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by artisanspam 995 days ago
The Ford F150 is the best selling car in the US by a long-shot and it's a gas guzzler. Given that, I don't think consumers care a lot about how much they pay in taxes when deciding on a vehicle to purchase.

I don't think this'd have the incentive that you're suggesting it would unless something else is done, such as increasing the tax overall.
1 comments
wcunning 995 days ago
The most popular F150s are significantly less gas guzzling than my 2005 sedan that I replaced with an F150. Not to mention that my F150 is more capable in winter conditions (major importance in Michigan) and more capable for the DIY stuff I do (I actually do regularly get lumber, plywood, drywall and other things that only fit in the 8ft bed that I actually bought). All while using less gas... Efficiency has gone up markedly in the 13 years between that 2005 and the 2018 F150 I bought. The weird thing is that you can get an F150 with significantly better real world mileage than an Escape, which is massively smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic, etc. Consumers are smarter than you're giving them credit for here.
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reducesuffering 995 days ago
A new F150 is getting 19 city / 24 highway, while ten year old Prius are getting more than double that at 45mpg. Every single trip you make in an F150 without lumber is more than double the gas guzzling than current state of the art. New Prius are 57mpg and AWD. And I've fit tons of plywood, furniture, and even a 50 gal. water heater in my Prius.
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johnklos 995 days ago
And for things that don't fit in a Prius, you can get / borrow / rent a small trailer.

I get 40 to 50 MPG from my Diesel Chevette, 25 to 30 MPG towing, and it can tow more than it weighs.

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fooblaster 995 days ago
Not to mention how dangerous these large trucks like the F150 are to pedestrians. It's a real shame vehicles like this have been normalized.
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OxO4 995 days ago
How so? The 2023 models of the F150 seem to get about 17.19 MPG [0] which is significantly worse than the 32.34 MPG [1] of the 2023 Escape.

[0] https://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/f-150/2023

[1] https://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/escape/2023

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