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.
I prefer smaller cars. Every once in a while I browse what’s available in new cars. Every time there are fewer and fewer options in the compact/sub compact category. I guess I’m just going to hope nothing ever happens to my Civic (which is honestly larger than I’d wish) because I don’t know what I’d replace it with.
Of course giant vehicles as a share of sales is going to increase, when that’s 75%+ of what is available to buy.
There are almost no truly small cars available in the U.S. The only recent one I can think of is the Smart, and they’re pieces of shit.
I was going to say the Ford Fiesta but then I saw it was apparently axed in 2019? And took the Mazda 3 with it (same platform). I think you can still get the Honda Fit.
Uh, as your attorney I advise you to buy a Miata. I guess.
Honda Fit is gone too. The VW golf and Toyota Corolla are still around!
The Golf isn’t exactly a small car, either. It’s just a Jetta with a hatchback. The real VW small car that we don’t get in the states is the Polo
The Up! is our smaller one. The Polo seems like it’s gotten bigger over the years.
Are they even selling Miatas anymore?
Yes. They also teased an “electric powertrain” version a little while ago, although there are no details on it (i.e. whether it will be a BEV or hybrid).
Nice. If I could ever afford another car, maybe they’ll make them as BEVs.
I would not recommend a Ford Fiesta. I have a 2012 and it’s laterally falling apart. Side mirror started to sag on the passager side guess it was a common issue. Trim around the windshield is dry rotted along with all the other trim. Only saving grace for me is that’s it’s a manual. The automatics liked to explode because of really bad Ford designs in that era of car. Focus has the same tranny issues as well
Yeah, we had a Focus of that era for a while which was an automatic, and the transmission was a pain in the ass too. It started bucking and juddering and jerking every time you took off from a stop, and I ultimately cured it by draining and refilling the special $40/quart Ford DCT transmission fluid. We got rid of it shortly thereafter.
I drove a rental Chevy Spark around on one trip. The size was fantastic. The engine was crap.
Hey! Smart cars are/we’re awesome!
The only smart car I’ve driven was the single worst driving experience of my life. I think that was in 2010 though? Maybe they’re better now?
I mean they aren’t a comfortable ride with the short wheel base, but for the utility that is driving they’re pretty great.
Really? I’ve never been in one, but I have read that the interior doesn’t muffle very much of the noise and the suspension is really poor (the tiny wheels probably don’t help there).
Yeah they aren’t a Buick and to expect them to be is the wrong way to look at them. As a “point A to point B” vehicle they’re perfect.
I drive a mid-size sedan, and I feel like a minnow swimming with whales when I drive. I’m not planning on buying a bigger vehicle myself. But I really hate how SUVs and stupid-big pickup trucks are 80% of what I see on American roads.
Civics ain’t small cars anymore.
I know, crying shame. I have a 2008 and can’t just get another one when it dies. I just need 4 seats, so already I have more than I need.
Yep, my last car was a Civic and it was way too big for me. The second car I had was a 1986 Toyota Corolla and it felt ‘average’ to me, but it would be considered a small car now.
I was sad to see the new Hyundai electric cars just look like small hatchbacks in photos. IRL they’re bigger than my Volvo
This pissed me off. The new Hyundai Kona EV’s release is nothing but “we made it bigger!” The battery range isn’t even longer by a noteworthy amount… Just “bigger and look how futuristic” cringe.
The key reason I got the 2020 was that it was the only EV that was comparable in size to my old Honda Fit. Making it bigger is the absolute worst thing you could do.
I used to love mini coopers because they’re tiny. Apparently not even that’s true any more :(
Yep, Mini Coopers are quite popular in my neighborhood. They used to be a dream car for me, but now they are just as big as everything else.
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.
Auto makers are not offering small vehicles anymore.
…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.
Yes, it’s all individuals fault… Nothing to do with lack of regulation via political corruption…
It’s been shown through statistics: People who drive Trucks and SUVs mostly use them to pick up the kids from soccer practice and haul groceries. Only a sliver of them actually use their trucks for hauling anything.
They really need to start owning it and just driving fucking minivans, they drive the “big truck” to make up for their flaccid, basic lives.
Meanwhile I’m hauling big chunks of wood I found on the side of the road in the trunk of my Corolla
People decided that minivans were “wimpy” and “for soccer moms,” so now they’re a stigma around them. I dunno, I wound up being foisted a rental Nissan Quest at one point for about a week and it was pretty alright by me.
I do own one of those massive trucks everyone hates (but not really, it’s a 90’s Silverado that’s well before the stupid trend of putting the hood line nine feet in the air for no reason) but I only ever drive it when I need to move a Big Dumb Object. The rest of the time it lives in my driveway, which is most of the time. When I need it, it’s clutch. The rest of the time, it’s a stupid vehicle to use as a daily driver.
If its parked, its not contributing to pollution.
I think your way is the best way to approach owning a truck. Not a daily driver, mostly kept to move big objects.
That’s exactly my rationale. I have other more fuel efficient vehicles if I just need to move myself, which is most of what I do on a daily basis. My Honda Metropolitan gets 117 MPG… I have an electric bicycle as well.
Someone from the fuckcars contingent will inevitably jump down my throat about this eventually, like always, and say “jUst rEnT a TrUcK!!!” But that’s a huge pain in the ass, requires driving something to the truck rental place anyway, is full of terms and conditions and provisos, and my truck is so old and worthless that it literally costs me less per year to register and insure than renting a small U-Haul twice. So they can fuck right off in my case.
Can confirm. Have an aunt who is like 5’5" and drives a Toyota RAV4.
Never uses it for anything she couldn’t use a sedan for. But it’s big!
I disagree.
They drive a big truck/SUV because driving is the most terrifying and dangerous and deadly thing they do on a regular basis.
Are you really calling people basic and flaccid and suggesting they should drive a van because it fits that description? I’m not sure who you’re talking to, but that’s not painting a picture of a vehicle anyone would ever buy.
I own a minivan because I give zero shits what you or anyone else think about what I drive, but our next vehicle will be a SUV because minivans aren’t actually superior in any way once your kids are over about 7, and they aren’t really commonly made. Beyond Toyota, who even makes them? Chrysler has gone from the Town & Country to the Pacifica which is basically an SUV with sliding doors. No one wants minivans so no one makes them. Probably because people call them basic and flaccid.
People commonly overlook that safety standards for SUVs and light trucks are less stringent than they are for cars. That’s one reason they are marketed so hard to the public. They are cheaper to make and they can charge more.
And yet people believe they are safer.
SUVs also have easier emissions restrictions than small cars. Regulatory bodies have been really dropping the ball.
Are buyers going for bigger cars because they actually want them, or because manufacturers are pushing them harder due to tax breaks and emission laws?
Both? Besides myself I know very few people who would choose a small car if a big one is available.
Trains would help
Literally having smaller cars available to buy would help. There are very few cheaper aka smaller car options, and even fewer that are marketed well. They have no reason to make small cars when they have spent decades cultivating the market for SUVs and trucks.
Agree also. I wish we could buy a 1.2L engine car with a 5 speed transmission and manual windows. No iPad on the dash. That is all anyone needs, extremely simple to repair, low impact, but alas…
And as someone who needs a truck, why can’t we just buy a simple body on frame pickup with a single cab and an 8ft bed anymore? It is so hard to buy a truck these days that can actually do work. I don’t need an entertainment system or heated leather seats in my truck lol.
My parents have a '93 Ford ranger, single cab, 7ft bed, 4cylinder engine, manual locks and windows. It’s been plenty of truck for just about anything we’ve ever needed a truck for, and for a 30 year old vehicle it manages to get around 20mpg, which is not to shabby even for a lot of modern trucks or SUVs.
I would love to be able to buy pretty much exactly that truck with a roughly equivalent modern engine that gets as good or better MPG and maybe a small horsepower boost. I don’t need it to be a towing/hauling monster, or go faster or anything, I just need it to carry some lumber from the hardware store to my house, some camping gear a few times a year, the occasional couch or refrigerator, and maybe once in a blue moon a small load of firewood.
I also would not mind 4wd/AWD, because that truck is kind of shit in any kind of bad weather or gravel, but I don’t exactly plant to go off-roading with it or anything, the worst it would ever be likely to see is some shitty gravel roads or parking lots in national parks, so that’s negotiable, I just have to not drive like a moron.
You can’t buy sedans? Mid-size? Compact?
Anything would help. No buses, trains, sidewalks, bike lanes. You can’t even ride an escooter or the like.
But what about profits!!!??!?
Huge cars are a problem enough in the U.S., which has fairly modern, and thus wide, streets. I don’t know how people can even drive around on narrow medieval European roads with those.
Too many. In Europa it’s the same. Around 30% of new cars are SUV‘s. And it’s not the people, it’s the corporations that drive this trend. They earn more on this huge cars. (And silently killed all small cheap cars. Only China is building small cheap cars) And guess what the industry whisperers say, what the solution to this is?
Buy even more SUV‘s. That is the solution!!! Ahem, of course they’re electric. But keep buying big costly cars!
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Tax by weight, because heavier cars mean more wear on the roads.
California already does this through registration fees. My 2010 Wrangler was $280 to renew the past October, my new work truck will probably be close to $900/year.
It could work! Although, if you’re already getting a $50,000++ SUV it’s going to take a pretty big number to make you rethink your purchase.
Some other regulation to dissuade companies from selling bigger vehicles would help.
Maybe do something to raise the price of gas so filling up a 20-40 gallon SUV looks a lot less affordable than an economy car. (Of course that would also fuck the economy silly but so will climate change).
I kind of miss the small 2000-2400 lb cars of the 90s. My little 2 door Sentra SE-R got 25 mpg city and 35 mpg hwy and always fast passed the emissions dyno test.
I was comparing the Corolla, 2000 and 2023 model years. While the new one gets slightly better mileage, it is 600 lb heavier. I’m assuming the weight is in part due to the reinforced cabin and doors and a bazillion miles of wiring for all the additional computers and electronics. I wonder what kind of mileage a 2500 lb car would get with a modern drivetrain.
We already do. Gas taxes are incredibly common and bigger cars use more gas (thus pay more tax).
Gas taxes aren’t enough. They’re a fixed amount, rather than percentage and rarely change so have dropped way below inflation. I remember seeing an infographic here that they’re well under half the road cost in most states
That won’t work when they’re all electric
Electricity taxes are also incredibly common. Bigger electric cars use more electricity and thus pay more taxes as well.
Restrictions on bigger cars would also help.
Our US legislation actually incentivizes large SUVs and trucks because they have weaker emissions requirements.
Are we so confident this change is due to consumer preference rather than manufacturer availability?
Small cars are less profitable.
Small cars are also regulated away. The bigger the car the easier it is in the US to make it pass emissions standards. Literally the law designed to push for more gas efficient cars results in larger, less gas efficient cars.
What happened to the emission credits auto manufacturers had to buy and trade? Seems like this would help the problem.
The first step is reduce. Reuse and recycle do not matter if we don’t reduce.
Part of the drive I would say is a sort of twisted arms race of personal safety. Not just the big alpha bois wanting to broadcast big dick energy, but timid and mild mannered folks too not wanting to be crushed by a mini monster truck. Not realizing their own tank is threatening the safety of other drivers. That’s the kicker for me, tiny cars arent inwardly dangerous, big vehicles are outwardly dangerous. I dont think it’s something that’s gonna naturally come down. Like many problems in life it’s probably solvable by more public infrastructure so folks can just opt to not drive at all, with no worries of even the most lifted truck overpowering the train you’re riding on.
I think this is a big part of it too. I personally know that my mom has said specifically this as the reason for getting an SUV over another sedan. She wanted to feel safer and higher up when driving along other bigger vehicles.
I have to admit that being one of very few cars among a see of trucks and subs could get a bit disconcerting. I held out the longest of anyone I knew but it was too frustrating not being able to see anything
My old Mazda Protege was the perfect size. (Think Honda Fit but a foot longer trunk.)
We need a banksy type movement. Putting stickers on oversized cars in urban areas. We can’t stop you from buying a pickup truck and driving it in an area with perfectly good mass transit but we can make you annoyed while you peel a sticker off
A bit more extreme than a sticker: https://www.tyreextinguishers.com/
And further again: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-65203745
1 easy step to getting your ass kicked and then arrested for vandalism, and then having your own car insurance getting jacked up because you get listed as a high risk individual.
This is a pretty easy way to get shot here in the US
Lots of easy ways to get shot there from what I read. Just one more for the list.
Yeah I am not doing that. On the off chance this blocked an ambulance someone could literally die.
There’s also a very good chance of you getting beaten up.
Yeah not something I plan to take up in my country either.
