2y ago

Australia’s love of big cars is undoing the benefits of the shift to EVs

www.abc.net.au

Australia is obsessed with big cars, and it’s a problem

Australians are driving bigger, heavier, dirtier cars and it's alarming both climate and road safety experts.

A decade ago, sedans and hatchbacks were the most popular cars in Australia. Today, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and American-style utes dominate new car sales and advertising.

91 comments

- How about we allow them in, but make them work in our interests through high taxes and other ownership requirements that more than offset the damage they do.
  
  Also disallow tax writeoffs on 'em
A cautionary tale of what we don't want to become (and are on our way to becoming): These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us
F = ma, or net force is equal to mass times acceleration. That's the physics driving adoption of land barges. Have to have lots of mass to avoid being subjected to deadly amounts of acceleration when the distracted, texting, makeup applying, breakfast juggling driver plows into you in their lifted F350.
- Crashes are actually a shitload more complicated than that. Impulse is a big deal and then you have to factor in the meat geometry of a human and the specialness of various bits of meat.
  Don't throw scientifish nonsense around. Just say big car scary make get big car.
Are we all just going the ignore the fact that the FCIA director's name is Peter Griffin?
Make a suitable alternative for the soccer mums. Most suvs never go outside the city these days
- It's a symptom of the ride height war. When everyones giant arse car is blocking your view of oncoming traffic you either follow suit or literally risk death every time you pull out of your kids daycare.
  
  Obvious solution: periscopes!
We bought an electric recently. Was very upset to have to choose the Kona in order to fit 2 tall people and 2 big dogs. It's a great car but being realistic there's no need for it to be so big.
It seems like the styles now being sold are small hatchback, sedan, and everything else is SUV. Very disappointing to see there's not much middle ground lile the station wagon space or slightly larger hatchbacks. Especially with EVs. Most of my trips are like 40 km at most. I don't need 500 km range with a full car...
- Yeah absolutely. This silly car doesn't even have enough room for a suitcase and the dogs in the back but it's a good head an shoulders above my dad's holden station wagon.
  Part of that is the battery sure (maybe the head part) a lot is also ground clearance. I need a bit of ground clearance sure but we used to manage with firm suspension just fine. If it's shaking the crap out of you just drive slower. No need to tear down lumpy roads at 80 km/h unless you're actually a farmer.
  We are also talking 2 big greyhounds and 2 six foot people, one with back problems that prevent a more reclined seating position, living in the blue mountains. We're not your average family. This stuff is marketed to average urbanites who defs need to be able to fit an entire Holiday's worth of luggage and their whole family on those red pavement roads they take to the school in the morning?
  Surely there's room for more practical stuff ffs.
What's actually going to ruin adoption are the new electric vehicle taxes being introduced
- EVs are much heavier than ICE cars of the same size and wear roads faster so more funding will be needed to maintain everything. Walkability/cycling and PT are the way forward
  
  While it's true that EVs are generally heavier than equivalent ICE vehicles, it doesn't actually make much difference. Heavy trucks account for the vast majority of road wear and tear. Even a comparatively heavy EV doesn't weigh anywhere near as much as a truck.
  The "EVs will wear the roads out!" argument is generally trotted out by people who have been influenced by those who have a vested interest in keeping ICE around.
  It's true that active transport and PT are better in most respects, its naive to think we'll be getting rid of cars any time soon. When people do need to drive, an EV is always a better choice from an environmental standpoint.
  
  PT? Micro mobility/PEVs?
I was at a shopping center and the car park was almost full. Then i saw this dumb bitch in her big ford Raptor , trying to get into the parking lot which is already busy. Looking at her driving skill and face , I knew she'll do something dumb so I took out my phone and started recording. 5 minutes in she side swiped another car. The guy who was driving a VW golf got out and yelled at her in some asian language. I recorded the full thing, its really fun to watch
- it's really fun to watch
  Did you bring enough for the class?
Would they not be driving gas-powered SUVs if not for the availability of electric ones? Are electric SUVs not more efficient than a gas-powered vehicle of the same mass? If so, then that's still a win, just less of one than was hoped for.
- Not necessarily. I bought an electric SUV (BYD Atto 3,) but would definitely have preferred something smaller. I definitely appreciate some aspects of its size, but if an affordable hatchback had been available, I'd almost certainly have gone with that. I could have waited, but there was no way to know at the time how long it would be until something like that was available. The most likely contender was the BYD Dolphin, but at that stage there was no confirmation that it would definitely be coming here.
  While I'm sure many people buy the SUVs because they genuinely want something that size, I suspect a lot of people are like me and are buying what's available.
  EVs are more efficient than an ICE vehicle of the same size, let alone the same mass. But yeah, still a win even if not as big a win as desired. EVs at their worst are still better for the environment than ICE.
A few years ago when the Pulsar was getting a little small for the kids and all their kit, I was looking for a wagon. Something like a Falcon wagon.
For a vehicle class that I thought of as ubiquitous, the options for a simple wagon were surprisingly few. Further, the SUVs were surprisingly economic to run. We're talking a few years back, I forget the exact figures, but the Outlander that I ended up buying was in the same ballpark as a Falcon wagon.
So, I am a part of this statistic, but a bit of the blame needs to fall on manufacturers who pivoted away from medium cars and to SUVs. Electric cars were not on the cards at all. Well out of my budget, and the range of models out today didn't exist, yet.
Yeah, well, sedans and hatchbacks don't tow my caravan into the Victorian High Country.
I'll gladly switch to an EV offroader once I know it's capable of getting my family and I to where we're going, and home again.
- This, or something similar, is what many people think. I wonder how many days in a year these vehicles are actually seeing that intended use, though. So many people seem to buy these large, inefficient vehicles with the intent of using them off-road and/or on family holidays, but what they actually end up using them for 99.9% of the time is just daily suburban commutes. It makes zero sense.
  
  I literally see everyday these idiots with their giant "trucks" pulling their caravans up the east coast. The funny part is they can't even seem to tow them with any degree of confidence or at a suitable speed most of the time. I then see someone in a more humble vehicle that is towing a similar caravan with speed and confidence. It is more a mental issue of size,size,size makes me better.
  
  Saw an ad on Facebook for a ranger the other day, 2 years old 21k km, description read never been off-road, mainly used to go from home to the office. Was selling to upgrade to the new model.
  Also I don’t believe these fancier utes are very suitable for actual work, to much precious body work and paint around the bed of the truck. We have some single cab utes at work, and what gets put on the tray I wouldn’t want to be doing on anything I cared about the looks of. Also the height to get to some of the trays is ridiculous.
  
  I can't speak for others, but I definitely do use mine for off-roading as much as I can.
  Is it as much as I'd like? No - I have to earn the money to afford the hobby. But it's absolutely worth it, especially when I get to show my daughter some of the awesome things we have to offer.
  The reality is that we're a rough, tough country, and getting to see lots of it requires special vehicles.
  The reason this seems so recent is because, previously, 4WD vehicles were either purpose-built, or expensive if they were tricked out to be daily drivers. That made them uncomfortable or expensive.
  With the death of our local car market, it's opened up a much wider, cheaper, more refined set of offerings, so more people can afford to get into the hobby.
- The fuck is in your caravan, there are electric fords that can literally tow a freight train.
  
  Go buy an outback wagon. Not to crossover shit from the last 14-15 years.
  
  It's an off-road caravan, which I take off-road. Ergo, I need an off-road tow vehicle.
- They do if you buy a proper sedan/hatchback
  
  What an ignorant thing to say
- I tow a fully off road van in an old style (ie not American mega truck) Nissan. I have great visibility. Plenty of power and clearance.
  I drove a rental Ford Everest sport or something like that today. The blind spots are insane. The height and width are unnecessary. It's dangerous. It's shit. It should require a special license (with warnings all over it)
  We don't need American style, embarrassing, emotional support machines to tow our vans.
  All we need is appropriate clearance and suspension and enough torque.
  My 'little' Nissan has those things in buckets. I've done plenty of tracks. The old telegraph track. The Cape. On and on.
  I can't wait for this embarrassing, large body panel fashion to pass.
  As mine ages, I'll buy another tow vehicle once this time has passed, and we're back at sensible sized capable tow vehicles.
- It's called a tent. You can even carry some of them on your back.
  
  Each to their own. We enjoy caravanning. Did our time in tents - too much fuckery setting up and packing up.
- Pardon my curiosity...
  From Melbourne?
  Are you able to get away just for a weekend, or a longer stay? How often?
  Also, what's your favourite spot in the Vic high country?
  Ta
  
  Yep, from Melbourne. I generally get away once a month, sometimes twice. If there's a long weekend in there, then definitely as long as that, and will often tack an extra day or two onto it. I also do a two week trip each year with the family, as well as a one week 4WD trip with mates (move each day).
  So many favourite spots:
  Mt Lovick, camp right near the hut
  Just about any of the campsites north of Dargo are really nice places, especially in summer (just sit in the river)
  Pineapple Flat is a definite top three (north of Mt Buller)
  Wonnangatta Station - always fun getting in or out via one of the spurs
  Of course, where we go depends on what we want to do. If we feel like tackling Billy Goat's Bluff (for example), we'll usually use Eaglevale as base camp, and head out on day trips to check out the sights.

91 comments