51–60 of 75 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure having kids is worse for the planet than driving an suv. The rest of your post makes sense though.
This is a disgusting thing to say to someone with children. It's also not true.
It should probably be framed more diplomatically and contain a cite to support it. Probably.
I have one hypothesis for part of the uptick: rear seat room for carseats. I consider myself the SUV hater of SUV haters, and I reject that you need one when you have kids (such is the idea in my part of the US), but...we bought one last year anyway, mainly to accommodate two rear-facing carseats with two adults in the front. There aren’t many cars that make this work, and you’d be surprised how big of an SUV you hav…
Pretty sure having kids is worse for the planet than driving an suv. The rest of your post makes sense though.
Buying an SUV is sometimes due to network effects. If you are in a sedan, it isn't high enough to allow you to see traffic through the windshields of the SUV ahead of you, it's not much different than being behind an 18-wheeler. So as a defensive maneuver, you also buy an SUV...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure having kids is worse for the planet than driving an suv. The rest of your post makes sense though.
This is a disgusting thing to say to someone with children. It's also not true.
I was actually hoping to illustrate with my own little anecdata about how even if you don’t like them, there seem to be various one-way-ratchet effects pushing their uptake, and this was my personal mechanism. Consumer choice doesn’t always reveal preference—I’d much rather there were a car that fit our situation (back issues + loading kids into the seats also played in here).
As with everything else, the answer to combating climate change is Miata.
But I formerly drove a Miata, and now drive an American Medium Size (that's a rest-of-the-world extra large) SUV. Same mileage for both, about ~23mpg.
Buying an SUV is sometimes due to network effects. If you are in a sedan, it isn't high enough to allow you to see traffic through the windshields of the SUV ahead of you, it's not much different than being behind an 18-wheeler. So as a defensive maneuver, you also buy an SUV...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember reading somewhere that the biggest buyers of SUVs (albeit compact SUVs) are mothers / young parents who think minivans are too ugly. SUVs have lots of space for kids and a large boot to take everything from bicycles to shopping. And of course the better SUVs do have lots of safety features. Car manufacturers know this, which is why 7-seater SUVs are now a thing. Luckily they’re also working on hybrid and e…
There is also a thing where station wagons are less and less practical. If you compare a mid 90s Volvo 940 to the latest Volvo V90, the reduction in interior space, exterior visibility and in practicality is huge. Seems to be mostly caused by the trifecta of safer cars (thicker doors etc), better aerodynamics and more styling/design taking up space and making windows smaller.
There's a 1973 video [0] about people shifting away from gas-guzzlers because oil prices have risen so much. I wonder whether we can expect history to repeat itself here: [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClaNhx71XB8