• helenslunch@feddit.nl
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    25 days ago

    They got smaller because fuel was more expensive

    That was a huge oil shortage in the 80s that led to astronomical prices. This also paved the way for Japanese brands into the US market, as they were already developing more fuel efficient vehicles. You can see this influence to this day in Europe where the gov doesn’t have crazy oil subsidies like the US.

    EVs still benefit from being smaller, as the batteries become significantly less expensive as the vehicle becomes more efficient.

    There are a couple of issues spurring electric SUVs:

    1. I think people just like them better. They’re more capable. The US culture has shifted.

    2. We’re still in the early days of EVs and these are the vehicle types that are ultimately still the most profitable, and they can’t afford to sell anything less-profitable.

    Shifting your entire production to EVs like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc. streamlines production costs.