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A new alliance of campaign groups has been launched to get 4x4s off the roads in the UK.
Green activists are stepping up their opposition to sports utility vehicles – meant for off-road use – taking over British cities and towns.
The SUV Alliance – backed by groups like AdFree Cities, Mums for Lungs and Clean Cities – say SUVs are fast becoming ‘the norm’ due to car manufacturers promoting them in search of higher profits, and government ‘inaction’ over their rise.
They argue SUVs are reducing street space for other transport modes, such as scooters and e-bikes, and holding back the market for smaller, affordable electric vehicles.
Despite progress in fuel efficiency and electrification, the trend toward heavier and less efficient vehicles like SUVs has largely wiped out the improvements in energy consumption achieved in the car sector in recent decades. Sports vehicles emit roughly 20% more emissions than an average medium-sized car, according to the International Energy Association.
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The SUV Alliance’s first demand is for the Government to overhaul Vehicle Excise Duty to introduce higher taxes on the most polluting vehicles, based on their weight.
It highlights that 52% of the top 100 vehicle models sold in 2023 were too wide for minimum on-street parking spaces in major cities. In effect, councils and taxpayers are subsidising users of the prestige mega-vehicles.
The campaign calls for maximum width, length, and height limits for new car sales from 2030 to prevent oversized vehicles.
And they advocate for a national ‘tobacco-style’ ban on SUV advertising (including hybrid and electric SUVs) in outdoor spaces.
The campaign argues that advertising is driving demand for larger SUVs, rather than demand creating the supply.