I’ve spent much of this year examining car bloat, the process through which smaller vehicles are being replaced by increasingly massive SUVs and trucks.
What I’ve learned: Huge cars are terrible for society, often in ways that are hidden.
Some basic facts:
◆ >80% of US car sales are now trucks/SUVs.
◆ Models keep expanding. For example, the F-150 is now ~800 lbs heavier and 7 inches taller than in 1991.
◆ EVs can make the problem worse due to huge batteries.
Continued (THREAD)
Problem 1️⃣ : Car bloat endangers others on the street
Tall vehicles have bigger blind spots and are more likely to strike a person’s torso or head.
Heavier vehicles exert more force crashing into a person, bicycle, or smaller car. They also have longer braking distances.
Problem 2️⃣ : Car bloat worsens climate change
Heavier cars require more energy to move, which makes them guzzle gas.
When electrified, their huge batteries are so inefficient that the biggest models generate more pollution that some gas-powered sedans.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90854942/the-blatant-greenwashing-of-suvs
Problem 3️⃣ : Car bloat shreds tires
Heavier cars exert more pressure on tires, eroding them faster.
Tire particles are absorbed into water, where they damage ecosystems. They also float through the air, harming human health when ingested.
Problem 4️⃣ : Car bloat destroys roadways
Cars have become so heavy that US autohaulers can’t carry a full load w/o exceeding federal weight limits.
Car companies and truckers are asking Congress to raise those limits – but doing so would pulverize asphalt.
Problem 5️⃣ : Car bloat makes cars expensive
Big, heavy cars can be sold for more $. That’s why Stellantis CEO Sergio Marchionne made a famous pivot away from sedans in 2016, a move other carmakers followed.
It’s a key reason cars have become so pricey.
Even some automakers are recognizing the dangers of car bloat and calling for change.
Here is Stellantis' CTO in a recent interview.
Some might say: “But people want big cars!”
Not necessarily. US automakers offer no alternative, and car bloat pushes buyers to upsize – if only to avoid being at a disadvantage on the road b/c *others* have big cars.
https://slate.com/business/2022/11/suv-size-truck-bloat-pedestrian-deaths.html
Summary: Car bloat is terrible – for road safety, for the planet, for equity, and for road maintenance.
But bigger cars are often more profitable, so automakers like making them.
The only way out: Government action. Examples:
🔹 Tax vehicles by weight.
🔹 Test vehicles for pedestrian and cyclist safety (still doesn’t happen in the US).
🔹 Require a CDL for the most gigantic vehicles.
Left alone, this problem will only worsen. Governments must step up.
https://slate.com/business/2023/01/electric-cars-hummer-ev-tax-fees-weight-joe-biden.html
@enmodo @davidzipper Worth noting an EV tax isn't uncommon, Washington state has had one for several years.
Don't find myself seeking an absolute about whether it should be flat rate or usage-driven - You end up with more questions around income/commute/housing accessibility etc.
@enmodo @vivekgani @davidzipper
We live in Washington & just bought an electric car. WA state has a hefty *exemption* from its sales tax for EVs. I'm not aware of any special EV tax at all.
There was a brief period in the 2010s when WA had an electric vehicle tax. Like recent moves by Republicans in states like Texas, this was a regressive maneuver meant to punish individuals who made the decision to not consume gas, by recouping gas tax profits from them anyway.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/washington-state-ev-tax-credit-reinstated/
@chargrille @enmodo @davidzipper
Yeah, the taxes in WA changed in the past year, there has been:
(The $150 fee that stopped last year, IIRC to cover road expenses (aka gas tax) https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.17.323
(The $75 fee, supposedly more for funding EV infrastructure) https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.17.324
There has been a proposal to do a per-mile tax instead: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1832&Year=2023&Initiative=false
@chargrille @enmodo @davidzipper
I wouldn't try to politicize this into saying the tax is regressive - Davids original thread led to talk about taxing heavy vehicles. EVs generally are heavier and use public roads with maintenance costs, and there may be a bit of Jevon's paradox if larger EV models (e.g. 6000-7000lb truck/SUV models) become cheaper.
See also https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5stPFdegJpg for a deeper rabbit hole...
@vivekgani @enmodo @davidzipper
That's a different rationale.
The actual, stated rationale behind the WA state tax on EVs was explicitly to capture tax money that was being "lost" because EV owners weren't buying & consuming gasoline.
@chargrille @vivekgani @davidzipper
I think the practice of funding roads by a gas tax has already been shown to be flawed since overall efficiency (mpg) of gas cars has increased dramatically resulting in plummeting gas tax revenues even before you factor in the impact of EVs.
When I had a 50 mpg car I was contributing probably 1/2 of what the average car was to the tax fund but getting the exact same utility from roads and probably inflicting the same impact.
Something needs to change.
@chargrille @vivekgani @davidzipper maybe we should just declare roads to be a public good and fund them as such. And perhaps only commercial users would pay anything extra but even then you could make the argument that's also a public good?
A vehicle mile weight adjusted tax starts to make roads look like a private toll road although realistically in this day the actual fee to build and maintain roads is probably still much less than the fuel and vehicle operating costs.
@enmodo @vivekgani @davidzipper
My position is that, much like other communal resources, roads are a public good *up to a point*. And as a society we can decide what that point is.
If our publicly-provided &/or publicly-funded goods are being used to destroy public health (because some people treat cars as gas-guzzling, externality-pump, vanity projects [e.g., Hummers]; or the airwaves are used to organize lynchings [e.g., Jan 6 2021]), we can limit those uses by legislation or taxation.
@enmodo @vivekgani @davidzipper
In other words, you can just tax the externality-pumps, or just outlaw the problem - you don't have to tax everyone.
You can decide that roads are a public good for everyone except those who are imposing whatever we decide are unacceptably high/unfair costs on everyone else. Cars that are particularly wasteful of energy can pay extra. Cars that are big polluters can pay extra. Cars that are too heavy can pay extra. Incentivizing less harmful uses is good.
@enmodo @chargrille @davidzipper
Hum. Thinking aloud, I sit with a lot of perspectives these days that seem to gesture towards cosmopolitan localism, and asking what gets lost as roads get built/improved a la the 'strong towns' movement.
It's a broader cultural question I don't have quick answers to, but some starting links might be...
@enmodo @chargrille @davidzipper
- Reading Marchetti's 'Anthropological Invariants
in Travel Behavior' - https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/4071/1/RR-95-04.pdf - particularly where it talks about the pattern of how humans desire maximizing access economic activity while also going far away to tend to their own tribe/family. (Chart seen here https://twitter.com/vivekgani/status/1260445487200702465 ) . I've also seen John Urry referenced for “travel through one medium overall increases travel through other media.”
@enmodo @chargrille @davidzipper
- Bill Rees on Urban Ecological Footprint, and argues to phase out personal transportation altogether, whether it's gas or electric - https://www.youtube.com/live/Hc-AsQkunHQ?feature=share&t=2210
William Rees, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Applied Science, School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British ColumbiaAbstract: Modern...
@enmodo @chargrille @davidzipper
- Revisiting Donald Appleyard's Livable Streets: https://vimeo.com/16399180 -> https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/356/356-008.pdf basically how arterial roads make it harder for those living on them to be social with neighbors.
@enmodo @chargrille @davidzipper
I say this with a bit of feeling into personal irony and complex desires - lately have been wanting a truck if it can carry utility for land-informed projects. Reminding me of 'Rant of a Rural Progressive' by Paul Krafel which gets at the tensions between urban and rural people in regards to Trucks : https://roamingupward.net/home/the-best-of-cairns/rant-of-a-rural-progressive/
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