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Comment by rqtwteye | Hacker News Reader

I see some Rivians when I go shopping and I just think they are obscenely big. They often basically use up two parking spots. I don’t think that’s the direction we want to go. Same complaint for the Tesla Cybertruck.

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For reference the Rivian R1S (the SUV version) is about the same size as a Honda Odyssey. The R1S is 201" long and 82" wide while the Honda Odyssey is 205" long and 78.5" wide. The Rivian pickup truck is similarly about the same size as the Honda Ridgeline pickup truck, almost exactly the same width, and about 7" longer.

For what it's worth there are many areas of the US where you never see pickups and there aren't a ton of Odyssey's anywhere in the country.

Chicago straight up banned parking pickups overnight on the street until pretty recently so you just never see them for personal use.

This is false and misleading:

"Commercial pick-up trucks, junk vehicles, and any pick-up truck weighing more than 8,000 pounds are still prohibited from parking on ANY residential and business streets."

Quite a way from all pickups.

Whatever the actual rule is, many people believe they aren't allowed to park their pick up on the street. I've talked to more than one who said they got a ticket for it. Maybe the ticket was given falsely, but contesting here might as well not exist so that doesn't really matter.

A few inches width is a big difference in many situations

I would certainly look upon the company more fondly if their local dealership didn't park trucks all over the sidewalk.

Are you just saying that no company should be selling pickup trucks or SUVs?

This is probably the case. The truck is between the size of a Tacoma and an F150, and the SUV is about the same size as a Tahoe or a Range Rover. Certainly not small, but not strangely large for the US.

Pickup trucks haven't always been bigger than parking places. We should be selling reasonably sized vehicles of all needed configurations, not these monstrosities.

My 20 year old half-ton pickup is larger than a Rivian. People just didn't notice until urbanism became a bigger topic.

Which is good! Urbanism is dope. I'm a big urbanist. I also just deal with finding a spot because I like my pickup.

I'm guessing you either don't remember or didn't see what SUVs and light pickup trucks looked like in the 80's and 90's, but there is absolutely a lower bound on size that is way below where we are today.

Yes, or at least tax them more appropriately to the cost to road safety, energy consumption and to society in general.

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