The discussion in the Suffolk Car thread relating to SUVs (not sure how that happened) and the debate regarding EVs has prompted me to start a new thread and not just because I happen to have an XC60!
Debate about both topics seems to be inspired mainly by an assortment of pressure groups with particular agendas which are also politically motivated. I notice that, for instance, a report to government yesterday by a selected group of members of the public put SUVs high up on a list of things to be banned. The fact that this represents a wide range of practical vehicle types including small, economic two wheel drive variants is overlooked in sweeping generalities of course.
What concerns me is that the factors that make up the true but complex aspects of 'sustainability' are now getting overlooked in the rush to gain political points. The sowing of panic by pressure groups and activists targeting younger supporters is also a worry. In relation to car design, criticism is almost entirely focussed on the the means of propulsion rather than the means of production and longer term maintenance. In this context I would like to see an easily understood scoring system which takes into account true whole life costs (cradle to cradle) of individual vehicles rather than a reliance on fuel consumption as a measure. Perhaps there are already 'carbon footprint' measures available but at the moment consumers seem to be bamboozled by binary choices and soundbites related to the use of fossil fuels.
I've put this rather naively I know, but such a system may even put Morgans very high up on the list of sustainable vehicles and remove some of our hidden guilt! I know that mass production is a different kettle of fish but economic longevity of products and their recyclability must be as high up the list of desirables as a switch in their power plants.
Many years ago one of Volvo's biggest sales points, as expressed in their marketing literature, was that their vehicles were almost entirely recyclable - as well as being constructed from British steel if I remember correctly. (This was at a time when Volvo estates and their drivers were suffering the same criticism as SUV drivers today ironically).
It would be good to see marketing reverting to such facts rather than reliance on fashionable 'lifestyle' aspiration, but I realise that this might not sell many cars!
Rant over.
