Written by: Theo Casset
Edited by: Louis Chenot
If you ask any tourist what left the biggest impression on them during their visit to the U.S. or Canada, they'll almost always say "the cars." Indeed, the average American car is about 30% heavier than its European counterpart . The pickup truck, the quintessential American vehicle, perfectly represents this obsession with super-sized cars. As the most popular vehicle type by far, it weighs almost twice as much as the average European car and consumes about twice as much fuel. These inefficient, high-polluting trucks have a significant environmental impact, releasing more harmful emissions than standard passenger cars while often carrying similar loads. Understanding how these utility vehicles have become the most popular daily drivers for so many Americans is important for examining their impact on carbon emissions and their future use (EPA, 2022; ICCT, 2024).
Surprisingly, the rise of the pickup truck began with the 1973 Oil Crisis, which caused widespread gas shortages across the West. The oil embargo imposed by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, considerably strained the US economy, highlighting the country’s dependence on foreign oil. As a response, Congress implemented the “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” standards which sought to improve the fuel efficiency of American cars. These new regulations required more complex engines and large investments in R&D, making cars less profitable. However pickup trucks, and other utility vehicles, are subject to much lower fuel-economy requirements. Automakers started advertising trucks as quintessentially American and as an embodiment of freedom. Rapidly, these trucks went from being purely utilitarian vehicles to daily drivers for many suburbanites who had no need for giant overpowered trucks (The Economist, 2024).
Pickup trucks have become what economists call a Veblen good. Unlike normal goods, the demand for Veblen goods increases when prices go up. Instead of being purely practical, they serve as a status symbol, having become synonymous with power and wealth. The cost of such trucks has doubled in the past forty years in the US (adjusted for inflation), and yet, demand has increased sixfold. Only a minority of truck owners use the truck’s cargo bed and powerful engine to haul anything more than groceries (Statista, 2023; Federal Reserve of Saint Louis, 2024).
The popularity of these gas guzzlers is bad news for the environment. Their over-powered engines and weight give them double the environmental footprint of a regular passenger car. These emissions are easily avoidable and unnecessary as the trucks are used mostly to run errands or commute, insteading of hauling heavy loads (Axios, 2023).
There are reasons to be hopeful however. A recent shift in public opinion regarding global warming, combined with dwindling oil reserves, has encouraged automobile manufacturers to look for more sustainable alternatives. Electric models have made a splash in the vehicle market in recent years, but despite their reliability and good performance, they remain significantly less popular than gas-powered trucks. They made up only about 1% of vehicles sold in 2022. For now, the convenience and cost of gas-powered trucks makes them hard to compete with (The Economist, 2023).
The dominance of the American pickup truck, which evolved from a utilitarian vehicle to a symbol of power and status, highlights a broader cultural and economic trend that prioritizes size and performance over environmental sustainability. Addressing the environmental impact of this trend will require not only technological advancements but also a shift in consumer behavior and policy interventions that promote sustainable transportation alternatives.
References:
Can electric pickup trucks persuade Americans to ditch petrol vehicles? (n.d.). The Economist. Retrieved November 3, 2024, from https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2022/11/18/can-electric-pickup-trucks-persuade-americans-to-ditch-petrol-vehicles
Chase, W., Whalen, J., & Muller, J. (n.d.). Pickup trucks have gotten bigger, higher-tech—And more dangerous. Retrieved November 3, 2024, from https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history
International Council on Clean Transportation. (2024). European vehicle market statistics 2023/24. https://theicct.org/publication/european-vehicle-market-statistics-2023-24/
Producer Price Index by Industry: Automobile, Light Truck and Utility Vehicle Manufacturing. (2024, October 11). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU336110336110
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2022, December). The 2022 EPA Automotive Trends Report. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-12/420s22001.pdf
U.S. light truck sales 2023. (n.d.). Statista. Retrieved November 3, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/199980/us-truck-sales-since-1951/
Why American cars are so big. (n.d.). The Economist. Retrieved November 3, 2024, from https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2024/03/11/why-american-cars-are-so-big
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