[tmnvix]

As much as I agree that this is great news, I would like to see something that isn't focused exclusively on emissions - or even weight for that matter. As important as those are, I would also like to see something that focuses on size as well. There is so much potential in small vehicles, but it is stymied by the proportion of over-sized vehicles on the road. Something to short circuit the 'visibility arms race' would be welcome in my opinion.

[toast0]

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.

[TheCoelacanth]

How about some pedestrian safety requirements for a start?

A lot of these vehicles are killing machines with terrible visibility and hoods as high as an adult's head.

[SyzygistSix]

As much as I like hatchbacks and wagons, when a CR-V gets the same gas mileage as an Accord, I'm going to go with the CR-V. More stuff, more ground clearance.

[paulryanrogers]

Do they really get the same milage? Or are they just subject to a less stringent efficiency standard?

Higher ground clearance is usually associated with less fuel efficiency.

[red-iron-pine]

The Honda HRV might -- it's now the "mid-sized" SUV. The CRV has now upgraded to the full-sized and is the basis for the Acura luxury models. The HRV is the size of the old CRVs.

I doubt the new/ current CRV would get a similar mileage, but could see the HRV doing so. Toyota offers similarly sized SUVs (e.g. the CH-R), and those come with hybrid options.

[Tagbert]

The Honda CRV now offers a hybrid version that gets 40mpg city / 35mpg hwy.

[cozzyd]

Instead of taxing fuel, governments should tax mileage * weight (or perhaps mileage * weight^alpha for some alpha...)

[hackernewds]

Why? Truck seamlessly and scalably move cargo for thousands of customers at once. Distributing that to hundreds of smaller trucks for tax efficiency would be worse for the env

[cozzyd]

It wouldn't make sense to distribute to smaller trucks for tax efficiency when considering the cost of the extra trucks, drivers, and loading/unloading. And besides, trucks already pay more in fuel tax.

A mileage tax is going to be a necessity with electrification in the future, and it doesn't make sense for all weight-classes to pay the same tax as they don't do equal damage to roads.

[thecopy]

>equal damage to roads.

That's an understatement. Afaik damage to the road scales with weight to the _FOURTH_ power.

[seanmcdirmid]

Don’t wheels and weight distribution have something to do with this? Otherwise this property would be really easy to game.

[cozzyd]

yeah I think the power law is on axle load

[dontlaugh]

Neither compares in efficiency to trains.

[replygirl]

trains

[parineum]

Here's a radical idea... don't tax either.

Adding a disincentive creates an unpredictable incentive. Just add an incentive to the thing you actually want and be done with it.

[JumpCrisscross]

> add an incentive to the thing you actually want and be done with it

Doing both lets those causing the harm to subsidise those providing the solution. Finding everything out of general revenue means taking public-transport riding city folks’ funds to pay for suburbanites’ electric SUVs.

[parineum]

> Finding everything out of general revenue means taking public-transport riding city folks’ funds to pay for suburbanites’ electric SUVs.

That's how government works. Everybody pays for things that the majority agrees are good for the people.

It's not like a gas tax doesn't cost those public-transport riding city fold money. A gas tax increased the price of everything that uses gas, from the bus they ride in to every single product they purchase. They're subsidizing those electric SUVs either way, it's just hidden from them, which is how politicians like it.

[cozzyd]

Even small cars should be disincentivized relative to bikes/trains. Just less so than large cars...