To ask how drivers of massive SUVs square it with themselves in terms of climate change?

[Bleepingtons]

Same goes for those who go long haul on the regular? Buy loads of cheap, disposable fashion? Etc etc? Do you just not worry about climate change?

I know I sound sanctimonious but I am genuinely baffled by people driving massive diesel SUVs like there isn't a major issue.

I think it’s just not that simple. I wanted an electric car for ages but my last house only had on street parking (which was on the other side of the road to the house) so there was no way of having a charger installed.

I’ve since moved and I do now have an electric car and would never go back to a petrol one. But it’s a company car so I didn’t have to buy it and I get big tax breaks on it.

(I also live rurally and I can say that it’s not a problem having an EV in the countryside at all providing you have your own charger.)

@AlphabetAerobics

Don’t go to the supermarket OP. I weep every time I see an avocado or bunch of asparagus in a trolley. 😭

Avos aren’t any worse than bananas - both are imported and we import far more bananas.

But I digress!

We do all need to drive less. People see adverts for flash cars and want them. We need to decide they aren’t status symbols. Most of southern England isn’t that rural and any car will do most of the year. It’s always a choice.

Emissions of most modern SUVs are comparable to other cars and a lot of engines in SUVs are the same as in family estates. I get about 50mpg in my diesel. Also long haul flights on dreamliners are comparatively more efficient than short haul airbus / 737s.
Are you asking if I sleep at night? Yes.

@Berkeys

Agree OP, I struggle to understand it too! I am thinking either ignorance or selfishness is at the root of it. These things need to become socially unacceptable for change to happen and even then some stubborn types will persist ‘because they’re worth it’

We've had ours 10 years - it's now 15 years old. We don't have a pile of cash to replace it and we need something to tow our caravan unless you want us to junk that. Neither is worth much - car about 3k, Caravan 1K - do want us to sell and buy a smaller car for 4k?

Do you want all SUVs scrapped, is that it?

Ours is an older model 62 plate, bought secondhand rather than buy new (resources: metal etc) It's used to transport horses, livestock, equipment, hay etc in a trailer, which an electric simply couldn't do. We use it (it's our main car) about 3 or 4 days out of 7, and tie in multiple functions in one round robin trip. Unlike one of our neighbours, I have NO idea what they do, I know they have 2 kids at same school and both WFH, but even allowing for that twice a day journey (they couldn't get a place at nearest school) they're in and out in 2 cars about 5 times in between.
We don't bother with holidays in the UK or abroad (livestock can't be left) . We have solar, and oil heating, but our spend on oil is minimal (less than 100 litres per 2 years) as we've a heavily insulated small house, and we own a bluebell wood (1 acre) which roughly offsets, according to the Trees in Trust website], an 2.6 tonnes of CO2 per year. We don't buy disposable fashion, other than gifts for people this week I bought a new item of clothing - this was new not charity shop, it was a pair of jeans to replace a rather worn out pair that have now fallen into too many holes to repair again. I had hoped to go a second year without buying any clothing for me.

This is the problem with making snap judgements about people based on one thing. I have an SUV. Not massive but it's an SUV. I do think about the environmental impact, it stays on eco but I don't know how much it helps overall.
I live in a remote part of the country where it's not unusual to be snowed in or have to drive through flooded country roads. We need the boot space too. I try to drive as little as possible for multiple reasons.
We rarely go on holiday and don't do long haul. We grow some of our fruit and veg but not enough to sustain the whole family, we're vegetarian. My clothes are ancient. My ripped pants are currently a running joke. I do my best to avoid plastic, recycle and generally try not to be wasteful. No ones perfect and it's naive to think everyone who drives an SUV doesn't care. There will be people who drive other types of cars who couldn't care less.
Can't say it would bother me if someone judged me based on my car. Says more about them. Hardly equates to doing poser runs in a ferrari.

@Rummikub

US and China need to be on board otherwise we are fucked

We are the ones buying from China. The factory emissions are because we want the stuff they make.

We have a VW diesel SUV, its a company car. It's coming to the end of its 3 year lease so we've ordered a Kia electric SUV which will be powered mostly from our solar panel installation. We have dogs, do a lot of renovation, need to pull a trailer, and we go camping. Also we get snowed-in in winter.

We aren't bothered about looking flashy, we just need a big vehicle that can do hills and weather. We looked at the VW electric van thing as well but that was really expensive.

I do look a bit askance at someone who has a BMW M6 or a Porsche SUV in a city. Its just big for big's sake and let's face it, they aren't really tough vehicles for mud and snow even if you do live out in the woolly backs.

Honestly, I love station wagons/ estates. You can get loads more in them than an SUV. Those Volvo chunky estates/ crossovers are my dream car. They aren't on the approved list for company cars though.

For there to be a big change with consumers, environmentally friendly options need to be 1) convenient and 2) affordable.

At the moment, being a completely environmentally friendly household is a privilege. Most people don’t have that privilege.

No answers from the sneering on this thread I see. Just sanctimonious sneering.

Scraping a functioning vehicle is surely far worse than buying a new one?

@Ariela

Scraping a functioning vehicle is surely far worse than buying a new one?

Agree.

In good news new car sales are massively down

I don't buy 'stuff' from China unless either I'm not told or I absolutely cannot get it made in UK.

@RickJames

We have a VW diesel SUV, its a company car. It's coming to the end of its 3 year lease so we've ordered a Kia electric SUV which will be powered mostly from our solar panel installation. We have dogs, do a lot of renovation, need to pull a trailer, and we go camping. Also we get snowed-in in winter.

We aren't bothered about looking flashy, we just need a big vehicle that can do hills and weather. We looked at the VW electric van thing as well but that was really expensive.

I do look a bit askance at someone who has a BMW M6 or a Porsche SUV in a city. Its just big for big's sake and let's face it, they aren't really tough vehicles for mud and snow even if you do live out in the woolly backs.

Honestly, I love station wagons/ estates. You can get loads more in them than an SUV. Those Volvo chunky estates/ crossovers are my dream car. They aren't on the approved list for company cars though.

Bring back the good ol’ Vauxhall Cavalier I say!

I wonder how how people just having 4+ children, but I'm sure those people wonder how I justify taking holidays that involve flying.
Everyone has their own priorities.

We drive a massive diesel SUV bought it 10 years ago. We will be replacing it with the brand new SUV electric equivalent when they are released to the UK market next year. Hope that helps.

I used to have a VW Tiguan and it was nice to drive, loads of room in the cabin but of course that means less room in the boot

Struggled to put the push chair in the boot, my previous car (VW Jetta) could fit two push chairs in. SUV's have a few downsides, going round a roundabout was like trying to control a blancmange, slow and not very economical either

The bottom line is most people don't care about the environment. My current car is £30 road tax a year and 60mpg + so it's not too polluting

When Biden flys into Glasgow to go to a climate change conference with a fleet of 20 cars in his motercade that do 8 miles to the gallon and over 50 private jets landed at Glasgow airport in one day I really don’t see the point in worrying about what car my neibours drive.

@Ariela

I don't buy 'stuff' from China unless either I'm not told or I absolutely cannot get it made in UK.

You don’t own a phone? Laptop? Books? You are very rare. The UK high street is full of Chinese made products. We actually have very few manufacturers in the UK now - we import so many products.

I live on a caribbean island and haven’t flown long haul for 3 years (to see family in UK), haven’t even left the island in over 18 months, don’t eat meat or dairy and buy most of our food from local organic farmers.

Thats how I justify my 7 seater SUV 🤷🏽‍♀️

It's wrong to complain about people buying the "wrong" cars, a tax on fuel will make sure everyone is paying in proportion to the pollution they cause.

If someone uses a car that 10x less efficient than yours, but they also do 10x less mileage, they aren't doing any more harm than you are.

Even if they do the same mileage, it's not for us to second-guess their choices. They're paying the price for their consumption, like everyone else. If we want less CO2, just increase the fuel tax until you have the level of CO2 you think is acceptable.

@Berkeys

Agree OP, I struggle to understand it too! I am thinking either ignorance or selfishness is at the root of it. These things need to become socially unacceptable for change to happen and even then some stubborn types will persist ‘because they’re worth it’

In order for it to become socially unacceptable bad people like me will have to give a damn about your opinion and I couldn't care less. If anything it makes me want to knock it into sports mode just to annoy you.

@Newgirls I thought bananas still came in by boat? They travel well as opposed to baby sweet corn, avocado, asparagus etc.

I don’t own a big SUV, I’d like one though because I live at the arse end of nowhere and wouldn’t trust an EV as far as I could throw one.

I re-use bloody everything and today am wearing a natural fibre dress I bought secondhand on eBay years ago - and most days I fill a bag with litter from the beach.

But spend the night on a wind-blown moor? No ta.

I drive a deisel SUV. I have owned it for many years and have no intention of changing my car as I do very little mileage and it is much worse for the environment to buy a new car.

I am also a farmer so need 4WD. I do dispair at the number of 4x4s at the school gates/supermarkets. Presumably most of them are totally unnecessary. There is no need for 4WD unless you live up a muddy track or do a lot of towing.

One of my favourite anecdotes (this is outing but whatever) was this incredibly sanctimonious mother’s group “friend” of mine sending a virtue signalling message on the group chat that she had been driving all the way to Clapham to recycle her Ella’s kitchen pouches but don’t worry there was a local place to recycle them opening. I replied asking if she had been driving there in her Audi 4x4 and now we aren’t friends but it was honestly worth it because I laughed and I just couldn’t bear the hypocrisy!!!!!

I’m about to have baby number 3 so need a 7 seater due to isofix availability and the car I want won’t be in electric for another 2-3 years but when it is I will swap the new car, take the financial hit and get the electric. That’s it really. Nice and goady thread OP 😬