“That gives the big luxury SUV...fuel economy that makes OPEC members send owners thank-you cards.”

This. I am all for analyzing the environmental impact of the EV supply chain and the electricity that power the EVs. That being said: let’s do the same for incumbent vehicles and gasoline/diesel as well as all the all alt fuels.

Seems like the military would benefit from battery swapping ala Gogoru. Make it a standard size and then design a modular, scalable system based on use case.

Yup. Just pick an end date with no per OEM limit. Let the market take care of the rest.

Also, the plug-in hybrid RAV4 is pretty awesome with this trifecta:

Mom and Dad saved up and bought an ‘86 Astro, two-tone brown-and-tan with two rows of bench seats. It sat eight, although those in the way back got little-to-no ventilation (maybe that was a feature, not a bug). It served us well, including the summer a few years later where Mom and Dad bought a used pop-up tent…

Thanks. I was. How’s the outward visibility?

1. Why can’t you get the PHEV version with a middle bench seat?

Wow... that horrific outward visibility specially from the back seat. Reminds me of getting in the back of the Chevy cop car at the elementary school fair back in the 80s.

Ooh... thin pillars and low beltline: heaven.

“Hail ants.”

Came here for this. My brother and sister have had five Subarus and 14 head gaskets before the two of them.

x2. You can still get them on the base Suburban and Tahoe.

Willys Jeep with the D18 transfer case has entered the chat:

Outward visibility for win.

Excellent outward visibility - thin pillars, low cowl, low beltline, etc.

Except Porsche and Jeep customers.

They are against any changes to street design away from typical suburban planning as supposedly it inhibit fire trucks. So bulb outs, narrowing, and traffic calming are all a big no.

Also, why don’t the safety regs include some minimums for outward visibility? I get the rollover requirements, but there is a tradeoff.

San Francisco is a pretty walkable place at a mere 7 by 7 miles. The second-loudest group to scream against making streets safer for all after the NIMBYs is the fire department. It makes one wonder how other cities (e.g. Oslo) do it.