The increasing popularity of ultra-heavy SUVs in England means a conventional-engined car bought in 2013 will, on average, have lower carbon emissions than one bought new today, new research has found.
The study by the climate campaign group Possible said there was a strong correlation between income and owning a large SUV, which meant there was a sound argument for “polluter pays” taxes for vehicle emissions based on size.
DeathWearsANecktie@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Emissions aside, those big SUVs are so ugly and unnecessary for your average driver.
paintbucketholder@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s also such a race to outsize other vehicles.
I know SUV drivers who bought an SUV because “everyone owns an SUV, and if you’re driving around in a smaller car, you can’t see anything around you any more.” They’re not even wrong, in some communities it’s getting really hard to participate in traffic of you’re constantly surrounded by much larger, taller cars on all sides.
But of course, they’re now just perpetuating the problem.
epicbomber@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
One thing I noticed the other day while going through a new drive through is that the increase in vehicle size is noticable there. I drive a sedan, and most of the drive through windows near me are level with my car’s window, but the one that I went through the other day was built in the last year or so, and the window was significantly higher up than my car’s.
GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 year ago
Not to mention that they require no additional driver training.
You can pass your test in a Ford Ka, then hop in a 2 tonne range rover the next day.
JokeDeity@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I’ve never even considered that, but it is wild. Like those grandmothers who have spent 60 years driving tiny little cars and then one day their family gets them a fucking tank to drive around in and they suddenly start putting everyone’s lives at risk because they have zero experience behind the wheel of a vehicle that’s at least double the size of what they drove their entire life beforehand.
Flax_Vert@mastodonapp.uk 1 year ago
@GreatAlbatross @DeathWearsANecktie to be fair you cannot drive on a motorway until you pass and then once you pass you can go straight onto it unattended.
MDZA@feddit.uk 1 year ago
And because they’re heavier, there’ll be more wear and tear on the roads too.
Pasta4u@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What do u think a electric car eith its huge batteries would do ?
Telsa model 3 is 3000 pounds
Chevy equinox is 3300
Chevy traverse is 4300
Tesla model Y 4400
Tesla model x 5200
Chevy suburban is 5700
Fedop@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
Oh man this one is so big for maintenance costs, the damage is exponential! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law