How CAFE Killed Compact Trucks And Station Wagons | Hacker News Reader

How CAFE Killed Compact Trucks And Station Wagons

thetruthaboutcars.com

15 pointshyperpape10 comments

Station wagons still exist outside the US and inside the US they're called Crossovers and SUV's. The latter, remember, was bending the sheet metal a little differently so that men would buy vans.

And, to be honest, compact trucks are also SUV's. I assume they mean compact pickups...

Crossovers and SUVs are not station wagons.

Crossovers and CUVs are vehicles built on a passenger car platform with an extended cargo area accessible via a hatch or door.

Some station wagons are 4WD and some are jacked up higher than their sedan brethren.

In what way that is not arbitrary are these not similar?

> When examined side by side with European emissions standards, the economics of CAFE become more transparent. EU are relatively straight forward by comparison. Tailpipe CO2 emissions are measured and a de facto consumption tax is levied based on a vehicle’s output.

One downside of this is that it encourages diesel. While diesel has a less CO2 emissions, it tends to have a lot of other very harmful emissions. These can be regulated but companies do cheat (see VW).

Seems not true anymore. Ranger is back and the Tacoma still only does 22mpg a decade later. They must have found a work around

The 3rd generation Ranger (1998–2011) was 70.3 inches wide and 188.5 to 202.9 inches long (depending on cab and bed options)

The new 4th gen Ranger (2019-?) is 72.8–79.8 inches wide, and 201.2–212.5 inches long and you can't get a regular cab or any two door version in the US. It's simply no longer a compact truck. The Tacoma isn't a compact truck anymore either.

Edit to add: maybe electricification can get us actually small trucks again.

You forgot height. The new Ranger is far taller.

My 2015 Tacoma is the same size as a 2005 Tundra, and significantly larger than my dad's 2001 Ranger. The Ranger looks like a toy when I park next to it, despite them both being in the same class of pickup trucks.

The modern Ford Ranger is just an overpriced regular size truck that does nothing well.

I was a Ranger fan for decades, but the 4th generation only shares a nameplate with the truck I love. As others have pointed out, the footprint is huge and the cab is egregious. But also it's so ridiculously tall. The nice thing about a pickup truck is that you can load it from the sides, right? Not anymore... unless you're a pro basketball player, I guess. But what I really want is an electrified el camino.

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