The 5 square meters are no accurate display of the pavement covered by those cars, because they’re much longer than just their wheelbase.
About double. American cars tend to be bigger so 5m long and 2m wide is probably a fair approximation. Hell, even in Europe the average car is probably something like 4,5m by 1,7m
some people must have really tiny weiners, so much over-compensation…
Women make more than 60% of all car buying decisions
American cars cover more pavement than they ever have
Then goes ahead and shows a change from 48.9 to 51.8
Whoever made those charts wanted to make the change look bad, no matter what.
Where is the chart of the average heavy injuries per passenger? Or the average energy efficiency of engines?
The graphs are terrible but come on, a 10% increase in weight in 10 years, doesn’t sound bad to you? Especially when the base value was anything but low to begin with? And an increased space consumption of 6% is a huge additional space consumption in absolute numbers, given the huge numbers of cars.
The weight gain could theoretically be explained by the simple fact that electric vehicles are heavier than their combustion counterpart.
Though I’m well aware these are american cars so probably just means more bigger pickup trucks that will never ever be used to actually pick things up.
Or plug in hybrids. Even a 20kwh battery is quite hefty.
Hardly, the EV adoption rate in the US is pretty poor and even if we ignore that, the share of EVs among existing vehicles on the road is way to small to be the dominating factor for the increase in weight. That said, yes, EVs will lead to an increase in weight, a necessary evil. However, that can be compensated by downscaling vehicles to actual needs. People are currently buying cars far larger than what they actually need for partly irrational and partly egoistic reasons (increasing threats to life and well being towards others in the hope to slightly decrease it towards oneself).
injuries per passenger
The fact that you phrased this so specifically to not mention the corresponding increased danger to other road users and pedestrians, suggests you’re a shill pushing industry talking points.
Maybe I am just Mr. Ford
Yea this looks misleading as fuck. Weight graph starts at 3000lbs too. Also no mention of the cars polluting the nearby environment a lot less despite getting heavier. And why measure acceleration instead of measuring brake distance, or pedestrian survivability, or crashes per million miles etc.
“A lot less” is something I’d like to have a source for, especially as the switch to SUVs and trucks is done to a large part to evade the much stricter emission norms for officially classified “cars”. Emissions could be a lot lower if the SUV loophole for many of the car norms had not been invented.
It’s an arms race. I prefer a bicycle, but am I really insane enough to ride it in between these tanks? My wife is afraid in traffic, she would never want to get a small car, just because of her safety concerns.
The only thing stopping this madness is regulations.
Chart has clearly labeled x and y axis in addition to writing the numbers directly on the line.
Trogs: this is misleading as fuck!
square metres
US-americans will get a stroke
I guess that will lessen the number of insanely sized cars and drivers then…
Citation link needed
That’s vehicles classified as “light duty” — pickup trucks.
All other vehicle classes are down in curb weight over that same period.
Yeah, show us the average numbers for all vehicles used for private personal transport then.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/average-car-weight.html
The average weight of passenger and commercial vehicles has varied over time. The pickup truck, which is America’s best-selling vehicle style, has bulked up considerably since the mid-1970s. As of 2024, the pickup truck has an average weight increase of 30% from 1975. Other vehicle styles, such as sedans and wagons, have slimmed down by 10%.
You know, eventually you’ll need to learn how to use a search provider on your own.
You know, eventually you’ll need to learn how to use a search provider on your own.
Watch it. The only reason your comment didn’t get removed is that @Jiral found your link useful.
soft
Ah, ad hominem. Always nice.
Your quote does not answer my question, but the source you linked to actually did.
Average vehicle weight by year
2014: 4060 pounds
2024: 4419 pounds
deleted by creator
But those searches don’t tell me what I want to hear!
One of the sad bits of this is that the move to EVs, while a positive in many ways, also makes our cars even heavier for the battery.
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American pride!
Can you name the truck with four wheel drive?
Smells like a steak and seats thirty-five.12 yards long, 2 lanes wide,
65 tons of American Pride!
She blinds everybody with her super high beams,
She’s a squirrel crushing, deer smacking, driving machine!
Fat people want big cars. You can overlay these graphs.
This would be interesting to see with height as well.
Anecdotal but I’m 6’1", vehicles like the Miata or BRZ or Tacomas sometimes make me wish I was shorter… and didn’t have chronic nerve issues in my legs that make small cars painful to sit in
I’m 6’3" and only drive small cars. The form fit the industry uses is the same from trucks to hatchbacks, but fat people prefer taller SUVs and trucks for entry/exit.
Ride height? Or height of the people?
If the former, that tracks. If you’re heavy-set, getting in an out of a sedan (for example) is just plain uncomfortable. Meanwhile, having a seat you can just swing your hips into, or even climb up into, probably works a lot better.
Yeah, meant people’s height.
There is a plausible causal relationship between these two measurements, though. Not proven (at least, not by anything @SaveTheTuaHawk wrote), but plausible.
Fat people are more comfortable in taller/wider vehicles. Ever watch a fat dude get out of a sports car? hilarious.
Relevant watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm4de6-eTg
Is there a metric version?
I can convert it to bananas for you if that helps
It’s 'Merica, so…no
'Merica is more metric than even USians are ready to admit.
Well where i live a car can be up to 3500 kg and be 255 cm wide and 12 meters long
So we still got some ways to go
I’m not sure it’s reasonable to directly complain about fast 0-60 times. Slower acceleration removes options and makes merging more difficult; not all high speed roads have onramps of adequate length.
Definitely agreed on weight.
The Y scale on the third graph is a joke; that’s like a 4% change over 20 years. Wheelbase is not the same as vehicle length.
For most cars, higher acceleration I don’t think is an issue. However things like the Hummer EV weigh 9,000 pounds and goes from 0-60mph in a smidge over 3 seconds. The amount of damage that can do is insane
The Y scale on the third graph is a joke; that’s like a 4% change over 20 years. Wheelbase is not the same as vehicle length.
I want to see that chart (a) starting at 0 sq. ft., and (b) going all the way back to the '50s.
I’m not sure it’s reasonable to directly complain about fast 0-60 times
It is certainly cause for concern when heavier and larger moving objects that are able to reach high speeds quicker are being controlled by increasingly more irresponsible people.
This is why there is an increase in SUVs crashing through shops when grandpa hits the wrong pedal.
Something that’s twice the weight with twice the horsepower only accelerates the same speed. Double the weight and keep the horsepower and you’ll go half as fast.
The graphs aren’t entirely 100% related to each other. The twice as fast acceleration average isn’t because of the double horsepower, that only works if the weight also isn’t doubles.
EVs have massive torque from zero speed. Horsepower is just a fake number derived from torque. A Model Y is both heavy and makes 500ftlbs torque immediately.
The acceleration of Teslas is one reason they have the highest crash rate of any brand. Fucking stupid to give the public more horsepower than a 70s formula one car.
