The old land yachts of the 60s and 70s were gigantic. They only had to get smaller because they couldn’t keep up with fuel economy. But now that they’re going electric and fuel economy isn’t a concern, it seems they have no reason to go small.
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:
I think people just like them better. They’re more capable. The US culture has shifted.
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.
The old land yachts of the 60s and 70s were gigantic. They only had to get smaller because they couldn’t keep up with fuel economy. But now that they’re going electric and fuel economy isn’t a concern, it seems they have no reason to go small.
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:
I think people just like them better. They’re more capable. The US culture has shifted.
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.
Depends on where, in the UK, the old Land Rovers are tiny compared to what’s out now.