I’ve explained this at least once previously, either in this [long] thread or in another discussing EVs. There is a big difference between ICE and EV when it comes to efficiency -
- For ICE, lower efficiency simply means that the customer needs to spend more on gasoline.
- For EV, lower efficiency means two things: 1. Manufacturer needs to spend more on batteries, meaning that vehicle will be more expensive, and 2. Customer needs to charge for longer periods of time and pay for more electricity.
No, I don’t think that a minivan is much more aerodynamically efficient than a similar sized SUV. But that wasn’t what I understood and replied to - I understood your assertion to be that almost all consumer vehicles, sedans, coupes, small SUVs, etc will transition to more boxy vehicles that are mostly autonomous. And my reply is that there will still be a place for sedans in that world due to higher efficiency (in EV-land, that means “smaller battery”).
Now that I think about it, 90+% of my uberlyft rides have been in sedans, and only a few of them have been in SUVs, and only once a minivan. If you’re wondering why, it’s because the uberlyft driver wants to spend less on fuel. When I was in SF a few years ago, the most common uberlyft vehicle I ended up in was a Prius!