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Blame consumers. That's what they want and that's also what is aerodynamic while maintaining what consumers like. Things like the Prius, Bolt, Volt, etc. are no
by bradlys 6y ago
Blame consumers. That's what they want and that's also what is aerodynamic while maintaining what consumers like. Things like the Prius, Bolt, Volt, etc. are not popular car designs. Electric car makers know that - so they don't do weird shit like those are. America really loves its basic sedan shape. If you constrict yourself to sedan mentality then you eventually get cars that all look pretty similar because they need to be very aero and practical... while also being safe.
- rsj_hn 6y agoKia Soul is boxy and doing quite well. People love Jeeps, they love the old Toyota FJ Cruiser so much that resale values are insane. Landshark is hottest SUV right now, is totally sold out, and has a boxy look. A boxy electric hummer is coming out.
- bradlys 6y agoAll of those are SUVs. You can escape the trend when it comes to SUVs/trucks because you've basically given up on the idea of efficiency but when it comes to regular cars - you can't escape the shape...
- rsj_hn 6y agoThat's a good point. I can't think of an interesting (modern) car design that isn't an SUV. Perhaps the Fiat.
- nikanj 6y agoEnvironmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic, so they just take 5000 pounds of steel and drop in a ginormous engine to make it go.
- rsj_hn 6y ago> Environmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic This is false. SUVs need to meet emissions rules. Mileage rules are applied to automakers for the average of what they sell, allowing them to sell high and low mileage models as long as they meet the average. For federal EPA standards, SUVs and sedans both need to meet the same tier 2 requirements, and of course California applies stricter rules to both. Perhaps you were thinking of the old tier 1 requirements, which had different rules for SUVs? That's two decades out of date. Since 2007, when the transition period ended, the much stricter tier 2 EPA requirements apply equally and make no distinction between SUVs and sedans provided the car weighs less than 8500 pounds. The largest SUV on the market, the Mercedes G Class, weighs 6800 pounds. The average SUV weighs about 5000 pounds, so no, they aren't dropping 5000 pound engines in them.
- bradlys 6y agoAs far as I know - SUVs are classified as light trucks by federal standards. That means less intense regulations on fuel economy and what not. I don't know if that changed recently but when you google it, everything points to that still being true.
- brianwawok 6y agoLots of weird things like this. Just read an article about how bumper height laws in the US do not apply to SUVs. So they can be at whatever height, which causes big problems in crashes.
- rsj_hn 6y agoThere may be differences in bumper regulations -- I have no idea -- but there are no fuel economy or emissions differences.
- rsj_hn 6y agoAgain, this is false. It stopped being true over a decade ago.