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Comment by rosnd | Hacker News Reader

A big problem is that there are no good small cars available.

I want a small car with an interior comparable with that of the S-class, does not exist. Closest thing is the 911, which is still quite wide and not all that comfortable.

If I want an "appropriate" sized car for London, I'll have to drive some shitbox.

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The whole point of dealing with climate change and pollution is that we all have to make some compromises. If yours needs to be either paying more to drive in London, or driving a more eco-car, or not driving there at all - that sounds pretty good to me.

Oh I don't care about paying to drive in London, I'd be celebrating if they raised the congestion charge tenfold.

I'm just pointing out that the current vehicle market forces anyone seeking a comfortable, low-NVH car to get something quite large.

EDIT: HN ratelimits prevent me from replying below, so here you go:

> You can drive whatever car you like in London, but you'd have to pay both congestion charge and ULEZ charge

I know! I very happily pay these charges and want them to be vastly higher.

> Alternatively, you might need to be less fussy about what you call "comfortable"

No, why? I didn't work this much to be less fussy about comfort.

I just think it'd be nicer for everyone if there were cars on the market that filled my needs without wasting absurd amounts of space on a rear seat that gets used a couple of times a year.

Regulators should address this by imposing taxes on vehicle size.

You can drive whatever car you like in London, but you'd have to pay both congestion charge and ULEZ charge. Alternatively, you might need to be less fussy about what you call "comfortable".

  >The whole point of dealing with climate change and pollution is that we all have to make some compromises...

Said a load of government ministers and other junketeers, after flying halfway round the world in private jets, to attend a conference discussing the environment.

I always dislike this line of argument, it feels unproductive.

I detest frivolous use of fossil-fuel private jets and all flights of them should absolutely be taxed to the roof and the funds used for climate mitigation.

However, if you’re a bigshot person who can have outsized influence (like POTUS or some billionaire or something) then by all means attend the relevant conferences and make an impact.

If your beef is that the conferences are not effective then that’s something we can discuss, but don’t distract by talking about the way people arrive, unless it’s to propose some kind of carbon/pollution tax in which case I wholeheartedly agree.

  >I always dislike this line of argument, it feels unproductive.

Even if you believe these kind of conferences are productive; why couldn't they have organised it virtually over Zoom/Skype/etc.? If ever there was a chance to 'lead by example' COP27 [and previous COPs] were a golden opportunity. But, instead it was the same old same old; lots of rich political and industry leaders and their hangers-on, flying off into the sun in their private jets, for a cozy get-together. And then emerging aterwards to tell the rest of us to try harder.

Zoom meetings are good for quick status checks, routine procedures or information dissemination without much interaction.

Real work, hard work and sensitive work does not happen over zoom, but face to face.

You want the leg and head room of an S class in a sub compact car?

Maybe ask Dr Who for help.

Shouldn't be a massive challenge without a rear seat wasting space.

But no, I was talking about the quality of the interior and not leg or head room.

A class AMG or any of the premium lines?

The AMG-version, while a fun car, will be even less comfortable than the non-AMG.

The A-class was unfortunately built to be an economy car, slightly improving the interior materials doesn't solve that. You can't option it with fancier seats, suspension or insulation.

> I want a small car with an interior comparable with that of the S-class

Yes, building a small car with a large interior remains a challenge...

The interior size isn't the problem, it's the interior quality. A Toyota corolla has way more than enough interior space if you remove the rear seats.

That interior adds mass and you need a bigger engine to lug it around. That's exactly what needs to go away.

Mercedes sells a S-class with a 2L i4 engine, I don't think this is really going to be an issue.

Brabus SMART car would be exactly that.

I've driven one, it really isn't that different from a regular SMART.

I also got to try the bizarre Aston Martin Cygnet, just a Toyota with fairly little lipstick on it.

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