I’m not a greenie but creating the above spreadsheet has been a bit of an eye opener. I posted a similar, but far less detailed, spreadsheet a week ago to little fanfare. No biggie, I’m not big on kudos but I thought it important enough to delve further given the disparity.
Here’s some questions. They’re not meant to be condescending so try not to get too defensive:
Do we need to change the attitude of N.A. consumers’ vehicle choices?
How much HP, or power to weight ratio, do we really need? The rest of the world seems fine with less.
Why does performance with 0 to 60 times well below 10 seconds matter so much? I’m quite capable of getting up to speed and passing comfortably without any issues in my car. I’m in the 10-11 second 0-60 range and rarely do I fully use it. Are you tailgating and not using run up speed to pass?
The F150 seems inelastic as the top seller for the last umpteen years but if you look at the sales by vehicle type in 2008 only 28.1% of total vehicle sales were LT/SUV’s. Were people more concerned with cost certainty and/or other socioeconomic reasons? This was the year of the market crash.
How many large vehicle owners do you think load or tow more than 1000lbs regularly? How many do you think tow/load nothing of significance? How many do you think take their vehicle off road? Example: a 14 ft. aluminum fishing boat can be outfitted for less than 600 lbs tow weight. Many vehicles, other than large LT/SUV’s, can handle this.
Why are aluminum rims on most pickup trucks when steel rims are much more capable for its intended purpose? Why are not front ends of pickup trucks more aerodynamic like OTR tractors, re. Volvo? Why has ground clearance and box reach over heights increased? Wouldn’t this make them less practical than pickups from yesteryear?
What do you think about GHG? Should we also start thinking more about conserving the planets resources? Think of the extra 1000 lb. material content of US vehicles compared to Europe, and possibly China.
At what gas price point would you consider going to a more affordable vehicle? What’s your forecast on gas prices in the next 6 years that’s commensurate with the average term for most new car loans? Are you confident they won’t rise significantly enough in that time frame? If they do, does your annual pay rise cover more than CPI to provide that buffer?
Should the financial industry put a cap on term? Some lenders offer 96 mon. loans. That’s lunacy given the rate of vehicle depreciation! Wants and needs require more prudency if your loan payment workability exceeds 5 years.
Do you think CAFE is working? Should current FE standards be different than passenger vehicles for LT/SUV’s and 4wd CUV’S? Should CAFE scrap this and the confusing system of footprint and go by vehicle weight? Would a vehicle max weight graduated down to say, 3500 lbs, over a set time frame for passenger vehicles be reasonable allowing the economy and industry to adjust? In conjunction, would introducing a new category like “Recreational Vehicle” for those over that don’t meet a certain criteria, i.e. urban/rural, no. of family members, farmer, contractor, and work necessity be fair?
I'm going to let this simmer a bit since I'm visiting family today.
Thanks