It's disgusting that they were ever allowed in the first place. Cars have extremely high externalities, the bare minimum is that people pay for them.
An EU directive implementing vehicle tax proportional to weight is urgent. Heavier cars pollute more, damage the road more, are much more dangerous for pedestrians and bicycles.
What's the point of these things? They're not useful for anything. They're horrible to drive, get through fuel like a burning oil well, can't tow, and can't carry anything.
If you need something to haul building materials around, get a van.
There is absolutely no reason for this cars to be available in Europe. The demand is so extremly low, that you couldn't even call it a niche in a niche. If there would be a market and demand, car importers would already have created a foothold for this cars in Europe. It's like arguing, no one buys surfboards in central sahara because of hostile regulations.
Good. They’re fuel-inefficient, low visibility murder machines that do not belong in Europe, where city roads and parking spaces tend to be narrower. Not once in the last few years have I seen a pickup truck bed in use. Average number of occupants: one, male. And it’s always the same kind of person. Like with cybertruck owners, there’s an air of overcompensation. Where they’re not compensating, unfortunately: road taxes, where they’re taxed as a non-commercial vehicle, despite polluting and weighing as much as a small van, while being driven by some of the least road safety conscious, tailgating assholes I’ve encountered.
(/rant. Pickup trucks have a purpose, such as in low density rural areas. That’s not the case in Belgium, for instance. Either you need a van because it’s for work, or you rent a lightweight van on the few occasions you actually need to transport a lot of stuff.)
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 23.9 ms ] threadAn EU directive implementing vehicle tax proportional to weight is urgent. Heavier cars pollute more, damage the road more, are much more dangerous for pedestrians and bicycles.
What's the point of these things? They're not useful for anything. They're horrible to drive, get through fuel like a burning oil well, can't tow, and can't carry anything.
If you need something to haul building materials around, get a van.
(/rant. Pickup trucks have a purpose, such as in low density rural areas. That’s not the case in Belgium, for instance. Either you need a van because it’s for work, or you rent a lightweight van on the few occasions you actually need to transport a lot of stuff.)