"If you're driving 3000 miles an SUV or a camper van or something large than a teacup is a heck of a lot more comfortable.

Ebbie, this argument just does not hold up at all. If you need to travel 3000 miles by car then don't travel in one that does 15mpg. If the most technologically advance country in the world cannot solve this problem, then who can? But the US does not lead the way in this regard. I believe you should be paying $7 a gallon for your petrol - it would make many of your countrymen think twice about taking that huge Oldsmobile out for a spin again. It would hammer the poor as usual, but the poor are an essential part of the capitalist system so who cares about them?

SUVs are about status full stop. I don't care if you drive down the road or across a continent, that is no excuse for wanton wastage in the name of comfort. Anyway, why not make a comfortable car that is efficient too?