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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2436 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 21, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does anyone else feel like there's a capability gap between neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) and full blown, highway capable cars? Most states that allow NEVs have severe restrictions on where they can be driven, which frequently renders them unusable for daily use.

I long for something smaller, cheaper, and more efficient than a car that can still drive on a road with a 45mph speed limit. I can already hear some of you revving up your keyboards to tell me that motorcycles exist, but they fill a very different niche. I don't want to ride a two wheeled, open vehicle when it's 40 degrees outside and pissing rain. I want something with a roof that keeps me dry and a passenger seat.

What's keeping that market from being served? Is it a regulatory thing? Are the economics fucked? Am I just a nut job and nobody else wants something like that?

There is almost no demand for small, cheap, low-performance cars in the United States. People have tried. They don’t sell.

But how much of that is due to actual consumer preference, and how much is due to government regulation that imposes unreasonably strict fuel-economy standards on smaller vehicles, encouraging manufacturers to push bigger vehicles?

For model year 2031, the current standards are 55.4–74.1 mi/gal for passenger cars, but just 34.3–57.1 mi/gal for "light trucks" (SUVs, minivans, crossovers, etc.), with higher numbers for smaller vehicles within each class on the basis of footprint (wheelbase × track width). (It looks like Trump is in the process of reducing these ranges to 30.6–40.9 and 26.1–31.7, respectively. He also eliminated the penalty for violating the standards.)

Indeed, from what I understand, the Ford Maverick is a massive success, despite it having been common wisdom, before its release, that "Americans just don't like smaller cars/trucks".

The maverick is hitting a specific market niche, and despite its low price that niche is not ‘basic car’- it’s got all the same tech as the F-150. It just gets really good mileage.

The problem for small trucks is that the average Westerner already drives one.

It just has a carpeted, covered bed that shares room with the seats. Crossovers, as these are generally called, are literally just better small trucks/utes, where the only reason you wouldn't prefer that is if you were intending to transport something you didn't want in the cabin, or if you were occasionally wanting to haul something longer than could fit in said cabin.

The Maverick also sells partially because it's the best of the two options you have to choose from. Same with the Bronco and the Mustang, for that matter.

It blows my mind sometimes that the Maverick is considered small. Compared to my old ranger, it seems huge.

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