5 ms·

As someone who travels to the US a lot, I’ve wondered what drives this phenomenon for a long time now as it’s unlike anywhere else in the world for the vehicles

As someone who travels to the US a lot, I’ve wondered what drives this phenomenon for a long time now as it’s unlike anywhere else in the world for the vehicles you see. My assumption had been a snowballing macro edition of one-upmanship that was in the car makers favour so they leaned in with marketing, I had no idea it was legislatively beneficial to go bigger. 4 out of 5 vehicles sold being SUV or Truck is crazy though, no way does 4 out of 5 of the population need that surely.

travisb 2y ago
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You are right that most trips don't need SUVs and pickups, but many families need large-ish, relatively powerful vehicles like the now dead station wagon. But it is uneconomical for car builders to make station wagons, so they don't. Instead everybody who can't fit into an economy car is pushed into an SUV or pickup by practical concerns. On the other side, large and powerful luxury cars are also not economic for car makers to build, so instead car makers add luxury to large utility models. From there it's a trickle-down of cachet so owning a sedan or hatchback is insufficient for those who need or want to fit in with a higher economic class.
redwall_hp 2y ago
My recommendation to fix the problem is a federal highway tax based on the fourth power of axle weight. This also solves the problem of heavy EVs not paying gas tax. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law Maybe couple that with a requirement for a higher license tier with more liability to drive "light trucks," based on the licensing and taxation systems other countries use.
- mitthrowaway2 2y ago
  Absolutely. Alberta implemented a $200 tax on EVs this year, in part "because they're heavier" and create more road wear; if they cared about that they could have simply taxed weight in proportion to the wear it creates. That puts the user fees and incentives all in the right place, and doesn't let heavy IC vehicles off the hook either.
- toast0 2y ago
  Well, we can just add more axles, I guess.
  - redwall_hp 2y ago
    Good thing tollways already price per axle. I think the going rate in New York is something like $10 to cross a bridge, $5 for every additional axle, and more for vehicles over 7000lb. I wouldn't be surprised if there were federal or state laws that would already account for that on noncommercial vehicles.
- quantum_state 2y ago
  Would like to second this … heavier vehicles tend to cause road damage more …
KevinMS 2y ago
The "station wagon" (estate in other countries) and smaller hatchbacks have gotten trashed by american popular culture. But americans still need them, so they replaced them with "tall" wagons, aka, the SUV/CUV, which can also be marketed as being "rugged" because "freedom" sells in america. It really is a tragedy since wagons and hatchbacks are the most practical cars.

travisb 2y ago

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You are right that most trips don't need SUVs and pickups, but many families need large-ish, relatively powerful vehicles like the now dead station wagon. But it is uneconomical for car builders to make station wagons, so they don't. Instead everybody who can't fit into an economy car is pushed into an SUV or pickup by practical concerns. On the other side, large and powerful luxury cars are also not economic for car makers to build, so instead car makers add luxury to large utility models. From there it's a trickle-down of cachet so owning a sedan or hatchback is insufficient for those who need or want to fit in with a higher economic class.

redwall_hp 2y ago

My recommendation to fix the problem is a federal highway tax based on the fourth power of axle weight. This also solves the problem of heavy EVs not paying gas tax. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law Maybe couple that with a requirement for a higher license tier with more liability to drive "light trucks," based on the licensing and taxation systems other countries use.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago
Absolutely. Alberta implemented a $200 tax on EVs this year, in part "because they're heavier" and create more road wear; if they cared about that they could have simply taxed weight in proportion to the wear it creates. That puts the user fees and incentives all in the right place, and doesn't let heavy IC vehicles off the hook either.
toast0 2y ago
Well, we can just add more axles, I guess.
- redwall_hp 2y ago
  Good thing tollways already price per axle. I think the going rate in New York is something like $10 to cross a bridge, $5 for every additional axle, and more for vehicles over 7000lb. I wouldn't be surprised if there were federal or state laws that would already account for that on noncommercial vehicles.
quantum_state 2y ago
Would like to second this … heavier vehicles tend to cause road damage more …

KevinMS 2y ago

The "station wagon" (estate in other countries) and smaller hatchbacks have gotten trashed by american popular culture. But americans still need them, so they replaced them with "tall" wagons, aka, the SUV/CUV, which can also be marketed as being "rugged" because "freedom" sells in america. It really is a tragedy since wagons and hatchbacks are the most practical cars.