Stars of automotive gross sales in France, SUVs additionally signify essentially the most disparaged automotive phase as a result of of their environmental influence. To assess them as precisely as attainable throughout our assessments, we now give them an environmental rating that takes under consideration their pollutant emissions and their CO emissions.2.
In 2020, the SUV accounted for 39% of new automotive gross sales in France. To assist shoppers of their alternative, it made sense that What to select displays this tidal wave: whereas they represented solely 32% of autos examined in 2015, 72% of SUVs now cross via the palms of our testers.
But it was time to take extra account of the environmental influence of these sport utility autos. What to select has due to this fact determined to combine the ecological dimension into its assessments and now provides every mannequin examined an environmental rating as well as to the overall evaluation. It takes under consideration CO emissions2 (50% of the rating) and polluting discharges (HC, CO, NOx, PM and PN, for the remaining of the be aware). We additionally apply a penalty to automobiles that emit greater than 210 g / km whereas these with a variety in all-electrical mode profit from bonus factors.
If SUVs are so in style, it’s thanks to arguments which have been in a position to persuade: a mode resembling a 4×4, with out being true 4-wheel drive adventurers, a dwelling house reminiscent of minivans (which have now disappeared from the catalogs of producers) or the sensation of safety they will exude.
Better in pedestrian influence
The SUV crash assessments carried out inside Euro NCAP, of which the UFC-Que Choisir is a accomplice, present good scores in phrases of security, specifically throughout a collision with a pedestrian or a bike owner. Thanks to their larger hood and virtually vertical grille, they trigger much less injury to the legs and head. For instance, examined in 2019, the Peugeot 2008 shows a rating of 62% (73% when it’s geared up with the Safety Pack), on the merchandise “protection of vulnerable road users”. In comparability, the city car 208, from which he got here, solely obtained 56% on the identical check carried out the identical yr. The discovering, though much less vital, is of the identical ilk with a Renault Captur which is displayed at 75% towards 72% for the city car Clio.
In view of the 29 SUV crash assessments (all sizes mixed) carried out in accordance to the 2019 protocol, 20 are above 70% whereas solely 2 out of 7 metropolis automobiles exceed this rating. Top-of-the-vary street automobiles, fashions which can be usually costly to purchase, show a stage of security pretty much as good, if not higher, than SUVs and are virtually bought out with 4 out of 5 fashions above this worth.
More voluminous
SUVs additionally owe their success to their quantity and usually acquire the higher hand over conventional sedans. For instance, the common trunk quantity of SUVs examined (with out small city SUVs) in 2020 is 345 l in contrast to 323 l for compact sedans. The hole widens additional when the seats folded down (up to the extent of the home windows) are taken, the place the common volumes cross respectively to 735 l and 682 l, or 53 l to the benefit of SUVs. It is even worse for the overall cargo quantity (measured up to the roof and rear seat folded down) with 1,285 l and 1,164 l, ie 121 l distinction. As for security, it’s street automobiles that handle to compete with SUVs in phrases of cargo quantity. Their break variations even handle to exceed them on this space.
But no extra CO2
The fundamental criticism of SUVs is that they emit extra CO2 than sedans. On the air pollution facet, we see that in 2020, SUVs don’t emit extra polluting emissions than different automobiles: they’ve the identical common rating of 15.8 / 20 for this criterion.
As for the measured common consumption of SUVs, it’s + 7.4% in contrast to that of different households of automobiles.
It is particularly on the stage of CO emissions2 that the shoe pinches and, in our numerous articles, we repeatedly spotlight the environmental influence of SUVs (see our comparison of 7 SUVs to 7 equivalent sedans).
However, the hole with sedan emissions is narrowing yr by yr. While they emitted 15.6% CO2 greater than the opposite households of automobiles examined in 2018, SUVs decreased their emissions and are, in 2020, at 10.5% of CO2 extra.
