Heavy but light pick up's
For many contractors, an full-size pickup truck is a great solution. Robust, versatile and all-wheel-drive. Building materials in the trunk, expensive equipment in the back and a comfortable office in the front. In addition, a trailer is no problem, nor is a poorly accessible building site
.
However, the problem is that this category of cars falls a bit between two stools in terms of weight. The result is that only the weakest versions are available to Europeans. This is because heavier versions exceed the maximum weight of a B drivers license of 3500 kg..
For instance a 2019 Ford F-150 5.0 has a dry weight of 2235 kilograms. So the curb weight will be around 2500 kilograms. The car can technically carry more than 2 tons, but is thus legally limited to 1 ton.
A technically identical 2019 Ford F250 with a better diesel engine (2x torque) will thus only have a legal load capacity of (3500 (7494 lbs) - 3400 kg curb weight is) 100 kg. So carrying a few suitcases would already be an illegal activity.
The simplest solution would be to apply the maximum total weight of a car to the entire range. In the case of the F-150/250/350 and 450, this would mean that the legal maximum weight of the car would be fixed at the weight of the lightest version.
Although the cars drive identical, such an arrangement will result in cars being stressed less; thus more reliable, the environment less polluted and no one will ever have to solve (over)weight problems with the regulating authorities.
