The negative impact on the climate from passenger vehicles, which is considerable, could have dropped by more than 30% over the past decade if not for the world’s appetite for large cars, a new report from the Global Fuel Economy Initiative suggests.
Sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, now account for more than half of all new car sales across the globe, the group said, and it’s not alone. The International Energy Agency, using a narrower definition of SUV, estimates they make up nearly half.
Over the years these cars have gotten bigger and so has their cost to the climate, as carbon dioxide emissions “are almost directly proportional to fuel use” for gas-powered cars. The carbon that goes in at the pump comes out the tailpipe.
Transportation is responsible for around one-quarter of all the climate-warming gases that come from energy, and much of that is attributable to passenger transport, according to the International Energy Agency.
Bullshit! Auto makers are not offering small vehicles anymore.
This is because it’s harder to pass new emission standards if the vehicles are smaller. So they take the easy way and build larger vehicles. This is nothing new and blaming customers or the market for this trend is short sighted.
My wife used to drive a Smart Car for work in Boston. Smart is owned by Mercedes, and they shuttered their Boston Smart dealership a few years ago. There was virtually zero demand for them in the area, despite being perfect city vehicles.
My wife and I would regularly drive it in the city and never had an issue finding parking. I couldn’t tell you how many times we encountered SUVs trying to squeeze into a tight parking spot and eventually giving up, only for us to pull in and park with no problem.
As the owner of a 2016 smart fortwo, they are too expensive, and servicing can be expensive due to mercedes benz. Cute cars, but the price sucks.
Automakers also just aren’t making enough small EVs, and we can’t afford/don’t want a bigger one. We want a small, efficient about-town car that we can use for doing groceries and going downtown. We both work mostly from home, and the only reason we were even considering another car is because we have a kid on the way and might sometimes need 2 cars to split between errands and kid duties. We’ll just stick to our current, fully paid off car for now and wait either until the prices for new cars drop or the battery technology improves so I feel better about buying a used EV.
I think this is a double edged sword; It is easier for auto makes to make a profit on larger vehicles. Example of Ford discontinuing all cars in US except mustang in 2019 because of profitability. Americans feel they must compete in the road arms race because they do not feel safe with larger and larger vehicles. There is more demand for bigger vehicles and bigger vehicles make more profit, naturally this will explode into every manufacturer making larger things.
Next up: Caterpillar will release their ASV (armored security vehicle) to the civilian market and it sells like hotcakes!
I agree, but most customers are still buying. I haven’t liked any of the new offerings so I’m driving my old car and fixing it. If I had to buy, I’d go straight to the used market.
…what? You can’t buy sedans? Mid-size? Compact?
In the US? We’ve got four door sedans and basically nothing smaller. When it comes to trucks, everything’s huge. No mid-size or compacts.