It doesn't take a genius to see that there's been a huge trend in people opting for SUVs instead of other car types in recent years, however when I did a bit of digging into the stats I was blown away.
Analysis from Transport & Environment UK show that in 2023, 60% of all new car registrations were for SUVs. Sixty percent! It was 50% in 2021, 57% in 2022 and if the trend continues it could top 75% by 2027!
But why the obsession? I just don't get it. These millions of people can't all be towing caravans or going off-roading every weekend, surely?
I did a small poll on Twitter to understand what the main reasons were:
As an intentional kind of Dad I'm constantly assessing how much bang for my buck I get, on things like boot space (priority!), miles per gallon efficiency and cabin space are all very much front and centre factors when I'm looking at a new car. At the moment I drive an Octavia hatchbatch; it has an absolutely huge 600 litre boot where I've carried everything from multiple 6-man tents, 4 bikes on the roof to a 2-seater sofa!
Efficiency-wise I regularly get 65/70mpg, it has plenty of cabin space for all 4 of us and is very easy on the wallet. Insurance is £240, Road Tax is £0, we bought it for £14k in 2018 and after putting 85k miles onto it, it is still worth £6.5k. So after 74 months of use, it has effectively cost us £101 per month (in depreciation).
Our other car (Kia Ceed Hatch) cost us £8700 in 2017, and it hasn't had as many miles put on as the Octavia, so is still worth £4.9k. Over 86 months the effective cost (depreciation) is a tiny £44 per month!
After spending an afternoon researching various factors, I compared the outputs between SUVs and Estate cars (two typical 'Dad-bod' car body types!)
My synopsis:
I would strongly argue that unless you are towing something or regularly going off-road then buying an SUV is worse, from a safety perspective, a practical perspective, worse for the environment and more expensive to boot.
Let's dig into the various factors:
Driving position
Unless you are off-roading then I'm not sure what is achieved from a higher driving position aside from lording it over those in lower down cars? A lower driving position arguably connects and involves the driver to the drive better.
Safety
I put "perceived" as it is a huge misnomer that SUVs are safer. They are much heavier and thus have longer braking distances and bigger likelihood of a big collision. They also have a higher centre of gravity and are much more likely to roll.
For safety stats see the Euro NCAP ratings here. The top rated cars are a mix between SUVs and Estates. However, SUVs are 1) More likely to crash for reasons above. 2) If they hit a car, the car they hit comes off worse (vs Estate) and 3) If hitting a pedestrian, they come off worse than if an Estate hit them.
Handling
Again, due largely to the extra weight and higher centre of gravity, an SUV actually handles worse than an Estate equivalent being lower, lighter and offering better stability, stopping power and overall handling.
Passenger space
This might be the one exception. An SUV will tend to have larger cabin space and higher head room. Jury is out on leg room though as quite often some estates will the same if not more i.e Superb has more than a Kodiaq.
Environmental Impact
SUVs much worse than Estates, owing largely to them being so much bigger, heavier and less aerodynamic. This means, worse for your wallet and worse for the environment as they will be less fuel efficient and generally emit more CO2 per mile.
Boot space
Again Estates will generally have a lot more boot space than SUVs. Just take a look at a standard Skoda Octavia (640l) or Superb Estate (690) vs a Qashqai (504l) or Kia Sportage (591l). Although some exceptions include the Tesla Model Y (854l)
Cost
SUVs are more expensive, mainly due to there being 'more car' to build, but also have lower insurance premiums (and lower repair costs.
Am I going crazy? All of the above points, apart from maybe the exception of 'driving position' and for some models 'cabin space', then Estates spank SUVs across the board.
What are your experiences of SUVs? Are there any exceptions to the - arguably broad brush - research above?
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