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Page added on August 9, 2014
SUV Back in Vogue
SUV redux
Until the second half of the 2000s, big SUVs were undisputed road royalty in the United States. But then Katrina and her sisters made gas prices spike by destroying oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Financial Crisis made the economy tank, forcing a lot of people to downsize. Add to the mix new CAFE fuel economy regulations that, for the first time in a loooong time, forced automakers to make a bigger effort to boost the MPG numbers of their vehicles, and it looked like we were really moving in the right direction.
But there’s now a new wave of SUV revival going on. For the first time in many years, more people are buying SUVs than sedans. This is partly because the economy is also reviving, and to many people “bigger = better”. But it’s also because many modern SUVs are more car-based than truck-based, and benefit from powertrain improvements that allow them to get MPG numbers not too dissimilar from large sedans (f.ex. Ford Escape 26 MPG combined, Ford Fusion 28 MPG combined).
But is that good enough?
© UMTRI
Only if you compare to the previous generation of SUVs. But the real choice today isn’t between old and new SUVs, it’s between a number of other alternatives that are also much improved. The rest of the field hasn’t been standing still. The general principle remains the same: If you need to drive (and not everybody does – it’s better to walk, bike, or take transit, but not everybody can, especially in rural areas), you should get the most efficient vehicle that meets your needs. Some people might need the extra functionality of SUVs, but most people probably don’t. Today the cleanest vehicles are electric cars and plug-in hybrids, options that weren’t on the market in the early 2000s.
GM/Promo imageSo even if a shiny new SUV gets 25 MPG instead of 15 MPG, it’s still pretty bad compared to an electric car that doesn’t even burn any gasoline or a plug-in hybrid that might get by without the gas engine for most short trips and still get a very high MPG-equivalent for longer trips (the Chevy Volt has a rating of 95 MPGe, for example).
24 Comments on "SUV Back in Vogue"
Bob Owens on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 12:38 pm
There should be a little more meat on the bones of this article. With the price of gas high and an SUV fillup of around $100, just what is driving people to SUVs, exactly? Or have they become today’s work truck? Are you really safer in an SUV? That is what the pic of the Hummer implies, but are you really? Where is the beef?
JuanP on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 12:52 pm
I plead guilty. My wife and I share a 2003 Mercedes ML320 SUV. It has a 3 litre engine and six cylinders.
The reasons we bought a SUV are because we had a sailboat that had a trailer and I needed the towing capacity, elevated platform, and 4WD, on one part, and the fact that the streets in Miami Beach regularly get flooded and we already lost a new Honda Civiv, 12 years ago, to more than a foot of water on this streets. This floods happen like 20 times a year, now, and more every year, basically.
JuanP on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 12:55 pm
Also, we drive our SUV very little, we love it, it is in excellent conditions, and it takes a lot of resources to build a car to replace it. It makes sense for us to keep it as long as possible.
penury on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 1:05 pm
I guess I could say that I drive an SUV because I am old, can afford it, and really do not care about the next generation. (I really doubt that there will be one) I assume that my attitude is about as American as apple pie but who really gives a furry rodents rear for what happens to people they don’t know and will never meet and probably would not like if they did meet. By the way the air strikes in Iraq used more ff than I could use if I lived three lifetimes. And were a bigger waste.
Kenz300 on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 2:13 pm
The price of oil changes behavior………… as the price of fuel continues to rise people look for higher mileage vehicles……….
Electric vehicles are the future for transportation….
Davy on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 2:33 pm
I have a 1998 Toyota Tacoma trk 2wd. This is my work trk around farm (179000 mi). I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma 4wd (183000). This is my nice trk and trk to use with getting around in mud, snow, and hauling trailer. I have a 2010 diesel jetta that is my commute vehicle (40mpg) safe, fast, and great handeling. They are paid for. I do not like car culture. I have the money to buy a very nice car but no desire. My goal is technical, reliability, and resilience. 3 cars ensure availability. I have 2 different fuels with gas trucks diesel car. I have 1200 gal diesel tank on farm. I also use the vehicles in different applications for technical reasons. My girlfriend has a Toyota yaris for her commutes to farm from St. Louis.
noobtube on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:00 pm
Americans are such hypocrites.
They do not like car culture but then make sure they have a car.
After the Oil Embargos and resulting economic disruptions of the 1970s, Americans went back to their stupidity.
After the Savings & Loan Crises of the 1980s, Americans went right back to their stupidity.
After the DotCom/Stock Market Bubbles of the 1990s, Americans went right back to their stupidity.
After Katrina/SubPrime/TBTF/$4 gas, Americans went right back to their stupidity.
How, on a site called PeakOil, do you still have people talking about how great their cars are?
Davy on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:13 pm
At least we have a car noob. You probably got a rusty bike or walk. But walk to where or ride to where you probably have no job or life. Your life is a jihaddi wanna-be cry baby who hangs on the internet stirring shit up where you can.
Arthur on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:30 pm
Top 20:00 Dutch news item: very cheap American coal is flooding Rotterdam harbor anf threatening the renewable energy transition.
http://m.nos.nl/artikel/684588-steenkool-steeds-goedkoper.html
Davy on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:35 pm
Art it is preparation for a cold winter wind out of Russia and Ukr. You all still have all those coal stoves left in your basements right?
Davy on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:41 pm
Art, on a serious note, could this be Europe stocking up on coal in anticipation for a winter showdown in Ukr? We know the US has no gas to offer despite all the bluster. Art, what is the coal capacity in Europe? How many coal plants can be brought back online?
Arthur on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 4:58 pm
Coal is used in power stations.
Will probably travel next week to Switserland and climb a few mountains. Here my car, the most fuel efficient car ever built, available for the public, Europe only:
http://youtu.be/5h9K6lzpmHA
Tank size: 21 liter (5.5 gallon)
Efficiency 30 km/liter (70 miles/gallon)
One tank filling will bring me to Basel, shortly over the Swiss-German border.
Power 30kW instead of average 75 kW, which can bring you sometimes in trouble on the German Autobahn, with speed devils of 200 kmh and higher (125+ mph), while overtaking slow trucks.
Germans can be quite unforgiving if they are forced to slow down, certainly for a car with Dutch license plate and country sign NL, which Germans like to mockingly interprete as ‘Nur Links’ (left only) and you are likely to be punished with the ‘Lichthuppe’ (light claxon=big light signal).
Davy on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 5:14 pm
Art, yes coal is for thermo electric plants. I am wondering if Europe is preparing for the winter show down. I don’t think Putt will blink. He wants a break from the western mafia so he can run his own Mafia.
Art I lived for a year in Nurenberg in 85. I distinctly remember a big ass BMW on my ass when I forgot to move over from the left lane. His lights were flashing and when he passed did the equivalent German action of flipping the bird. I love your car. It is a great feeling getting high milage. Switzerland is awesome. I prefer northern Italy because of my fondness for Ricotta cheese over fondoo.
hculliton on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 8:06 pm
Penury: I was concerned by couple of points you made: 1: “I guess I could say that I…really do not care about the next generation. (I really doubt that there will be one)”;
If you don’t care about the next generation there’s probably nothing anyone can say to change your mind. However I feel sorry for you – such cynicism often leads to depression and loneliness. Are you a parent? I found that when I became a dad, my world view turned quickly to contemplation of the world my children would be living in.
2: “…who really gives a furry rodents rear for what happens to people they don’t know and will never meet and probably would not like if they did meet.”
We’re are all on this rock together: if we’re ever to survive,no one said you have to like everyone, but we need to at least respect other people because the problems we face will require us to work together. People not giving a crap about each other is a significant contributing factor to many of the world’s problems.
Fulton J. Waterloo on Sun, 10th Aug 2014 1:01 pm
SUV’s are mostly for impressionable women who think they “need” a tippy, clumsy vehicle to “FEEL” safe. Although some people need pickups for work, this is the domain of the fat, undereducated white trash male with a small “talleywacker.”
JuanP on Sun, 10th Aug 2014 1:59 pm
hcu, “I found that when I became a dad, my world view turned quickly to contemplation of the world my children would be living in.”
I’ve been contemplating the world in which my children, and their generation, would be living in since I was a small child. It’s because of those decades of thinking about, studying, and contemplating this subject that drove me to get a Vasectomy instead of having children.
Penury’s comment was honest, related to the subject, and valid. Most people don’t care about people they don’t know. Thousands of infants are starving today, and each and every day, in the world, particularly in Africa. Are you doing anything about it? I am not.
I agree with should try to get along, but I disagree with your association between these things.
My point is we are all different and make different choices, and live with the consequences of the choices we made.
Kenz300 on Sun, 10th Aug 2014 5:06 pm
penury on Sat, 9th Aug 2014 1:05 pm
I guess I could say that I drive an SUV because I am old, can afford it, and really do not care about the next generation. I assume that my attitude is about as American as apple pie but who really gives a furry rodents rear for what happens to people they don’t know and will never meet and probably would not like if they did meet.
——————-
Spoken like a true right wing RepubliCON……..selfish, self centered and a lack of compassion……..
GregT on Sun, 10th Aug 2014 11:25 pm
1996 Toyota Tacoma 4×4 149,000 km Work truck
2013 Toyota Tacoma 4×4 7100 km For hauling the boat and travel trailers
2006 Honda Civic 210,000 km Commuter vehicle for the wife, and everyday transport for us both
We’ll be upgrading the car soon, probably the last vehicles that we will ever own.
toolpush on Mon, 11th Aug 2014 4:06 am
Why do they show the graph for fuel consumption ending in 2012? Is this article that old? Or did they cherry pick the numbers because they end in a downward slope. The latest graph shows that the fuel efficiency of the US fleet continued to improve as can be scene on the link given.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/08/20140805-umtri.html
I am certainly not for increased sales of SUVs, but I am for honesty in written articles.
Beery on Tue, 12th Aug 2014 9:12 am
My SUV is a 2013 Surly Long Haul Trucker. It gets the equivalent of about 1000mpg.
Anyone whose sole form of personal transportation is a car is very likely soon going to feel like a sucker.
JuanP on Tue, 12th Aug 2014 9:30 am
Beery, that is a very nice bike. Enjoy it!
I think you will find that when push comes to shove everybody will be biking all the time in no time. There are enough bikes around for all.
In Cuba, during their special period, they melted cars and tanks to build bicycles for the people; it was also a great PR move. People were proud to ride their bikes. If the broke Cubans undergoing embargoes and blockades could do it, we should be able to do the same when the time comes. You are just ahead of the crowd.
Davy on Tue, 12th Aug 2014 12:50 pm
Juan, I have 3 bikes. One is a specialized 29’er mountain bike with gearing. One is a Redline Monocog mountain bike it is a single speed. I also have a Nashbar single speed mountain bike. I have gone to single speed mountain bikes for reliability. As a prepper I am looking at a bike that will require less maintenance.
JuanP on Tue, 12th Aug 2014 1:09 pm
Davy, I am a simplicity freak and love this new simplicity trend in bikes with no wires, gears, and backpedal brakes. I am on the market for a low cost ebike. We had our bikes stolen, luckily we bought them cheap, second hand. I am a decent hobby bike mechanic. Bicycles will play a big role the rest of this century, IMO.
Davy on Tue, 12th Aug 2014 1:18 pm
Juan I had this E bike and it was bad ass but then they went out of business so it was problematic getting parts. I recommend the concept of the E+ bikes. I am now a full time farmer and electric bike does not fit into my application. The single speed mountain bikes do. I use them to get around the farm especially when I need to move more than one piece of equipment to an area. The bike allows me to ferry the equipment quickly. I also workout with my bikes and do wildlife inspections. It is easy to sneak up on wildlife with bikes.
http://www.gizmag.com/e-electric-bicycle-electric-motion/11059/