I’m not just talking about pickup trucks that have gotten huge, but rather cars in general. Take a look at the 5th generation Honda Civic hatchback and compare it to the newest Honda Civic Hatchback model. Not only did the car gain approximately 1,000lbs/453Kg, but its length, height, and space drastically changed. Sure it’s a 30 year difference but even other car models from the early 2010s compared to their same models today are way bigger and heavier in just under a decade Why is this?
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Crash standards- Interior volume had to grow, especially around the head area. Small cars had to get big inside. But we need cheap and expensive cars so to respond, big cars had to get even bigger inside. And since we don’t drive a Tardis, the outside got bigger too.
Money- here’s a dirty secret. It cost about the same to make a little vehicle and a big vehicle. Scrap steel is cheap. Maybe you have 2 more cylinders on the big vehicle but it’s still round about the same number of parts and the same amount of labour to assemble it. The parts are just a bit bigger.
So the auto makers lobbied the EPA to calculate mileage based on the square footage of the wheelbase. *poof* All of a sudden, a 4 door long box pickup truck gets better mileage pet square foot than a mid sized van. Because it has a big empty box out back. It’s really that fucked up. And this is why rugged compact ‘work horse’ regular cab trucks and vans like the astro van died.
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