Belgian car fleet gets longer, heavier and too wide for parking

The average car on the Belgian market is getting longer, wider, and heavier, reducing available space on roads and in cities. This trend has been going on for some time now. In 2023, the Belgian automobile fleet represented about 6 million vehicles, occupying a space corresponding to 9,787 football fields. Ten years ago, it would have covered 8,364 football fields.

Data from FPS Mobility show that in 2013, the median length of a car was 4.49 meters. In 2023, it was already 4.55 meters. However, vehicles’ widths mainly impact the space they take up. The median width increased from 1.80 meters to 1.83 meters in ten years.

Exceeding 2 meters

The Belgian car market follows the international trend of shifting toward SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles). By 2023, half of newly registered vehicles were SUVs, which explains the expansion of the fleet.

Troublingly, the ever-wider trend continues with large SUVs and pickups approaching or exceeding 2 meters, like the BMW X5 (2,004 m), the Land Rover Defender (1,996 m) or the Kia EV9 (1,98 m). Not to mention the Dodge Ram, which is more than two meters wide – 2,085 m, to be precise – overshooting the 1,80 m-wide parking spaces by almost 30 cm. Even though it is ‘only’ a few centimeters, the average parking space has not grown, and parking space is becoming increasingly limited.

Ever-wider trend

Earlier, the environmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E) warned of the risks of the ever-wider trend. T&E: “Reviewing the maximum width limit of light-duty vehicles—cars, crossovers, SUVs, pickups, and vans—is vital to protect public space from further encroachment, including footpaths, roadways, and adjoining parking.”

Such a review must also consider the road safety risks posed by ever-wider SUVs, mainly since increased width enables further raising the vehicle’s height. Vehicle fronts raised by 10 cm carry a 30% higher risk of fatalities in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists, T&E concluded.

Total cost of ownership

FPS Mobility’s analysis also confirms that the switch to electric cars is mainly driven by company cars. Three-quarters of electric cars in Belgium are company cars.

Price is not the only factor that drives the purchase of a car; it is the ‘total cost of ownership’, which includes, in addition to the price, taxes, insurance, maintenance costs, and consumption. The study also reveals that for the same purchase price, an electric car is always cheaper over the entire vehicle’s lifespan.

The big problem at the moment, however, is the limited supply of smaller, affordable electric cars. This limited supply ensures that the total cost of an electric car in these segments for a private individual is currently even higher than that of a classic gasoline car.