Just today I noticed a Cadillac SUV in a Dutch parking space (multilevel parking garage). The car didn't fit (not even close) and protruded well into the driveway.
'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.
American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. A recent car will not fit into a space in an American parking lot, and it makes it a nightmare to pass through toll booths, parking garage ticketing gates, or any other scenario where you're supposed to roll down your window and reach out to something outside the car. Going around corners is problematic too. I now park by looking for a stretch of several empty spaces in a row. I can (just barely) technically fit inside one marked space at my local grocery store, but I can't maneuver into a space if there are cars in the adjacent spaces.
American cars have very recently become much, much, much, much fatter, and they use that extra interior space to... place a bunch of empty space between the seating and the side of the car. As best I can tell, this is a response to crash safety requirements. It is definitely a bad thing.
I don’t think this is true. Everyone was driving around in the Toyota Tacoma in Hawaii and that was fine. You couldn’t drive the thing in Tokyo. You’d just immediately get stuck at the first corner.
The US is definitely built to facilitate cars, and plus sized cars by extension.
The US soils the European market with absurd SUVs.
Seems fair to me.
(joking, but also very much not joking)
The Transit is basically doing a best effort at making the same but not sucking and they go, ok, but just ok.
Like don't get me wrong, they all do the "bod on wheels" thing fine but if you're not some high end airport shuttle service turning your leased fleet over on a rolling 3yr basis so you can "look sharp" they fucking crush you with maintenance and the TCO winds up being shit.
And in more "serious" service they suffer a ton more downtime and cost because the little employee driver oopsies that formerly had a 1/500 conversion ratio into downtime now have like a 1/100 ratio on these lighter vehicle platforms, but the CAFE number goes and what are you gonna do, not buy? So the OEMs don't care.
The American OEMS tried these family of designs in the 70s-90s and went BACK to more traditional designs because they just kinda sucked at the margin.
Ironically the mini versions of these (Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 or whatever they called it) that they started importing around the same time were actually pretty cool because they were filling an otherwise unfilled market niche.
Safety? Yes, agree.
What stands out is say civvies driving on military number plates (UK until the 80s). In this case, anyone driving a banned vehicle - these beasts have sharp edges and are banned.
No one has a problem with a Ford Musty GT - its just a car and not sharp.
For example, in the '80s the UK military stopped using military number plates on "family" vehicles outside the UK. Yes, we used to rock around in Germany in a family car with UK military plates - that's pretty daft. We switched to UK standard plates. So you had left hand drive cars with UK plates. lol
Anyway, its now modern times and we now have cars that would challenge a 432 for mass.
A Cybertruck is sharp edged, cruel and hard and will kill whatever it hits - "It will cut". That is not welcome outside the US. If you want to drive an armoured car then buy a proper one. I suggest something like a Saracen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen or "Warthog".
A CT is missing two letters.
(U)
(N)
T
Interestingly US servicemen are discouraged from travelling in uniform, even domestically, but they do that anyway..
Good for Germany. If there were any integrity left in the US, Teslas would be removed from market too.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/03/tesla-cal...
"Tesla door handles have been at the center of several other crash lawsuits because the battery powering the unlocking mechanism can be destroyed in a fire and the manual releases that override that system are difficult to find.
“The backup mechanical release for that door was concealed beneath the liner of the map pocket at the bottom of the door – hidden, unlabeled, and impractical to locate or use in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire,” said the Nelsons. “As a result, the Cybertruck’s design left Jack and the other occupants with no practical way to escape.” "
It's the most incoherent design strategy for a door handle you could come up with.
You can google "tesla door handle death fatality" for more, people forget but I've seen a steady rash of incidents over the years.
This is how people make ATV/Quads/custom 4x4s legal in strict countries like Germany where normally you cant even put a non TUV approved sticker on car bodywork.
hartator•4mo ago
eYrKEC2•4mo ago
jhbadger•4mo ago