The increasing popularity of ultra-heavy SUVs in England means a conventional-engined car bought in 2013 will, on average, have lower carbon emissions than one bought new today, new research has found.
The study by the climate campaign group Possible said there was a strong correlation between income and owning a large SUV, which meant there was a sound argument for “polluter pays” taxes for vehicle emissions based on size.
The US did something similarly stupid. We based our fuel economy standards on the size of the car, and enforced high percentage reductions on smaller cars than larger. A small truck might need a 30% improvement in economy over previous models, while a larger truck can get away with a 20% improvement.
So manufacturers stopped making smaller cars.
Average economy is worse now than 30 years ago, because CAFE standards incentivized much larger vehicles.