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Motor emissions could have fallen by over 30% without SUV trend, report says (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 11 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/world@lemmy.world

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[-] nous@programming.dev 165 points 11 months ago

Not surprising since car manufacturers lobbied to get them classed as light trucks to dodge the stricter emissions and safety regulations that apply to general cars. Then marketed the hell out of them as there is more profit to be made due to them not needing to comply with as many regulations. And now they are everywhere and are way worst than cars in almost every way.

Funny how yet again the capitalist class chooses profits over any other metric leading to s shittier world overall. Almost like there is a pattern happening in every industry...

[-] foggy@lemmy.world 35 points 11 months ago

This guy does lots of videos relating to government and public roads.

This video sheds interesting light on the piece of the problem you've identified. It's also the reason for a massive increase in pedestrian deaths. Seems like cars got bigger to circumvent a law enacted in an attempted to cut auto emissions, but had several adverse consequences.

https://youtu.be/fEj-pyjA2oo?si=J5utF5B0y7zqpK1H

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 4 points 11 months ago

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[-] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 91 points 11 months ago

BUT THA SAYFTEE OF MAH FERMLEEE

[-] FunderPants@lemmy.ca 66 points 11 months ago

I heard a man once say, no shit, no kidding, that he bought his wife the biggest vehicle they could afford because she was a bad driver.

[-] Chetzemoka@startrek.website 24 points 11 months ago

I knew a lady involved in a rollover accident in one of those old, flawed Ford Explorers back in the day. When she recovered, her solution to deal with her trauma and make herself feel safer on the road was...to buy an even bigger SUV with an even higher center of gravity.

[-] Hasuris@sopuli.xyz 32 points 11 months ago

Fuck dem other peoples kids

[-] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 16 points 11 months ago

And unfortunately there's plenty of truth to this at least for those inside the vehicles. Driving my tiny hatchback in Texas can be really scary some days, the lifted trucks in particular have TERRIBLE visibility and simply can't see sedans. Their headlights are often higher than the roof of most sedans. It's so selfish and makes driving a worse experience for everyone else, propagating them too to get a massive light truck/SUV.

My parents recently sold their sedan for a SUV soley for the added safety and I honestly understand where they're coming from. If I didn't trust my reaction times as well as I do I'd want the same thing despite it making the roads less safe for others in the process.

[-] mindlight@lemm.ee 43 points 11 months ago

Unpopular opinion: For more than 90% of the population a car with an Otto engine volume of less than 1.5l is enough. Anuthing above should be taxed heavily.

[-] zik@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago

Cars should be taxed proportional to the fourth power of their kerb weight, in line with the road wear they cause.

[-] Elric@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

Popular opinion with me

[-] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I've been a fan of little, simple vehicles for a while now. I have had a Geo Metro, Mitsubishi Mirage, and now I have a Suzuki Samurai. In all of these vehicles, I have had to deal with the same issue, when trying to get up to speed: The slowpokes in front of me. No matter how slow I go in my 65 hp little SUV, I end up waiting on someone in a much faster vehicle to get out of the way.

[-] Aleric@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I drive a Prius and agree completely. It's fuel efficient and extremely utilitarian. I can fit ten foot lumber in it, or my two big stupid dogs and our luggage for trips. Even when my wife drives like a maniac, we still get around 45 mpg. We typically end up passing slow moving vehicles on freeway on ramps, despite it having a maximum acceleration of 0-60 mph in about 10 seconds.

[-] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 39 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

a loophole in the cafe standards says the longer the wheelbase the less the fuel economy has to be and the manufacturers find it more cost effective to make bigger vehicles rather than develop efficient engines.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-wants-to-close-the-suv-loophole-that-supersized-cars/

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[-] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 27 points 11 months ago

Also the rest of the world thinks we are weird and love giant cars now. We don't really have much of an option for normal sized cars

[-] LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee 10 points 11 months ago

I wonder what the criteria for SUV is for these studies?

I’m probably an outlier but I switched from a compact sedan to a compact SUV that’s 10 inches shorter in length, 4 inches higher in height, and 1 inch wider than my old car. They are about the same in weight, within a couple hundred pounds, and the new car is about 80g/km lower in emissions.

I technically own an SUV but it’s not super different from a hatchback car.

[-] Elric@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

These aren't the SUVs most people in North America are buying. They don't even sell regular cars anymore just trucks and SUV monsters.

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[-] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

I have a VERY small SUV, and its much the same. Its just a little car with a little engine... and big tires.

[-] Sir_Fridge@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I noticed the same trend here in the Netherlands so don't worry too much.

Pickup trucks are still a rare sight here though.

[-] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

If we are going to leave the carve out for SUVs and Work Trucks, we need to at least:

A) repeal the tariffs on light trucks such as the Isuzu light truck.

B) require a business licence to purchase these "work vehicles", and require a CDL to drive them.

That will reverse this trend tout suite.

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[-] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 17 points 11 months ago

"How to make a car as big as possible without increasing the amount of space inside it."

[-] theneverfox@pawb.social 14 points 11 months ago

We're so fucked.

[-] Aux@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Motor emissions could drop by 100% if we banned ICE vehicles already.

[-] ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com 22 points 11 months ago

Yeah but short term that would be worse for the environment, interestingly enough:

"Almost 4 tonnes of CO2 are released during the production process of a single electric car and, in order to break even, the vehicle must be used for at least 8 years to offset the initial emissions by 0.5 tonnes of prevented emissions annually."

https://earth.org/environmental-impact-of-battery-production/

Do also note that estimated life cycle CO2 for BEVs are lower but not significantly so than ICE vehicles. The numbers do however improve significantly as we move to a more carbon neutral energy grid. Without construction improvements that reduce emissions the cap is at around 1/3 the total pollution for a BEV vs ICE. IF the electricity is produced and delivered without any CO2 costs.

The only real, long term, solution is to rethink transportation. Or some groundbreaking new battery tech.

[-] FunderPants@lemmy.ca 40 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I want to point out that the author of the article you are citing is not an environmental scientist or a climate change expert, but an economist with an interest in the field. The article is not a peer reviewed piece of work, it is more or less equivalent to a blog piece with citations. She is not citing peer reviewed research as far as I can tell, but instead a series of linked 'studies' (including drafts and organizational white papers) of questionable scientific value.

After reviewing, I would not be inclined to put much if any stock in her analysis.

Here is a peer reviewed article for nature, that finds BEVs are actually much , much lower in CO2 production even during pre use than ICE vehicles.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27247-y#Fig3

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[-] anlumo@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

If Americans wouldn’t be so allergic to public transport, it’d be way easier to move away from the whole concept of personal vehicles (except bikes and scooters of course).

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[-] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 9 points 11 months ago

Yeah, the solution is not taking the car for every trip, and having car sharing available so you don't need to manufacture so many cars.

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[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Let me guess, you live in a city and forget that not everyone lives in a city?

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[-] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 8 points 11 months ago

i wonder what else could have been made of the materials in trucknutz

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[-] Rockyrikoko@lemm.ee 7 points 11 months ago

SUVs are just minivans with a small lift and a bit more thought put into body style

[-] autotldr 5 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A report by the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) showed SUVs now represented a majority of the new car market (51%), and the average LDV weight had reached an all-time high of more than 1.5 tonnes.

Automotive companies market SUVs intensively as they provide the most profit: they are sold at premium prices but have a proportionally lower manufacturing cost.

The authors of the report called for governments to place restrictions on vehicle sizes to reverse the SUV trend.

The reduction in emissions from the motor industry has been driven by an uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), which reached 15% of market share in 2022.

The report also said markets with strong growth in this area, such as China and Europe, had the largest annual energy efficiency improvements of close to 6%.

Dan Sperling, the founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, said: “Reversing the trend toward bigger and heavier vehicles is key to achieving more sustainable mobility.

The original article contains 409 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 60%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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[-] fne8w2ah@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Wankpanzery begets wankpanzery.

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Wankpanzery

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this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023

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