Cars are a staple of transportation and have reshaped our world, especially in America which is famous for its car-based infrastructure. In the midst of the climate crisis cars and transportation have been in the dead center of the crosshairs. So, does it make sense that cars are getting bigger? Yes, that may sound completely backward, and you’re not wrong.  Cars have been steadily increasing in size and not just the ones you think, like trucks and SUVs. Every car is growing in size and with cars under scrutiny for being a main contributor to the climate issues we face, a nine thousand-pound electric Hummer doesn’t really seem like the road toward a greener, cleaner planet. Not only just from a climate perspective but with increased safety regulations for pedestrians and other road going vehicles an F-150 with a ten-foot blindspot is not moving in the right direction towards safer roads for everyone. 

It is not just the F-150 that has a front blindspot of that distance, most other SUVs have a blindspot of at least six feet. To explain this further, these cars cannot see what is directly in front of them up to ten feet. Throughout the summer I was working in auto detailing and the difference between a Subaru Forester from the mid to late 2000s and a brand new one blew my mind. The old Forester is relatively small but still has space to do everything the driver would need and still be light, easy to drive and efficient. The new Forester looks like it is a completely different make of car. It was nearly twice the size and that extra size did not seem to translate to that much more extra room for how much bigger the car is compared to its previous versions.

 Having a smaller lighter car has virtually no downsides to it. First off and potentially above all, it is just more fun to drive. Even if you have little to no interest in cars, taking your car down your local backroad in a car that is responsive and listens to every input you give it as soon as you do it is fun no matter who you are. It makes driving fun when you can feel your car and it listens to you. These big cars do not look like they drive, they look like they lumber and the car is not eager to do what you want it to because you’re trying to redirect five thousand pounds at every stop, go, or corner. Even if these larger vehicles have more efficient engines and powertrains they still weigh more and more weight is harder on every component of the car responsible for keeping you safely on the road. Higher weight is more stress on the tires, suspension, and steering mechanism and causes you to go through brakes quicker, one of the main contributors to transportation pollutants is brake dust emitted from the pads being worn down against the rotor during braking and making a heavier car that has to use larger brakes and uses those brakes more regularly and under more intense pressures is not going to help the issue. 

Maintenance costs are also easier on a lighter smaller vehicle, from a driver’s standpoint a smaller vehicle no matter the make, model, or purpose will always be easier to navigate meaning you will hit things at low and high speeds less because you have a better understanding of where your car is. This means reduced costs in fixing cosmetic dings and dents. As I stated before, things like brakes and suspension will not wear as quickly causing them to last longer and thus reducing the frequency of repairs and replacements which also reduces the overall cost for the driver. Lighter cars are more fun to drive, have more efficient crucial components, and are safer for pedestrians. If everyone is in a smaller vehicle it makes the roads safer because the overall inertia in a crash is lesser, if the weight is lesser in both cars.  

I understand some makes of the vehicle simply need to be bigger and some people need that and if that is what you like, want and need and get every use out of the largeness of that vehicle then that is totally fine. Unless you absolutely need a car that size and I think virtually no one does, I truly believe that in order to make cars more efficient and crack down on making them more efficient all around a lighter smaller well-engineered vehicle is the way forward.