this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2026
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In the US, trucks got so big because of poorly-thought-out EPA regulations that mandated specific gas mileage based on hood height rather than tonnage. In order to be subjected to the lower, more achievable targets, the hood height has to be above a certain number or else the truck can't be sold.
Too bad they wrote it with the un-erasable ink, otherwise after a few decades someone would've done something to fix it.
Changing that kind of thing is easy to spin negatively for political opponents. If a politician you don't like were to propose changes to the fuel efficiency requirements as they relate to vehicle footprint, would you give them the benefit of the doubt to assume that it would be for the better?
And this is why you can't have nice things
Would
No kidding, not to mention the footprint regulations forcing all cars to get bigger. Can't even sell an ICE smart car in the USA anymore because it's not efficient enough for its footprint! Old Subaru gc8 is a small car and would require 75+ mpg to be sold under current regulations, so we just have bigger Subarus to increase footprint and get them back under regulation. Manufacturers love regulations because more regs = higher price = more profit per vehicle sold. Ever wonder why screens used to be illegal in cars, but now anything under 10k lbs is legally required to have a TV screen and back up camera?
Can you share a source for the hood height regulations? Never heard anything like that before.
I'm not sure about the hood height part, but CAFE (US fuel economy standards) loosen the MPG requirements as vehicles get larger. The curve is poorly made and it is simply easier to increase the size of the vehicle and hit the looser fuel economy requirements. The regulation with the goal to increase fuel economy...encourages larger vehicles with worse fuel economy.
Video about it
That is not the primary issue. If it would be tonnage the incentive would be also perverse and dangerous for everyone. The emission targets are absolutely achievable, the industry does not want to achieve them or do what is needed to achieve them (lighter, smaller and more efficient vehicles).
The real problem is that authorities allowed the lobbyists to get their way to open an aicraft carrier large loophole to allow rules for commercial vehicle for purely and exclusively private vehicles, designed and marketed from day one exclusively as such.