Is this motivated by environmentalism or is this about class?
Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
11–20 of 194 posts
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#12Oversized SUV's littering urban landscapes (taking effectively twice the space of a small electric car) are the tangible evidence of how society grows not just unsustainable and unequal, but aggressive and in-your-face.
I don't think there is any other period where the front "face" of a car aimed to create such an ugly, intimidating impression (i am huge and i will tear you apart).
Their popularity speaks volumes about the true psychological state of a good fraction of moneyed society.
While wealth display is always a thing, the manner in which it is done is not preordained, it provides insights into the state of society.
Once car manufacturers realized the larger and scarier the better selling the trajectory was locked.
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#13Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
SUVs are typically shorter and lighter than mid to high class sedans. They just look big, but you can't fit a fridge inside, unlike many station wagons.
You're not from the UK are you?
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#14Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
> Cars should be taxed based on their weight
Why weight in particular?
Two arguments here: 1. SUVs are already taxed on weight indirectly - they consume more fuel which is heavily taxed (50+% in most of Europe). 2. SUVs are already taxed higher because they're more expensive.
In some places in the world (e.g. some parts of Switzerland) there's already a tax on car weight. I do not see it being particularly effective.
> there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. SUVs usually have great visibility because of large windows.
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#15Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
> Cars should be taxed based on their weight Not against that, but there should be an exception for electric vehicles, because these batteries are heavy.
Pollution must be taxed as well, and electric vehicles will have an advantage there.
No need to unnecessarily dictate technology. We want light cars and we don't want pollution.
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#16Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
> Cars should be taxed based on their weight Not against that, but there should be an exception for electric vehicles, because these batteries are heavy.
Hell no, new Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 electric lorry has battery that weights 4500 kg. Add that tyres will wear out much sooner and produce more microplastics pollution killing rivers.
4500 kg is MORE THAN TWO Ford F-150
https://nimbnet.com/news/mercedes-benz-eactros-600-a-long-ra...
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#17Is this motivated by environmentalism or is this about class?
Class... is a tricky definition here in the UK. For instance, the richest person I will ever know drives a crappy wee Japanese hatchback, whilst SUVs are often high-monthly fee status symbols for people who could spend their money 'better' elsewise. shrug
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#18Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
The trouble with that is most of these people would just pay the tax anyway. So you'd only be increasing inequality on the road. In addition, lorries and vans that actually need to be heavy but are nevertheless a public good will be taxed more for no good reason. Taxing everyone based on their exact use of a utility is against the basic point of a public utility.
Instead I think the easiest and best option is just to ban SUVs from the public highway. It is essentially car obesity. Just bigger and heavier for no reason. They even look like obese versions of regular cars. Heavier vehicles have more responsibility and require stricter testing and licensing. Heavy vehicles should always be box shaped because that is the most efficient shape for carrying goods.
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#19After all the talk about fake off-road capability, is a Land Rover Defender really the best example?
I thought that - there's alot of farms where I live in Yorkshire and the defender is the most commonly seen vehicle on them. They're primarily designed for off road mud baths and fit the bill well. I think most (not all) SUVs are designed to be large cars, with off road capability. I'm reminded of the Merc GLE bounce mode :D
Re: Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?
#20Cars should be taxed based on their weight and there should be much stricter standards regarding visibility. There is no reason why most of us should subsidise a few people’s status symbol and their entirely unnecessary use of public resources. Ultimately you should not be able to buy these, at least in their current form, as they serve no purpose whatsoever besides inflating their owner’s ego at a significant cost t…
In the UK you’re taxed more on vehicle excise duty if a car costs more than £45,000 as it’s a luxury.