Why Americans have SUVs and aren't going to give them up

[pne]

bradhicks argues why Americans won't give up SUVs even though fuel prices are going up.

Interesting; I didn't know that estate cars/station wagons were fairly unpopular in the States; here in Germany, they're pretty common, I'd say, especially for families with children.

Incidentally, that entry is third in a series of "what American's won't do even though oil and gas[oline] prices are going up, and why not", and in general his journal has some readable rants on various topics; I recommend checking him out. (And thanks again to nou, who recommended him to me.)

Comments

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

I agree with you in general, but it is true that SUVs can carry more stuff than station wagons. My family has both a Civic Hybrid and an SUV. We use the Hybrid much more often (going places day-to-day) but there are times we need the capacity of the SUV (recently, on our beach trip where we had to fit 4 people, luggage, and a ton of beach crap).

I can see the OP's point that SUVs are necessary for their larger carry capacity, but I don't agree with his implied logical conclusion that they're worth the fuel inefficiency for it. If Americans put more pressure on the car companies for fuel-efficient vehicles, I bet the "Hey, look what we just happened to be researching" fairy would pop up and make it happen. Hybrid, hydrogen-engine, and alternate-fuel research is going so slowly because consumers don't care enough about fossil fuel consumption.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

My car (which is not a station wagon) can hold more stuff than my mom's SUV, except that it seats 5 and my car seats 4 (though there is a 5-passenger model of my car).

My husband points out that the flaw in the renting-an-SUV-costs-$800-per-year argument is that driving an SUV on a regular basis (as he argues people should do) costs an extra $850 in gas.

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

You must have some sort of Magical Black Hole Car, because I've had to mode piles of crap to/from storage, and mid-size cars (like my friend's Infiniti) definitely have a limited storage capacity.

Though as I said, I see his points, but don't agree with his ultimate conclusion.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

Well, it helps to believe firmly that Any Space Can Be Made to Hold an Infinite Amount of Stuff. I don't know what kind of SUV you have, but my car (Saturn Ion) absolutely has more cargo space than a Hyundai Santa Fe. It's not as tall, but the trunk is much deeper (it has the largest trunk in its class).



That's the car with the armchair in it. It's in the back seat, not the trunk, so as I said we still had a ton of space left over.

Actually, there was another couple there buying the same chair as we were, and they were still trying to put it into their Infiniti when we left.

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

That is pretty impressive. We have a... umm... it starts with an R.... I think. Tells you how much I care about cars, there. It looks like a Trooper. Isuzu Rodeo, that's it. And it can carry much more than our Hybrid - I couldn't imagine trying to get to the beach with the amount of stuff we had in that thing. And the Hybrid does have a very generous trunk.

I dearly love the Hybrid for day-to-day stuff though. Not only does it have great milage, but it's also a very smooth, quiet ride - you don't realize how much noise normal cars make until you ride in a Hybrid. If I can afford it, I'm going to get one myself when I finally get my own car.

[pne.livejournal.com]

My husband points out that the flaw in the renting-an-SUV-costs-$800-per-year argument is that driving an SUV on a regular basis (as he argues people should do) costs an extra $850 in gas.

Good point.

[pne.livejournal.com]

If Americans put more pressure on the car companies for fuel-efficient vehicles, I bet the "Hey, look what we just happened to be researching" fairy would pop up and make it happen.

That sort of thing has happened in Europe as well, where fuel is more expensive anyway -- car companies had had lower-consumption engines "in their desk drawers" for quite a while but didn't see the need to bring them to market until people started looking a lot more closely at fuel consumption when choosing a new car.

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

Exactly - it happens whenever companies have something new that isn't cost-effective to finish researching/build. It doesn't become cost-effective until consumers show interest in it. That's my mom's pro-recycling argument, too: it might not really be very effective right now, but if people keep doing it it will be effective later.