Repeal CAFE standards, or just delete the entire catagory of “light truck”. If it doesn’t have a bed, its not a fucking truck. This entire fucked situation is literally just automakers not wanting to be bothered to make fuel efficient cars when you can call everything a fucking truck and be mostly exempt from having to comply with the far stricter regulations around smaller passenger vehicles MPG standards.
And the automakers give zero shits since they make so much more selling these larger utterly pointless vehicles rather than smaller, more economical ones.
tax light trucks heavily unless the owner can prove they use it for business purposes, like construction or farming
Light trucks is kinda a crazy category. It’s lighter vehicles that
(1) Designed primarily for purposes of transportation of property or is a derivation of such a vehicle, or (2) Designed primarily for transportation of persons and has a capacity of more than 12 persons, or (3) Available with special features enabling off-street or off-highway operation and use
Vans, minivans, SUVs, and crossovers are mostly categorized as light trucks. Most vehicles on the road are light trucks; they outsell cars right now 3 to 1
Not to “make rules for me” but I do think minivans should get a category of some kind - it puts all it’s points in function, and none in sport/SUV, is the most efficient user of space, and generally reasonable hood height. Plus I’m not buying one to brag or strut my stuff.
They did change up the rules for trucks in 2011 following the PT cruiser getting classified as a truck, but they made it worse.
Now CAFE standards are based on vehicle footprint, which encourages giant vehicles. It also killed the small truck category of vehicles, which is why a Ranger today is the size of an F-150 from before, and an F-150 is the size of a small moon.
On the plus size, it’s also why the base-model engine on the Maverick is the hybrid with the traditional engine being the “upgrade.”
