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I truly hope this encourages manufacturers to build smaller, lighter, and slower cars.
by qprofyeh 2y ago
I truly hope this encourages manufacturers to build smaller, lighter, and slower cars.
- revscat 2y agoWhy on earth would you think that that would ever happen?
- fractallyte 2y agoBecause governments could mandate it. Yes, we're at the stage now where democracies need to become far more dictatorial, otherwise their populations will continue mindlessly along the path of 'Tragedy of the Commons'.
- tim333 2y agoYou don't even need dictatorial. Just tax breaks and the like for small light vehicles and penalties for large heavy ones.
- SoftTalker 2y agoThe only thing that will do that is regulation, either mandating the types of cars we can buy, or taxing the kinds of cars we don't favor. People in the majority prefer large, powerful cars, given the choice. And those cars already cost a lot, so any strategy of price increases to discourage them will have to be significant. This is why most people in Europe drive small, economical cars. Big cars are heavily taxed, and so is the fuel they use.
- trimethylpurine 2y agoI drove smaller cars in Europe simply because bigger cars don't fit in many places. I don't think it has much to do with price. Small streets mean fewer drivers. That means your overhead demands that you charge more per customer since you have fewer of them. All that said, smaller roads mean smaller trucks which means more trucks more often which means more tires.
- sigzero 2y agoThe vast majority of people would not buy those.
- tmnvix 2y agoDepends entirely on price.
- fordfordford 2y ago[flagged]
- bdangubic 2y agoexcept there aren’t any affordable smaller cars anymore…
- _carbyau_ 2y agoI see it as less a masculinity problem and more a "common view of physics" problem. IE it's less about masculinity and more about the perception of "winning a crash". Cars can pass all the safety standards they like but the common view is a multi-ton ladder chassis truck keeps the kids (and themselves, their loved ones, friends...) safer than the small city car (containing others). So stupidly sized trucks are desirable... The only way out I think is regulation. Otherwise the "outsizing" will continue.
- rootusrootus 2y agoThat's quite the hot take, more worthy of Reddit than HN. Pickups are super useful. Especially if you live in a place that does not have narrow roads, and if you have a family to tote around. It's in many ways the modern equivalent to the luxury barges of the 70s. Plus, modern trucks are frequently as efficient as a mid size sedan from 10-15 years ago, which is pretty wild. Some of them, like my Lightning, are more efficient than pretty much any car which uses gasoline. Lastly, 80K is a lot even for a truck. The vast majority are more like 40-50K. 80K is a top trim, brand new, no discounts price.
- rootusrootus 2y ago
- chuckwolfe 2y agoA slower car? They already make plenty of them
- porphyra 2y agoI really wish we could buy a Citroen Ami in the US, which is a small, light, and slow (28 mph top speed) electric car for city driving. Plus, it looks super cute!
- jasondozell 2y agoThe US in particular has many oversized cars. Fuel is cheap, the roads are wide and there is a general imperative to get a car bigger than others for safety and status. If this pollution could be used as a means to reduce sizes to something more proportionate to what they’re generally doing it will be a good thing.