The automakers have determined that this is not practically achievable, and so you can't buy a truck like the old S-10 or a pre-Tacoma Toyota pickup anymore.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy...

If the goal was to reduce fossil fuel consumption, then fossil fuels should have been slapped with a huge tax.

Immediately the automakers would have been incentivized to produce more efficient vehicles.

Of course, it’s politically impossible to do the right thing due to the general public wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

I think a lot of "environmentally conscious" people don't realize that more and more of these types of environmental regulations will come at some direct cost in terms human-safety.

And also that a surprising number of politicians/activists/people are so committed to the dogma that they don't have any problem with that.

So net result of indirect regulations to decrease fuel consumption is increased fuel consumption, and more dangerous vehicles for everyone to contend with who is not inside as large of a vehicle.

Simply making people pay more for fuel would have incentivized them to prioritize what kind of vehicle to buy, and make it possible for smaller pickups to still exist and/or a rental market for pickups to flourish.