The other day, I was driving (in a 1997 Honda Accord) west on I-40, headed for a friend’s wedding reception near El Reno. That’s a considerable distance from Oklahoma City, so I was already thinking about gas prices and such when I found myself surrounded by a tractor-trailer and about four huge trucks, each easily twice as tall as me on the road.
It got me thinking: will a situation like this soon be a thing of the past? Will such scenes become faded Americana? I’d assume that if these high fuel prices aren’t temporary, and most people say they aren’t, then vehicles will soon start shrinking. But will the SUV — the Ford F-250 that costs $100,000 over five years — be conspiculously absent from Oklahoma roads anytime soon?
According to an article in The Guardian, not just yet.
Here’s an excerpt:
Some argue that if you can afford a $60,000 (£30,000) Hummer, you can afford to fill it up, even if it does only 10 miles to the gallon. But awareness of the oil crisis and green issues means driving one is fast becoming a social outrage.
More than a million Americans a year still buy big, cheaper SUVs with similarly poor fuel economy. But in the same way, their sales are going through the floor, while fuel-efficient cars are gradually gaining business.
But the SUV’s future isn’t entirely bleak. Sure, most people just drive them to the shops, but a sizeable American hardcore do haul boats and drive on unmade tracks. Many will carry on buying them, but demand smaller ones with more fuel-efficient engines.
John