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They obviously have real tangible benefits. I regularly use my SUV to haul stuff that would not fit in a car while also maintaining the ability to fit passenger
by nickthegreek 3y ago
They obviously have real tangible benefits. I regularly use my SUV to haul stuff that would not fit in a car while also maintaining the ability to fit passengers when I am not using that space. While being lighter than a van.
- mitthrowaway2 3y agoMinivans usually have a very low front hood with decent visibility. I'm not sure why SUVs don't have the same.
- hnav 3y agoBecause it makes them look uncool. See how Mazda discontinued the 5 for a bunch of CUVs that fit less stuff in the same footprint. Somehow a lifted compact car with slats for windows is cooler to the average person.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoElectic minivan costs over 100k, while tesla model y around 40…
- mitthrowaway2 3y agoEVs usually feature a frunk, so I don't see any reason they can't have a nice low front hood with good visibility and pedestrian safety.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoIt's impossible to even see front hood on tesla model y which sorta sucks for parking
- ddlatham 3y agoYou can get the Pacifica plug-in hybrid for about 50k before tax credits, or a used one for 25k.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoAaah, the worst of both worlds.
- tecleandor 3y ago100k? Doesn't a Ford E-Transit go for around 50K? Although I feel like there's more variety here (Europe) for electric minivans having Citroen, Nissan, Ford, Fiat, Mercedes, Opel... electric models that don't seem to arrive to (or survive in) the US market.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoVolvo EM90 is $114,000
- tecleandor 3y agoBut that's not even available in the US!
- hnav 3y agoWe need wagons/estates, but those only do well in select markets in the US, pretty much only blue intellectuals would buy one over a crossover.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoSienna/Odyssey/Pacifica/Sedona cover this segment.
- eep_social 3y agoI disagree, I think a wagon or estate can be designed to look cool, like the Audi RS6 Avant, to take it to the extreme, a minivan not so much.
- slt2021 3y agohave you seen Kia Carnival ?
- eep_social 3y agoI had not! Looks like it was the Sedona in North America until recently, which I have seen. Kinda looks like a minivan wearing a SUV trench coat. Not bad but I’m not in love ;)
- ajuc 3y agoThe problem with "cool" station wagons is the same as the problem with SUVs - they are less useful than "uncool" ones. My father had VW Passat and now he has Audi A6. Passat Station Wagon (what we call kombi in Europe) fits 2 big bicycles inside without disassembling them. Audi A6 and similar doesn't even fit 1 because of the angle of the rear window. Of course SUV also wouldn't fit 2 bikes inside, but still - you buy kombi for a reason. Making them cool to the point of breaking the usability is stupid.
- bdavbdav 3y ago
- lotsofpulp 3y agoA minivan can fit more people and has more cargo room than an SUV. There is zero reason to get an SUV other than status signaling, and/or wanting to be the bigger vehicle in a collision.
- nickthegreek 3y agoMore people at more weight for many minivans. My vehicle is the size I need for my needs. I don't need to hold 8. Why do I want to add another 1,000lbs to lug around. Your answer is worse for the environment than an SUV.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoYou might be referring to compact SUVs. 3 row SUVs are basically the same weight or more than minivans.
- nickthegreek 3y agoOh wow, there are like 5 different classes of "SUV". This only further complicates conversations around this vehicle class. I drive a VW Tiguan, which appears to fall under the compact SUV.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- zombielinux 3y agoNope. My SUV has the capability of hauling all the people and their stuff I regularly have to while ALSO towing a fully loaded horse or stock trailer. I skip the missing pickup truck bed by using a trailer (that I can tow with our old car too). I fully recognize its size and how if I didn't have a farm it would be 100% unnecessary.
- 1-6 3y agoIs it a SUV by the true definition of one or a crossover? The term SUV has been manipulated to the point that unibody sedans on larger wheels now qualifies as an SUV at a dealer showroom.
- ajuc 3y agoMy grandpa hauled more in a cheap trailer behind a 23 HP, 650 kg Fiat 126p than you can fit inside an SUV. It was a little extreme but that's what everybody had. You can fit more in a station wagon like VW Passat than in an SUV and it will be more efficient AND safer. There's no reason to waste fuel every trip accelerating all that useless mass other than fashion.
- trgn 3y agoExactly. This exact combo used to be captured by a trailer.
- nucleardog 3y agoI don’t know why, North America just doesn’t “do” trailers. It’s pervasive—many vehicles that are rated to tow a pretty reasonable amount in other countries (UK, Australia) say not to tow with them in Canada and the US. My wife’s car is rated to tow 1,650 lbs unbraked… in Australia. In North America, it’s rated “No.”. Everyone here thinks towing == big truck, and I can see why they would think that. When I moved to an acreage everyone (including my wife) told me it was time to sell the “fun” car and buy a truck. Instead I spent $500 on a 5x10 utility trailer. I regularly tow that 5x10 utility trailer… with a Subaru WRX sports sedan. The thing weighs 3,300 lbs, has something like 280HP and 260ftlb peak torque, massive brake rotors, etc. At a 10% tongue weight, I can hit nearly 3000lbs on the rear end. It accelerates and brakes like there isn’t even anything there. The only time I noticed any real difference was when I had ~2500lbs on there between the trailer and some concrete patio blocks. I had to downshift from 6th to 5th going up a steep incline to maintain a bit over 60mph. I can fit a full 4x8 sheet of plywood or a stack of 8’ lumber in there without it hanging out the back (unlike most trucks). My car gets notoriously bad mileage, yet I still get better fuel economy towing the trailer than my wife’s crossover does carrying two adults. And when I’m done I take the trailer off and get sedan fuel economy. Oh, and it can very comfortably carry four adults while doing this (five if someone wants to cuddle up in that middle seat). Rear seat will fit three car seats at once if your life has taken that sort of turn. In the _very_ rare situation that that’s not enough… I can go rent something. I have way more respect for people that can at least admit “I’m going to pay a $40k premium and burn twice as much gas because I want to.” rather than try to justify it as “I need to haul something twice a year and U-Haul doesn’t exist.” or “Yeah, but I need it for the snow.”. (That’s a whole separate rant, but snow tires people. I’ve used my car to pull Jeeps out of the ditch because they thought 4wd + mudding tires was a good winter setup.) That went a little off the rails but… yes, trailers are the answer you’re looking for.
- verve_rat 3y agoI lament the loss of station wagons.
- morepork 3y agoA station wagon (essentially the same vehicle, but not as tall), or a minivan could do the same, surely? The only thing an SUV is better at than those vehicles is some serious offroading
- alamortsubite 3y agoEven then, SUVs and pickup trucks are poor choices for off-roading, due to being extremely heavy and having long wheelbases. For driving on dirt roads, they're fine, but then so is a station wagon.
- jjav 3y ago> I regularly use my SUV to haul stuff that would not fit in a car Depends on which SUV and which car, granted, but on average SUVs don't have that much interior room. Particularly given their huge size one would expect them the have huge cargo capacity, but most of them don't hold more stuff than your average sedan. > While being lighter than a van Not usually. According to [1] mid-size SUV average around 5000lb and full-size SUVs are 5300-6000lb. Vans are from ~4000lb to ~6000lb with most models around ~5000ish. So weights are pretty much the same. Unless you have a tiny SUV, but then it can hardly carry anything. [1] https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/how-much-does-an-suv-weigh https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/how-much-does-a...
- liamwire 3y agoAllow Australia to introduce the concept of: the ute. Functional tray and carrying capacity, without the pedestrian murder potential of the Yank Tanks™.