In the Obama era, Edmunds explained, fuel economy regulations “changed from just a straight average across the board to what’s called a platform-based fuel economy standard. So your fuel economy target for a given vehicle is based on its wheelbase and its tread width, which is the width between the tires left to right. So if you multiply that you find the area of that rectangle and there’s a table that shows what your fuel-economy target is. The bigger the vehicle, the smaller the target.”
In other words, the regulations put in place to get better mileage out of vehicles also led to an increase in truck size. “There was kind of an incentive to maybe stretch the wheelbase a couple of inches and set the tires maybe an inch [farther] apart, because you get a bigger platform and slightly smaller target,” said Edmunds. “Now, the bigger vehicle would be heavier and might use more fuel, so it’s not as easy as just doing that. But certainly there was a feeling that if they did need to make it bigger to accommodate more passengers, the fuel economy target wouldn’t be onerous. They could do it.”
Basically, it was easier to make bigger trucks than it was to build more efficient engines, so we have this gargantuan trucks pushed on us and then they go “ITS WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT” because there are literally no other options besides these giant trucks if you want something with a bed.
Like, even the “small trucks” like the modern Rangers and Colorados are about the same size as the 90s F150s and Silverados. Its nuts.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a piece of financial reform that would unshackle small businesses and consumers alike from the maw of Visa and Mastercard’s credit card duopoly. Wall Street, in response, is spending millions to thwart the bill’s recent advances by fueling a conservative culture war over gay...
"Including Mega Man 11, the latest entry in the franchise, Mega Man is one of Capcom’s historic IPs and is loved by fans, and as such we want to take care in how we develop the series,” Capcom replied....
Ellsberg's release of what were called the "Pentagon Papers" hastened the end of the Vietnam war, prompted a landmark Supreme Court ruling and contributed to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.
Reddit's licensing deal means Google's AI can soon be trained on the best humanity has to offer — completely unhinged posts (www.businessinsider.com)
The health care busts that follow mining’s boom-time benefits (www.politico.com)
Good mining jobs with good benefits can counterintuitively hurt access to care....
Fuck SUVs in particular. (lemmy.world)
[Analysis] Wall Street Stokes Culture War to Fight Swipe Fee Reform (prospect.org)
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a piece of financial reform that would unshackle small businesses and consumers alike from the maw of Visa and Mastercard’s credit card duopoly. Wall Street, in response, is spending millions to thwart the bill’s recent advances by fueling a conservative culture war over gay...
Apple's Xcode Ladies and Gentlemen (lemmy.world)
Not sure if appropriate for this community, or for !programming_horror.
Capcom is ‘considering how to approach’ making new Mega Man games (www.videogameschronicle.com)
"Including Mega Man 11, the latest entry in the franchise, Mega Man is one of Capcom’s historic IPs and is loved by fans, and as such we want to take care in how we develop the series,” Capcom replied....
History-making whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has died at 92 (www.npr.org)
Ellsberg's release of what were called the "Pentagon Papers" hastened the end of the Vietnam war, prompted a landmark Supreme Court ruling and contributed to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.
Reddit CEO warns employees not to wear Reddit swag amid blackout (www.businessinsider.com)
In a memo to employees, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman cautioned them not to wear branded gear in public. He also said the mass user backlash "will pass."
What are people calling the Reddit exodus?
Rexodus? Reddexodus? Fedexodus? reddiaspora?