When I'm sitting in traffic, I either can't see past the cars in front of me or the cars around me are towering over me.

當我坐在車流中時，我要麽看不到前面的汽車，要麽周圍的汽車高高聳立在我上方。

And it turns out there's a big reason for that.

事實證明，這是有很大原因的。

The production of passenger cars like sedans and wagons for sale in the US has been in freefall since 1975, and in their place has been the steady growth in the production of SUVs.

自 1975 年以來，美國銷售的轎車和旅行車等乘用車的產量一直在直線下降，取而代之的是 SUV 產量的穩定成長。

Last year, SUVs and trucks made up 80% of all new car sales, compare that to 52% in 2011.

去年，SUV 和卡車佔所有新車銷售的 80%，而 2011 年這一比例為 52%。

The fact that Americans like big cars probably won't shock anyone.

美國人喜歡大型汽車這一事實可能不會令任何人感到震驚。

They are everywhere, even in my parking-scarce neighborhood in Brooklyn.

即使是在我停車位稀少的布魯克林社區，它們也隨處可見。

But the reasons behind this transformation are more than just cultural.

但這種轉變背後的原因不僅僅是文化因素。

It all goes back to a 50-year-old policy that would kick off a huge shift in the way US cars are designed.

這一切都可以追溯到一項已有 50 年歷史的政策，該政策引發了美國汽車設計方式的巨大轉變。

So I'm driving from my home in Brooklyn, New York to a beach in Rhode Island for a summer vacation.

我從紐約布魯克林的家開車到羅德島州的海灘去度暑假。

And along the way, I'm going to piece together why big cars took over America.

過程中，我將拼湊出大型汽車為何佔領美國的原因。

New York was the 45th state to officially succumb to the takeover of SUVs and trucks in 2014.

2014 年，紐約成為第 45 個正式被 SUV 和卡車佔據的州。

According to this Washington Post analysis, Alaska was the first state to go big car dominant in 1988.

根據《華盛頓郵報》的分析，阿拉斯加州於 1988 年成為第一個大型汽車主導的州。

So I'm wondering if you have any advice for things that should look out for while I'm on the road.

所以我想知道您是否對我在旅途中應該注意的事情有什麼建議。

Anywhere that you stop, count the number of SUVs versus the number of passenger cars.

無論你停在哪，請計算 SUV 的數量與轎車的數量。

Ok.

好的。

In the Costco parking lot, filled with suvs. 123456789, 10,11 SUVs in a row. I think that is my new record.

Costco的停車場停滿了SUV。 123456789，10，連續11輛SUV。 我認為這是我的新紀錄。

So once you learn about how much big cars dominate the road, it's like you can't unsee it.

一但你了解了道路上有多少大型汽車佔據主導地位，你就無法忽視它。

People have lots of reasons for choosing a big car and certainly the infrastructure in the US supports that choice.

人們有很多理由選擇大型汽車，當然，美國的基礎設施也支持這種選擇。

Unlike a lot of other countries, our built environment revolves around cars.

與許多其他國家不同，我們的建築環境是圍繞汽車展開的。

We have wide roads and wide plentiful parking spaces and homes with plenty of parking.

我們有寬闊的道路、寬敞充裕的停車位和擁有大量停車位的住宅。

I arrived in Connecticut, a state that succumbed to light truck dominance in 2016 and pulled into a rest stop where I interviewed Thomas Bochenek.

我抵達康乃狄克州，這個州在 2016 年屈服於輕型卡車的統治地位，我把車停在一個休息站，在那裡我採訪了托馬斯·博切內克。

He was on a cross-country road trip with his wife.

他正與妻子一起進行越野公路旅行。

It's very comfortable to drive.

開起來非常舒適。

Well, I think the bigger the car, the more you have a feeling of security.

嗯，我覺得車越大，你就越有安全感。

You know, the smaller the car, you know, the more likely I think about getting into an accident and being hurt.

車越小，就越有可能遇到事故並受傷。

It has no trouble pulling this almost 7,000-pound (3,175 kg) trailer.

開這輛近 7,000 磅（3,175 公斤）重的拖車毫無困難。

In other countries, one deterrent for big cars is that they cost so much to fill up with gas.

在其他國家，大型汽車的一大障礙是它們的加油成本太高。

But due to low taxes on gas in the US, fuel is extremely cheap compared to other countries.

但是，由於美國的汽油稅很低，與其他國家相比，美國的燃油非常便宜。

But there's another overlooked bias towards big cars related to why SUVs exist in the first place.

但對於大型汽車還有另一個被忽視的偏見，這與SUV最初存在的原因有關。

In the 1970s, there was a shortage of foreign oil in the US.

1970年代，美國出現外國石油短缺的情況。

"1973 dramatized US dependence on foreign oil."

「1973 年美國對外國石油的依賴更加突出。」

So the US government set rules for automakers to start making cars more fuel efficient to lessen our dependence on the whims of the global oil market.

美國政府制定規則，要求汽車製造商開始生產更省油的汽車，以減少我們對全球石油市場的依賴。

By 1985, new cars had to get 27.5 miles per gallon or roughly double their fuel efficiency.

到了1985年，新車的平均油耗必須達到每加侖27.5英里，大致上是其燃油效率的兩倍。

These new rules applied to cars like sedans and station wagons under a category known as passenger cars.

這些新規則適用於轎車和旅行車等汽車，即所謂的轎車。

But there were types of vehicles the US government exempted from these rules.

但美國政府豁免了某些類型的車輛遵守這些規則。

Things like pickup trucks, which everyday drivers weren't really driving at the time.

例如像是皮卡卡車，當時一般司機並不是真的在駕駛這種車型。

And the idea was if these are working vehicles used by farmers, construction crews companies that are hauling freight,

這個概念是，如果這些是由農民、建築隊或運輸貨物的公司使用的工作車輛，

those vehicles need to be able to do their job without being choked by emissions controls and without being held to unrealistic fuel economy standards.

這些車輛需要能夠完成它們的工作，而不受到排放控制的限制，也不受到不切實際的燃油效能標準的約束。

So passenger cars got one set of strict rules and this other category called light trucks got another set of more relaxed standards.

因此，轎車制定了一套嚴格的規則，而輕型卡車這一類型的車輛制定了另一套較為寬鬆的標準。

This regulation created an incentive for carmakers to transform light trucks into a vehicle for everyday use.

這項規定促使汽車製造商將輕型卡車轉變為日常使用的車輛。

Put in a radio, lots of cargo space and comfy seats and voila.

裝上收音機、寬敞的載貨空間和舒適的座椅，就大功告成了。

That's how we got the SUV.

所以我們才有了這種 SUV。

"Ok, girls, we're up in our new Jeep Cherokee."

「好了，女孩們，我們坐在我們的新吉普切羅基上。」

"Behind that classic appearance, it's rugged and powerful."

「外觀經典，且堅固而馬力強大。」

An automaker needs to spend less money and less time on fuel economy and emissions improvement if they're making and selling an SUV, because it falls under a category that is less stringently regulated.

如果一家汽車製造商生產並銷售SUV，他們在燃油效能和排放改進方面需要花費較少的資金和時間，因為它屬於一個受到較寬鬆規管的類別。

We had the Wagoneer, but it was very low volume very bespoke, very expensive.

我們有 Wagoneer，但產量很低，非常定製，價格昂貴。

So only a very few people bought it.

只有極少數人買它。

People that lived in Manhattan would go to the Hamptons or go to northern New York State to go skiing.

住在曼哈頓的人會去漢普頓或紐約州北部滑雪。

And that's how the SUV started off life.

這就是SUV的起源。

This is Ralph Gilles, head of design at Stellantis, a conglomerate of car companies that includes Jeep.

這是Ralph Gilles，Stellantis的設計主管，該公司是包括吉普在內的一家汽車公司集團。

One of the early SUVs was the Chevy Blazer, built on the frame of the Chevy S-10 truck.

早期的SUV之一是雪佛蘭開拓者，它建立在雪佛蘭S-10卡車的底盤上。

This is the traditional definition of an SUV.

這是 SUV 的傳統定義。

If it was built on the frame of a truck, and to meet the legal definition of a light truck it had to have some clearance angles and dimensions just right.

如果它是在卡車的框架上建造的，並且為了滿足輕型卡車的法律定義，它必須具有一些恰到好處的間隙角度和尺寸。

Taking a utilitarian vehicle and turning it into an almost premium luxury device that happened to be utilitarian. Then comes the Grand Cherokee.

將一輛實用的車輛變成一種近乎高級的豪華設備，而且恰好是實用的。 然後是吉普切諾基。

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was built the way passenger cars are in one piece or unibody.

吉普切諾基採用轎車的一體式或非承載式車身結構。

These two types of car construction, frame-based and unibody, today form the distinction between traditional SUVs and the new, increasingly popular category of crossover.

框架式汽車和一體式車身這兩種汽車結構如今構成了傳統 SUV 與日益流行的新型跨界車之間的差異。

They're more efficiently packaged. You don't have the frames.

它們的包裝更加有效率。 沒有框架。

The Grand Cherokee was part of the early success story of SUVs in the '90s and 2000s. One that continues today.

切諾基是 90 年代和 2000 年代 SUV 早期成功故事的一部分。 一直持續到今天的一款車。

This bias towards light trucks is why a company like Volkswagen, which once sold primarily passenger cars has discontinued a lot of them today like the Passat in favor of SUVs and crossovers.

這種對輕型卡車的偏好就是為什麼像大眾汽車這樣曾經主要銷售乘用車的公司如今已經停產了帕薩特等許多車型，轉而轉向 SUV 和跨界車。

And they've stopped producing all of their wagons, including the Jetta Wagon I'm in.

他們已經停止生產所有貨車，包括我搭乘的 Jetta Wagon。

And a company like Ford has stopped producing all of their passenger cars except for the iconic Mustang.

像福特這樣的公司已經停止生產除標誌性野馬之外的所有轎車。

Ok. I'm gonna see if anyone at this car dealership will talk to me.

好的。 我想看看這家汽車經銷店是否有人願意跟我談談。

Buick was always car, really.

別克一直都是車，真的。

It was mostly sedans and then just with the market shift, we actually don't even sell a Buick sedan anymore. They don't even make a Buick sedan.

主要是轎車，然後隨著市場的轉變，我們實際上甚至不再銷售別克轎車了。 他們甚至不生產別克轎車。

It's all, it's all crossovers.

現在都是跨界車。

When was the last time you guys carried like a Buick passenger car?

你們最後一次像別克客車一樣開著是什麼時候？

It was like three or four years ago.

大概是三四年前吧。

And how many did you have on the lot?

停車場裡有幾台？

Like 1 to 100 of, you know, SUVs.

例如100 輛 SUV 中的一台。

We're here to sell cars. We want to sell what people want. If they were here, if people didn't want them, I'm glad they're not here anymore, you know?

我們是來賣車的。我們想賣人們想要的東西。 如果他們過來，表示不想要這種車，我很高興他們不再在這裡，你知道嗎？

So this chart starts to make a lot more sense.

所以這張圖表開始變得更有意義。

1975 was the year these fuel economy standards for stands and wagons were passed, the same ones that didn't apply as strictly to SUVs and trucks.

1975 年，這些針對展台和貨車的燃油經濟性標準獲得通過，但這些標準並不嚴格適用於 SUV 和卡車。

It's a little bit of a chicken and egg thing because the automakers have been marketing SUVs more preferentially than passenger cars.

這有點像先有雞還是先有蛋的問題，因為汽車製造商一直比轎車更優惠地行銷SUV。

They've been putting more research and development into creating more models that fit into the SUV category.

他們一直在投入更多的研發來創造更多適合 SUV 類別的車型。

And they've made it so that it's an easier decision to get into an SUV than it is to get into a passenger car.

他們已經做到了，讓人們更容易決定乘坐 SUV 而不是乘坐轎車。

As of 2016, our fuel economy standards shifted. Vehicles are still separated by the stricter standard for passenger cars and looser standard for light trucks.

自 2016 年起，我們的燃油經濟性標準發生了變化。 車輛仍轎車標準較嚴、輕卡標準較寬鬆劃分。

But within those categories, there are more breakdowns.

但在這些類別中，還有更多的細分。

Regulators multiply a car's wheelbase length by its width to get a footprint.

監管機構將汽車的軸距長度乘以寬度以獲得車輛軌距。

And larger cars within each category get weaker rules.

每個類別中較大的汽車的規則較弱。

That means that carmakers are not only incentivized to phase out passenger cars in their fleet, but they are pushed to make each category bigger.

這意味著汽車製造商不僅有動力逐步淘汰其車隊中的轎車，而且還被迫擴大每個類別的規模。

The Toyota Camry got both longer and wider and the Toyota RAV4 did too.

豐田 Camry 變得更長更寬，豐田 RAV4 也是如此。

I've now reached Rhode Island, the very last state in the country to go light truck dominant.

我現在已經到達羅德島州，這是全國最後一個以輕型卡車為主的州。

We have started the inevitable transition to electric vehicles.

我們已經開始不可避免地向電動汽車過渡。

But...

但是...

If you're still talking about a larger vehicle with higher ground clearance, that's heavier and taller, it's still going to be less energy efficient.

如果您仍在談論離地間隙較高的大型車輛，即更重、更高，它的能源效率仍然會較低。

Whether it's an electric car or an internal combustion powered car.

無論是電動車還是內燃機汽車。

One sobering impact of big cars is the threat it poses to pedestrians.

大型汽車的一項發人深省的影響是它對行人造成的威脅。

One study found that replacing the growth in SUVs with cars would have averted over a thousand pedestrian deaths.

一項研究發現，用汽車取代SUV的成長可以避免一千多名行人死亡。

People on foot get hit higher and in more vulnerable regions when hit by an SUV, or a truck rather than a passenger car.

跟轎車相比，行人被SUV或卡車撞擊時，受傷部位較高且更容易受道傷害。

Before hitting the beach, I stopped at my friend Kevin Wright's house.

在去海灘之前，我在朋友凱文·賴特的家停了下來。

He's bucked the SUV trend and drives a Honda Fit, a car that was discontinued in 2020.

他逆勢而上，開著本田飛 Fit，這款車已於 2020 年停產。

We had our daughter about 17 months ago, just kind of making sure that everybody has enough space to be comfortable as well as being safe.

大約 17 個月前，我們有了女兒，為了確保每個人都有足夠的空間，既舒適又安全。

It gets good gas mileage and thinking about long term, you know, climate change is happening.

它的油耗很高，而且從長遠來看，氣候變遷正在發生。

What can we do to minimize our carbon footprint as much as we can?

我們可以做些什麼來盡可能減少我們的碳足跡？

So we were thinking about the second car, you know, maybe getting an SUV in that situation, but ultimately decided to kind of go the other direction and got an E-bike.

所以我們正在考慮第二輛車，你知道，在這種情況下也許會買一輛 SUV，但最終決定走另一個方向，買一輛電動自行車。

"You have arrived."

「你已經抵達。」

Even though we're in Rhode Island, which was the last holdout for SUV dominance, there is still a lot of SUVs here.

儘管我們身處羅德島州，這裡是 SUV 統治地位的最後一個堅守者，但這裡仍然有很多 SUV。

I'm curious if you think there's any political will or urgency to change this trend towards bigger cars.

我很好奇您是否認為有任何政治意願或緊迫性來改變這種向大型汽車發展的趨勢。

You know, that's something that has environmental concerns.

你知道，這涉及環境問題。

It's something that has economic concerns with how much we are reliant on oil.

這與我們對石油的依賴程度有關。

It also has to do with safety, you know, pedestrian safety, cyclist safety.

這也與安全有關，你知道，行人安全、騎車人安全。

So there is a desire among younger people and more politically active people to try to make it so that an SUV is not the default vehicle choice for American families.

年輕人和更多政治活躍人士希望努力使 SUV 不再成為美國家庭的默認選擇。

The US is unlikely to become a small car country anytime soon.

美國不可能在短期內成為小型車國家。

But this dramatic transition to big cars wasn't just about consumer choice, it was enabled by policy choice.

但是，這種向大型汽車的巨大轉變不僅僅是消費者的選擇，也是政策選擇的結果。

So if we want our roads to look different, we could try and start there.

如果我們希望我們的道路看起來與眾不同，我們可以嘗試從這裡開始。