Your comment about these vehicles not being scaled to freeways is an interesting thought, and I think at least in part contributes to the feeling they can't really work here in America - outside of a few cities that built their transit systems out post WW2, we don't really have an effective way to travel to the "suburbs" outside of those freeways. I live in the "city" but work in the "suburbs"; my commute by car is 20ish minutes. The only options for not driving is to take the bus, which is (according to Google Maps) a 2 hour bus ride to the nearest bus stop, plus an hour walk.
What is interesting about my city is we do have something of a micromobility car culture - golf carts! They're everywhere, at least in the city. You see them driving in neighborhoods a ton, and they're genuinely perfect for the city. The problem, of course, for me and many others is that you can't really get to anywhere outside the city in one. And since most people don't stick to just the core city, especially in midsize cities, it's hard to justify getting a golf cart when you know you'll also still need a car. I'd personally love to own one... But I can't justify the cost when I'm also paying for a car I need to get to work and to friends.
I think the crux of the car discussion really does come down to this: because we don't provide many places where it's possible to be car *free*, and relatedly since we never put any real focus into making options for people to fill their occasional trips without going through virtually all of the hassle and expense of owning a car (full purchase costs, full insurance costs, dealing with parking, maintenance, etc. Really the only use cost that changes significantly is gas prices and mileage-based maintenance) we've gotten to the point where you basically have to pay full price so of course you're going to try to get as much usage out of that car as possible.
The issue is of course that there *are* significant "per mile/per ride" costs to cars, too, we just impose most of them on everyone else, so Tragedy of the Commons makes it hard to break into a healthier equilibrium. You can opt out of imposing those costs on other people, but it's generally at pretty significant personal cost and it makes little difference in the grand scheme of things unless we can solve the Collective Action problem. A better form of Car Share probably solves many Car Lite edge cases, but it's hard to make that economical when the incentives remain that everyone who can manage it has their own car: most users of your cars are the ones who *can't* get their own, and they're probably not ideal customers.
Car ownership means the vehicle stands by awaiting your next mobility request. There's no "trying to make it work" as there is when dependent on other means of transport. And as for cost, modern techno aficionados will spend almost any amount for that beloved make and model.
I love the line "unsafe at certain speeds". In America though, Nader wrote 'Unsafe at Any Speed', and the thinking about vehicles, getting around cities, and what 'is' a city has reflected that (as noted by other commenters here).
Your note about "America needs the whole bottom half of the vehicle market that fits the size, scale, and speed of urban environments" also applies of course to housing.
I think an important thing that gets overlooked in US discourse is that purpose-built smaller delivery vehicles have surprisingly large payloads, because much more of the vehicle volume is available as cargo space. The ELM Evolv, for example, has 60% of its volume as delivery space. 4 cubic metres in a vehicle measuring 3.24m long by 1.45m wide. That’s nearly twice as much as an F150 (77 cubic feet, 2.2 cubic metres), yet the ELM takes up less than 40% of the same road space (ie, length x width). The ELM also has much more capacity than a small van like the Ford Transit/Tourneo Courier (2.4m3) in a smaller footprint (more than a metre shorter, and 40cm narrower).
Thanks for sharing this. I've thought about the "city vehicle" problem for a long time, and wish I knew something tactical we could do about it. One of my crazy dreams is to build a big neighborhood with tiny streets and only light electric vehicles allowed -- I think being able to experience that in person in the US would be both very popular and very persuasive to a lot of people. But, you know, there isn't really a path to do that or someone would have done it already.
Enormous SUVs and pickup trucks aren't "safe" ANYWHERE, when it comes to folks outside the vehicle. The problem isn't that these vehicles too big for cities. The problem is that they're too big. And way too common.
Go check out stats on average vehicle weight and size, hood height, etc. over the past few decades. Then check the stats on what percentage of new vehicle sales are trucks and SUVs.
Do some people *need* big trucks and SUVs? Sure. (Though it's hard to imagine who exactly "needs" a lifted truck, or one with a perfectly vertical grill and a hood that's taller than my high-schooler.)
Are most such vehicles today driven by people who really need them? Not even close. The results are predictably awful for pedestrians, cyclists, children, and other vulnerable groups.
Somehow, this has all been normalized. It's bananas.
Not only that, but they’re not particularly safe for drivers and passengers either. They tend to be top-heavy and prone to rollovers, and the aggressive design tends to promote aggressive driving, leading to more crashes.
Moving fresh fruit through the heart of the city where I live is not done with golf carts but with double-trailer semis, their bins stacked three tiers high. These muscular rigs groan past my suite steadily day and night until all the picking and packing and distributing and juicing is completed. Then they start over with the next round. This commerce doesn't shunt around the city on truck routes. No, it's intercourse is part of a well mixed urban cocktail.
Just random anecdote, but one of my coworkers is in the main office for the first time (he lives and works from Buenos Aires, typically). The two things he commented on about his trip from the airport to the office were:
> Teslas everywhere!
> That what do you call it, "Suburban" is enormous, I have never seen a thing like it
Your comment about these vehicles not being scaled to freeways is an interesting thought, and I think at least in part contributes to the feeling they can't really work here in America - outside of a few cities that built their transit systems out post WW2, we don't really have an effective way to travel to the "suburbs" outside of those freeways. I live in the "city" but work in the "suburbs"; my commute by car is 20ish minutes. The only options for not driving is to take the bus, which is (according to Google Maps) a 2 hour bus ride to the nearest bus stop, plus an hour walk.
What is interesting about my city is we do have something of a micromobility car culture - golf carts! They're everywhere, at least in the city. You see them driving in neighborhoods a ton, and they're genuinely perfect for the city. The problem, of course, for me and many others is that you can't really get to anywhere outside the city in one. And since most people don't stick to just the core city, especially in midsize cities, it's hard to justify getting a golf cart when you know you'll also still need a car. I'd personally love to own one... But I can't justify the cost when I'm also paying for a car I need to get to work and to friends.
I think the crux of the car discussion really does come down to this: because we don't provide many places where it's possible to be car *free*, and relatedly since we never put any real focus into making options for people to fill their occasional trips without going through virtually all of the hassle and expense of owning a car (full purchase costs, full insurance costs, dealing with parking, maintenance, etc. Really the only use cost that changes significantly is gas prices and mileage-based maintenance) we've gotten to the point where you basically have to pay full price so of course you're going to try to get as much usage out of that car as possible.
The issue is of course that there *are* significant "per mile/per ride" costs to cars, too, we just impose most of them on everyone else, so Tragedy of the Commons makes it hard to break into a healthier equilibrium. You can opt out of imposing those costs on other people, but it's generally at pretty significant personal cost and it makes little difference in the grand scheme of things unless we can solve the Collective Action problem. A better form of Car Share probably solves many Car Lite edge cases, but it's hard to make that economical when the incentives remain that everyone who can manage it has their own car: most users of your cars are the ones who *can't* get their own, and they're probably not ideal customers.
Car ownership means the vehicle stands by awaiting your next mobility request. There's no "trying to make it work" as there is when dependent on other means of transport. And as for cost, modern techno aficionados will spend almost any amount for that beloved make and model.
I love the line "unsafe at certain speeds". In America though, Nader wrote 'Unsafe at Any Speed', and the thinking about vehicles, getting around cities, and what 'is' a city has reflected that (as noted by other commenters here).
Your note about "America needs the whole bottom half of the vehicle market that fits the size, scale, and speed of urban environments" also applies of course to housing.
I think an important thing that gets overlooked in US discourse is that purpose-built smaller delivery vehicles have surprisingly large payloads, because much more of the vehicle volume is available as cargo space. The ELM Evolv, for example, has 60% of its volume as delivery space. 4 cubic metres in a vehicle measuring 3.24m long by 1.45m wide. That’s nearly twice as much as an F150 (77 cubic feet, 2.2 cubic metres), yet the ELM takes up less than 40% of the same road space (ie, length x width). The ELM also has much more capacity than a small van like the Ford Transit/Tourneo Courier (2.4m3) in a smaller footprint (more than a metre shorter, and 40cm narrower).
https://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/truck-van-tyres/elm-mobility-evolv-last-mile-delivery
Thanks for sharing this. I've thought about the "city vehicle" problem for a long time, and wish I knew something tactical we could do about it. One of my crazy dreams is to build a big neighborhood with tiny streets and only light electric vehicles allowed -- I think being able to experience that in person in the US would be both very popular and very persuasive to a lot of people. But, you know, there isn't really a path to do that or someone would have done it already.
The obvious path to that is pedestrianisation of individual streets. It’s very common in Europe. Here’s an example from London: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-pedestrianisation-of-strand-has-been-completed-59342/
Enormous SUVs and pickup trucks aren't "safe" ANYWHERE, when it comes to folks outside the vehicle. The problem isn't that these vehicles too big for cities. The problem is that they're too big. And way too common.
Go check out stats on average vehicle weight and size, hood height, etc. over the past few decades. Then check the stats on what percentage of new vehicle sales are trucks and SUVs.
Do some people *need* big trucks and SUVs? Sure. (Though it's hard to imagine who exactly "needs" a lifted truck, or one with a perfectly vertical grill and a hood that's taller than my high-schooler.)
Are most such vehicles today driven by people who really need them? Not even close. The results are predictably awful for pedestrians, cyclists, children, and other vulnerable groups.
Somehow, this has all been normalized. It's bananas.
Not only that, but they’re not particularly safe for drivers and passengers either. They tend to be top-heavy and prone to rollovers, and the aggressive design tends to promote aggressive driving, leading to more crashes.
Moving fresh fruit through the heart of the city where I live is not done with golf carts but with double-trailer semis, their bins stacked three tiers high. These muscular rigs groan past my suite steadily day and night until all the picking and packing and distributing and juicing is completed. Then they start over with the next round. This commerce doesn't shunt around the city on truck routes. No, it's intercourse is part of a well mixed urban cocktail.
Just random anecdote, but one of my coworkers is in the main office for the first time (he lives and works from Buenos Aires, typically). The two things he commented on about his trip from the airport to the office were:
> Teslas everywhere!
> That what do you call it, "Suburban" is enormous, I have never seen a thing like it