The Suzuki Ignis is a small car. Weighing in at less than one tonne, and with dimensions that are perfect for crowded streets, it is what’s known as a “city car” – a car optimised for use in urban areas. Compact, comfortable and affordable, it’s all most people need to get around town, and equipped as this one is with robust four-wheel drive, it can handle almost everything the countryside could throw at it too.
But from where I’m sitting – stuck in traffic near Kidbrooke, south London, there is a problem. Because here, in semi-suburban, Zone-3, the environment for which cars like the Ignis have been designed, mine is one of the smallest vehicles on the road. All around this diminutive machine are vast, ungainly SUVs, barely able to navigate their environment. Hardly anyone is driving a vehicle that looks like it’s meant to be here.
The SUV (short for the euphemistic “sports utility vehicle”) has risen to prominence worldwide over the past two decades. Previously a North American tradition, the practice of marketing bigger, heavier, more expensive and more polluting vehicles to people who do not need them has spread to Europe. Britain, which builds and sells some of the most luxurious SUVs in the world, is no exception to this, with the loosely defined segment accounting for around half of our new car registrations each year.
This phenomenon comes with significant downsides: SUVs are bigger and about a third heavier than hatchbacks, saloons and estates, which means they generally need more fuel. Studies, including findings by the International Energy Agency (IEA) put this figure at anywhere between 14 per cent and 25 per cent. According to the IEA, SUV emissions were the source of around one billion tonnes of CO2 worldwide, equivalent to a large country.
SUVs are troublesome on a local level too. Tailpipe emissions, which are a significant source of air pollution in cities, are greater from SUVs than from smaller cars. Other harmful particles generated by tyres and brakes are also produced in larger numbers by heavier SUVs – even electric ones, according to research published in Nature.And crucially, SUVs are increasingly understood to be more dangerous to vulnerable road users in collisions than smaller cars.
Cyclists in particular are at greater risk from SUVs, due to the shape and height of the car’s front end, causing 55 per cent more trauma and 63 per cent more head injuries than crashes with normal cars according to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the US. SUVs are 28 per cent more likely to kill occupants of other cars, too, according to the same research.
And while some evidence suggests it might be safer inside an SUV than outside, the fact that SUVs are more likely to roll over in accidents makes the threat of head injuries greater for occupants as well, according to research published by the Association for the Advancement of Automobile Medicine (AAAM).
Questions as to the inherent safety of larger SUVs were asked in the aftermath of the recent tragedy in Wimbledon, in which a Land Rover Defender mounted a kerb, demolished a fence and ploughed through an end-of-term picnic in the grounds of a primary school. What happened in the driver’s seat during those 10 seconds has yet to be established, but the presence in Wimbledon of a Defender – weighing 2.5 tonnes – has prompted debate about why civilians are hell-bent on bringing tanks into town.
SUVs are not the problem
It’s fair to distinguish gargantuan cars such as some of Land Rover’s products, which are sold on the basis of their power and off-road abilities, from smaller, lighter, more efficient SUVs built for families and with no mud-plugging pretentions. SUV is a colloquial term; used to describe any large, upright vehicle, it applies just as accurately to a 2.6-tonne Rolls Royce Cullinan, one of the most exclusive and expensive cars on the road, as it does the Nissan Qashqai, which weighs little more than an estate car.
“I don’t think of it as an SUV,” says Anna, who bought a second-hand Qashqai six years ago and loves it. “And I get annoyed when I have to pay SUV prices at car washes. I considered a smaller car but for the price it worked out reasonably to get a Qashqai. It has a good reputation for reliability, and I have a bad back so not having to stoop down to get into the car really helps.”
Anna has found it easy to drive and sufficient for her growing family. I ask if she’d ever buy an electric one. “Possibly,” she replies. “In a few years, maybe.”
The electric quandary
Electric cars are, on balance, an improvement over petrol – and diesel-powered vehicles; whole life emissions from EVs are far lower, and the fact they have no exhaust fumes makes for cleaner air in congested places like Britain’s (currently very polluted) cities. But there’s a catch – EVs tend to be bigger and about a third heavier than their fossil-fuelled equivalents, which has an impact on other harmful emissions, as well as road safety.
The added mass is partly down to the sheer weight of the batteries required, which in some vehicle approaches a tonne. But it’s also to do with profitability. Fully electric cars are significantly costlier to produce than petrol-powered models, which makes them more expensive to buy – less of an issue in an SUV that might cost £40,000, but a huge deterrent to traditionally money-sensitive buyers of hatchbacks, which can be purchased for £15,000. Manufacturers obviously put more effort into building (and marketing) more profitable vehicle types.
“The growing trend towards large cars has significant consequences for the demand for key metals and road safety”, explains Ralph Palmer from green lobby group Transport & Environment. “As we transition to electric vehicles, we need to be far smarter about resource efficiency, meaning that smaller cars are not just safer for other road users but also just good industrial policy.
“It’s time for governments to act. This could include introducing a tax on the heaviest new cars while providing tax incentives for people to buy smaller electric cars, and exploring ways to regulate manufacturers to produce more efficient cars and batteries.”
Regulating SUVs away
Governments are indeed acting. Paris, the city hall has announced plans to dissuade SUV drivers from entering the city using punitive parking charges, albeit with exceptions for electric cars. Officials in Lyon have already announced plans to tax cars by weight from next year, and Grenoble is expected to follow suit. In Washington DC, proposals have been made to charge owners of vehicles over about 2.7 tonnes an annual surcharge of $500 (£390), with smaller penalties for less egregiously oversized trucks. The normal fee is $72 (£56).
Japanese policymakers have long understood the value of small vehicles, especially in relation to street space. Kei cars are a tiny subset of city cars, rarely found outside Japan, designed to meet stringent regulations on size and power. Historically, consumers were incentivised to buy these microcars with tax breaks, and in some parts of Japan they were the only type of private car that could be parked on the street.
As in Europe, though, the economics of electric cars are a threat to these cheap runabouts, as manufacturers and customers alike struggle to make the numbers add up.
Pressure is being placed on the marketing of SUVs, too. In addition to cities making drivers of SUVs feel unwelcome, France has announced nationwide plans to ban the advertising of more polluting cars – defined as 123g/km of CO2 or more – from 2028. Pressure group Badvertising has called for similar measures in the UK.
I’m reminded of anti-smoking legislation, and recent calls for aggressive “bully XL” dog breeds to be banned following a string of high-profile attacks. Because as with tobacco and dangerous dogs, the proliferation of SUVs presents a delicate social conundrum – how to balance a people’s freedom to enjoy things, with everyone else’s freedom from harm.
What should I drive instead?
There are some people for whom an SUV is the best product for the job. But the profitability of SUVs for car manufacturers means they’re marketed more aggressively than other types of car, to the detriment of car buyers who might be better off in something else. Here are some alternatives.
Suzuki Ignis, from £15,000
The compact Ignis was What Car? Car of the Year 2021 – Small SUV Best for value
The diminutive Ignis is one of the most versatile vehicles available today, offering straightforward urban driving and – with the 4×4 “Allgrip” upgrade – ample off-road capability in the countryside. No, it won’t scale Ben Nevis, but it will clamber out of a muddy field and will hold its own in icy conditions.
MG 5, from £31,000
Previously known for cute sports cars, MG now builds practical EVs for buyers on a budget. The MG 5 is wildly popular, pretty practical, and has recently been updated. It’s not the biggest estate on the market, but its boot compares favourably with that of the Nissan Qashqai and other leading SUVs.
Citroën Berlingo, from £20,000
France doesn’t like SUVs, and one of the reasons for that is the popularity of far more practical MPVs (remember the Espace people carrier?) from French manufacturers. The Berlingo is great, offering up to seven seats and a van-like boot. An electric version is available for just under £30,000.
