SUVs Second worst polluters afte power

onwards&upwards

marlot wrote: »

I think it'll sort itself out as people move to electric cars. I think we're just about at the peak for petrol/diesel engines. As smaller electric cars have bigger ranges, people will naturally downsize a little.

From the report "the conventional car market has been showing signs of fatigue, with sales declining in 2018 and 2019, due to slowing economies. Global sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars fell by around 2% to under 87 million in 2018, the first drop since the 2008 recession. Data for 2019 points to a continuation of this trend, led by China, where sales in the first half of the year fell nearly 14%, and India where they declined by 10%."

Of course, there is a secondary problem, in that China and India are building loads of dirty power stations!!!

I hope you’re right, but electric cars are still way out of budget for most ordinary people, especially ones with a decent range. I certainly that change speeds up a bit!

You’re not wrong about China but I find it frustrating that so many in the West use China and India as an excuse not to be bothered about what’s happening here that could be better.

marlot

onwards&upwards wrote: »

I hope you’re right, but electric cars are still way out of budget for most ordinary people, especially ones with a decent range. I certainly that change speeds up a bit!...

It's bonkers that most cars aren't even used for 95% of the time. I'd much rather see a national network of cars easy to hire by the hour. At every railway station, for instance.

reeac

Just a quick snapshot. Lexus IS300h ....44.1 -48.7 mpg. Lexus NX300h 35.7 - 37.6 mpg. The former a saloon, the latter a mechanically identical SUV. These must be "real" data as my IS has recorded 48.0 mpg over the last 700 miles. So, 10 mpg less for the SUV version. Suits me as I borrowed an NX once and found it very cumbersome on the road compared with my nimble IS.

onwards&upwards

marlot wrote: »

It's bonkers that most cars aren't even used for 95% of the time. I'd much rather see a national network of cars easy to hire by the hour. At every railway station, for instance.

That would be useful, but I think most journeys are probably commutes, so hire by the hour wouldn’t work for that. Maybe better incentives for car sharing, or better buses.

facade

onwards&upwards wrote: »

I think you can only prove the things the statistics bear out.

Do you not agree that increasing SUV use and the trend of bigger cars is a problem for the environment?

I have no idea what an SUV is, they seem to be talking about any car that doesn't hit the ground on a speedbump.


I agree that humanity is a problem for the environment. Pointing the finger at a particular type of car is nonesense.


Anyway, we can all go electric, and stoke up the fires at the powerstations to make them the biggest polluter if you like


(I know, they will probably used close cycle gas turbines, but they will still turn natural gas into CO2)

Supersonos

I think you'll find having children is a lot more damaging to the world than driving an SUV.

And, according to an episode of QI, even owning a dog is worse than an SUV.

And I have neither a child nor a dog, so I'll carry on driving my SUV, thanks.

noclaf

Surely this is all relative to the vehicles used for the data.
My 15 yr old car with £260 VED is likely more polluting than many of the modern SUV'S so I think the data might be skewed by a.combination of older models and the more powerful big gas guzzlers

onwards&upwards

Supersonos wrote: »

I think you'll find having children is a lot more damaging to the world than driving an SUV.

And, according to an episode of QI, even owning a dog is worse than an SUV.

And I have neither a child nor a dog, so I'll carry on driving my SUV, thanks.

Well I don’t have kids, I rarely fly and my dogs were rescued.

Why would that mean it’s ok for me to pollute more than I need to in a different way?

onwards&upwards

noclaf wrote: »

Surely this is all relative to the vehicles used for the data.
My 15 yr old car with £260 VED is likely more polluting than many of the modern SUV'S so I think the data might be skewed by a.combination of older models and the more powerful big gas guzzlers

The data seems to show that the increase has been in the last few years when SUVs have really soared in popularity.

I’ve driven one as a hire car and it was nice to have that higher position on the road but it’s just not worth it, is it? I’d rather my nieces and nephews had a planet they can live on safely when they’re older!

Supersonos

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Well I don’t have kids, I rarely fly and my dogs were rescued.

But you do fly? Albeit rarely, you still pollute the world by flying in a plane that dumps CO2 directly into the upper atmosphere where it does the most damage.

And what about all the meat, fruit and vegetables you buy that are flown here from Spain, Africa, South America etc?

And freight. All the stuff you buy that is flown into the country. It's not just about you physically flying off on holiday.

And your dog eats dog food, and that's the problem. Their food is primarily meat.