism based on some weird US regulation history? Outside the US SUVs are cars. And the largest SUVs such as the X5/Q7/XC90 are built on the same platforms as their non-suv siblings. The truck-based-original-SUV isn't a thing except in the US I believe.