I do think that that Americans are largely choosing to use bigger cars with bigger engines that they usually require. There should be a move to small engined, smaller and more efficient autos, but I don't see that in the US.
I think anything smaller than a four-door sedan will be pretty much dead on arrival in the U.S. for most people. I don't see any reason that Americans would start preferring small cars because they're electric.
At least in the US, the danger from newer cars isn't more powerful engines, it's that cars are bigger and tend to weigh more than they did 50 years ago. Some of it is quality-of-life changes (AC compressors are heavy), some of it is a trade-off made for safety or crashworthiness, but a big chunk of it is because Americans have largely opted for big cars -- SUVs, pickup trucks, minivans -- to the point that the 3 major American auto manufacturers basically don't sell anything smaller than a family-size sedan[0].
[0] As someone who loves smaller hatchbacks, this really grinds my gears.
"traditional" US cars - so massive SUVs and trucks with 7.0L V8 engines are not popular because of their sheer size(a car which is "normal" by US standards, like Dodge Ram, can barely fit on an average UK street), fuel economy and insurance - people buy cars with tiny engines like 1.2/1.6L partially because they are more efficient,but also because owning a car with a >2.0L engine would make your insurance and road tax huge(and I am saying that as a person who used to own a 4.4L V8 car in the UK).
Consumers just prefer larger vehicles here in the US, and those same preferences are also becoming the norm in other countries. You can't blame the modern Camry being gigantic on the Chicken Tax. You can't blame larger vehicles being associated with luxury on efficiency regulations.
I know this is a low value comment before I write it, but I just cannot see any possible future where americans buy smaller cars. This level of societal innovation feels inaccessible now.
In the face of severe climate and weather events, I can hear the buyer still thinking "yes, but the larger model is safer in a storm or fire..."
Eh... as the Ford Maverick showed, people in the USA do want smaller and more efficient vehicles. Likewise, the Civic and Corolla have remained in the top vehicles for quite some time. People keep buying F150s because Mavericks became unobtainium really quickly, and the car space (as opposed to truck) has renewed competition from KIA and Hyundai which has dropped the overall sales figures for Japanese and American sedans.
Also, vehicles under a certain size and weight are illegal in many US states so anything similar to a kei car is outlawed. It is therefore unknown whether or not Americans would like even smaller and more efficient vehicles, but demand for some small-ish models seems to indicate that they would.
Americans spend a lot of time in their vehicles. Big vehicles are simply more comfortable and practical on a daily basis, at least outside of a few dense cities. If you're going to be stuck in traffic then might as well have some space to stretch out instead of being squeezed into a compact car. Safety is less of a concern for most buyers.
You can argue that this is irrational based on handling or fuel economy or whatever. But for better or worse buyers prefer size and comfort.
Unfortunately people who like small cars are a minority. Most people want whatever is the current fad, and small cars are out. I do not know how to change this. (come to think of it, even though I prefer small cars I drive a large truck because once in a while I need a truck and I don't drive enough to justify two vehicles)
People buy smaller cars because fuel is expensive, and repairs for the most popular small cars are cheaper since material costs predominate.
In the US, fuel is inexpensive due to a lack of fuel taxes, food and other house home goods are sold in large containers leading to a cost savings if you can buy them and your big car can transport them, and labor is relatively expensive so repair costs flatten out when comparing car models. Lastly roads are huge so no one feels a pinch driving a big SUV.
That’s basically it, the economics of the US make it reasonable to drive a big car.
And yet in the US cars are only getting bigger and bigger. I was looking for a small EV for commuting recently and found that both Smart ForTwo and Fiat 500e withdrew from the US market in the past couple of years.
There are a lot more new SUVs than sedans, and the ratio has definitely gotten bigger over the past 5-6 years.
The reason why US cars are so big are because of recent (within the last decade) safety standards. Cars could be much smaller and more efficient, but because of safety standards...they're massive now.
I disagree with almost all of this. Cars are getting bigger, not smaller. At least in the US. Very few people are interested in an tiny car suitable only for commuting. They want an all-purpose car that they can use for commuting, shopping, and 700-mile/day vacation drives. People don't trust new brands in cars until they've seen them on the road for a few years. Tiny cars and especially two-wheelers are seen as unsafe by most motorists. That goes back to why bigger cars sell better. Look at the number of people driving around town in full-size SUVs or 4-door pickup trucks.
Geez, what nonsense. Obviously, smaller cars serve only a specific market segment. There will always be a need for bigger vehicles for various reasons - big families, deliveries, etc. I'd say the red herring is your post.
The thing is, the efficiency standards of the past two decades greatly shaped the sizes of vehicles produced. Bigger footprint -> lower required efficiency -> easier to meet requirements.
There's some amount of buyers prefer larger vehicles too, but buyers can't buy small vehicles if there are none on the market, and manufacturers won't make them when small vehicles are hard to fit into their fleet economy numbers.
It's an arms race though, most people prefer bigger cars because it makes them feel safer from all of the other big cars on the road.
Also it was actually the gas efficiency regulation that started the arms race, because big trucks were exempt from the regulations so car manufacturers started pushing more people towards buying trucks instead of sedans.
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