Hacker News Reader

Comment by LordKano | Hacker News Reader

Then you have consumers that want to buy SUVs, so there is no way you are going to meet your quota of zero-emission-vehicles.

It was the emissions restrictions that pushed so many consumers to SUVs in the first place.

View on HN

That may have been true in the 1970s, but light truck and passenger vehicle emission regulations have been identical for a long time. Looser fuel economy standards for light trucks certainly causes manufacturers to push them harder though.

CAFE standards were responsible for much if not most of the increase in SUV driving we saw from the mid 90s onward.

I'm not saying that's not true but in my case, it was the need for an 8 passenger vehicle that was not a minivan. It was either a SUV or a commercial commuter van.

I'm curious why not a minivan? What does the commercial commuter van offer in terms of functionality that the minivan doesn't?

Show me a minivan with two rows of benches. AFAIK they all have captains chairs in the first two rows now.

If you want two bench seats in the 21st century your options are basically all SUVs

Both Toyota and Honda minivans are still available with 8 passenger seating.

All the minivans I looked at had the auto slide doors. I have 4 friends and myself who have experienced catastrophic failures of the auto sliding door mechanism on their minivans. I've always bought used cars and have experienced my share of problems and quirks. Not being able to get in or out (well, my kids not being able to get in or out) without a series of arcane jiggles has been one of the most frustrating.

After that it was only vehicles with hinged doors and 8 passengers so...SUV or commuter van.

edit: also I live in a northern state in the middle of nowhere. 4 wheel drive and high clearance were not insignificant factors for us.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com