We talk a lot about cars and trucks, and we’re always aware that there is an important distinction between the two. Yet decades of automotive development have blurred the lines. The rise of the SUV first muddied the waters, and the rise of unibody pickups didn’t help the situation, either. It raises the question—what is the difference between a car and a truck?
You can make up your own definition, of course. You could say any vehicle with an open load bed is a truck, and for most of us, that’s enough. However, that definition isn’t as complex as the standards set by government regulators. The official rules are a touch more complicated.
Thankfully, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a no-nonsense flow-chart that answers this question once and for all. With just nine easy questions, you can determine whether any given vehicle is a car or a truck.
The flowchart above sorts vehicles into “car” and “truck” designations for the sake of emissions compliance. The first real questions regard weight. Anything with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 10,000 pounds is outside the scope here, as the they’re excluded from CAFE standards and the EPA’s “light duty” greenhouse gas regulations. Vehicles over 8,500 pounds are excluded too, unless they fall under the “medium duty passenger vehicle” MDPV regulation—which covers bigger SUVs and passenger vans. Many of these super-heavy vehicles are trucks by default, but they don’t need to meet the emissions regulations for lighter-duty vehicles.
The next question is simple. If the vehicle transports more than 10 people, acts as a living space, or has greater cargo volume than passenger volume, then you’re indisputably looking at a truck. Similarly, if it “transports property on an open bed,” it’s a truck. If not, it might be a car.
Further questions aim to refine the definition. Third-row seating makes the vehicle a “truck” as far as the EPA is concerned, but only if the seats fold or can be remove to create a flat cargo surface.
Four-wheel drive could also push the vehicle towards a truck definition, as can a gross vehicle weight over 6,000 pounds. But in both cases, the vehicle must also meet certain geometric requirements to qualify as a truck. The vehicle must meet certain benchmarks regarding approach, breakover, and departure angles, as well as ground clearance, as below. Basically, if the vehicle is rugged and designed to handle rough off-road trails, that means it’s a truck.
If the vehicle fails on all those points, it’s not a truck, it’s a lowly little car. Primarily, this means the vehicle has to meet stricter regulations for fuel economy and emissions. Thus, there’s a benefit for automakers if they can tip a vehicle into a truck classification with a few small changes.
It’s worth noting that this EPA definition doesn’t always line up with our intuitive notions of what makes a car and what makes a truck. Indeed, it gets most complicated when it comes to SUVs. In the EPA’s own words:
Pickup trucks, vans, and minivans are classified as light trucks under NHTSA’s regulatory definitions, while sedans, coupes, and wagons are generally classified as cars. Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) can fall into either category depending on the relevant attributes of the specific vehicle. Based on the CAFE and GHG regulatory definitions, most two-wheel drive SUVs under 6,000 pounds GVW are classified as cars, while most SUVs that have four-wheel drive or are above 6,000 pounds GVW are considered trucks. SUV models that are less than 6,000 pounds GVW can have both car and truck variants, with two-wheel drive versions classified as cars and four-wheel drive versions classified as trucks. As the fleet has changed over time, the line drawn between car and truck classes has also evolved.
By the EPA’s definitions, making a vehicle heavier and more off-road capable tilts it towards being a truck. A pickup bed or lots of cargo capacity does the same. If a vehicle is more about personal transportation and less about work or traversing rugged terrain, it’s a car.
In any case, hopefully that sheds some light on the matter. Next time someone mocks your Ford Maverick, for example, you’ll be properly armed. You can point to the open cargo bed and shout “It’s a real truck!” with confidence, knowing the EPA has your back. You can even print out the above flow chart and keep it in your wallet for easy reference. You’ll solve many a bar argument forever more.
Image credits: EPA report, Ford, Honda, Toyota
In Wisconsin I was able to register my wife’s CX-5 as a truck with B rated plates and also our GMC 3500 dually Savanna bus as a normal car plate. Neither open bed or even a tow hitch etc. wierd!
Hilarious! I suspect things get real wonky on a state/title level.
So the 2025 BMW M5 is a Truck: 6400lbs of gross. I know I’m not flowing the chart correctly, but that BMW certainly won’t flow either at that weight.
Well whaddya know! My Mazda5 is a TRUCK!!
It misses the easiest categorization of them all: “Do truck nutz fit on it and not drag the ground?”
Jesus Christ, why so complicated?
This, should be the right definition. End of.
I agree. This also makes 95%* of trucks on the road right now** actually a car.
* A number I made up.
** See prevalence of extended king cab luxury trucks with short beds
A truck is still a truck even if it’s owned by a wanker.
In the same vein as a miata doesn’t become a truck if stick a potted tree in the passenger seat
Correct. In Australia, since the demise of the local car industry, the standard ‘family car’ now seems to be a dual-cab 4×4 ute with a canopy over the bed – basically the closest equivalent to a large station wagon.
I really wanted it to just be about cargo beds, so we’d start seeing high performance coupes with tiny little beds so they could emit more for better HP output
I’d like to see a Torch interpretation/rendering of the flow chart.
The Biden Administration has done a bit to address the topic of lower fuel economy requirements for light trucks vs cars.
From 2026 – 2032 light trucks will have to improve their fuel economy by 4% per year while cars only need to manage 2% per year.
Class 2B and 3 trucks will need to increase their fuel economy by 10% per year from 2030 – 2032 and then 8% per year from 2033 to 2035.
Glad to hear. These truck exemptions are ridiculous.
We’ll see how that holds up after January 2025. (Personally, I think “truck” should warrant substantially higher licensing fees, higher fuel taxes, and enhanced driver exam with maybe yearly physicals.)
Changing CAFE requires writing a new regulatory rule – which takes years to follow all the steps required by law. Realistically CAFE is locked in until at least 2028 –
The first time around Trump directed NHTSA to roll back CAFE to only require a 1% increase per year instead of the 4% under the Obama era rules. It didn’t take effect until May 2020.
Then Biden won and directed NHTSA rewrite the rules yet again and erase the effect of the Trump rollback. So the rules in 2024 and 2025 required an 8% increase per year and 2026 will require a 10% increase.
The majority of automakers ignored the Trump rules and kept their fuel economy efforts on track and just booked the credits for exceeding CAFE requirements. Stellantis was the only major automaker that embraced the rollback and got hit hard when Biden reversed course. Today Stellantis is paying hundreds of millions in CAFE fines while they scramble to increase fuel efficiency to meet the current regulations.
Per that flowchart, my ’14 Mercedes E350 wagon is classed as a “truck” due to simply having a third row of seats that stow away. Not sure I believe that.
I bought a new Grand Cherokee Laredo in 1994. My state has notoriously high license plate fees so I was pleasantly surprised to find that mine only cost $400. They said that it was because it’s a truck. Next year they dropped the hammer and changed the rules. If its primary purpose is to carry cargo, it’s a truck. If its primary purpose is to carry passengers, it’s a car. $700 please.
Christ, what state is that? Even in California I *only* pay about $150/year for a much newer vehicles.
Mississippi, and it varies wildly county by county. Keep in mind, I’m talking $400 in 1994. Since casino gambling turned into a money maker the prices are lower by about 50% now. We’re the poorest state with a sparse population so that makes for a lousy tax base. Your state income tax is probably much higher. I would pay $150 and dance.
California so yeah, we pay a lot more income, sales and gas taxes. And we pay a lot more for energy, housing, food, probably hookers too. And we have lots of homeless.
But at least we have the BEST schools AmIRite?
*checks internet*
Ummm, Well at least we’re not the worst!
Nearly all of the homeless are from other states, and emigrate because the weather is so much better than everywhere else. Not freezing to death in the winter tends to motivate people, although they seem to have motivation to do practically nothing else.
Oh it gets cold in California too, even coastal areas. OK, not Minnesota cold but overnight temps below freezing is not uncommon. Freezing rain too. That is no fun at all. We even just had a tornado.
The mountains are a different story – the Donner party being a good example of how bad it can get even in a time before climate change.
Wait a minute. Is this chart how this worked in 1997?
Because, if so…my van was a car.
7,000 GVWR.
With seat belts, it could only transport 7 total people.
3rd seat folded into a bed, but it was not level with the rest of the cargo area, and it wasn’t (easily) removable.
The middle captains’ chairs could be removed, but the chart doesn’t cover that.
No 4WD.
And at that point, it’s all down to the off-road geometry, which I don’t know and can’t find a simple chart/stat sheet for at the moment.
This feels wrong somehow. What am I missing?
What was your van? I might be able to look it up.
1997 Ford Econoline-150.
“Incomplete vehicle” (it was a conversion)
1FDEE1469VHB36546
I did a quick VIN check. looks like it was classified as a truck. I wonder if that’s because it was purchased as a cargo-style van and then converted to carry passengers? still, you’d think it would have to be reregistered as the right type once conversion was complete
in any case, NMVTIS records I found say your truck only has two seats plus one potentially optional seat. it looks like it was never registered as a seven-seater, or the original truck designation stuck.
i guess these qualifications are more for OEMs than aftermarket conversion companies
My Golf Sportwagen, which is definitely a station wagon, is defined by the DMV as a “CARRYALL”, while my GTI (which is almost the same vehicle but 1-foot shorter in length) is defined as “4 DOOR”. For the record, both have 4 doors and both have rear hatches and folding rear benches.
Those^^ ‘definitions’ are written on both titles and registrations.
Any chance you can take a photo of their vehicle emissions stickers and send them to me at lewin@TheAutopian.com
No, that isn’t how it worked in 1997. The 3rd row requirement got added after the PT Cruiser was classified as a truck because it had a fold down rear seat.
Jason, do you have any resources you can point us to regarding that?
49 CRF Part 523 – Vehicle Classifications:
A good example of this weirdness is the PT Cruiser, which is classified as a truck for CAFE purposes because oth folding back seat. I wonder if the old Fiat Panda 4×4 meets enough of the approach/departure angle requirements to qualify as a truck?
State regs can get weird. When I lived New York, trucks with commercial plates couldn’t drive on the parkways. The fix was to have windows and at least a suggestion of seats which made your vehicle a “Suburban” with passenger car plates. So putting a cap with windows on my Ford Ranger made it a car, and most of the Econoline vans in the suburbs had “parkway windows”. The flip side is only commercial vehicles can park in loading zones in NYC so I saw a limo with commercial plates and a business name on the doors.
Maine has “combination” plates that are commercial plates for cars that let you park in loading zones. Have had them on my cars for years there. No actual business affiliation required, yours for the asking. Very useful when I used to do consulting work in Portland.
Only downside was that in the days before EZ-Pass, if the tollbooth attendants on the Tobin Bridge into Boston noticed the plates, you got nailed for the much higher commercial toll. Was about 50:50 chance during the day, much less at night.
Willys-Overland offered the “Parkway Conversion” of the slab-sided Willys Delivery from 1946 to 1964 for this very reason.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUJntfDUorjJJhrPVsDEw4J0ofQV0BeOoSFw&s
I’m looking into this because the PT Cruiser is just hilarious…
I think ground clearance should be a big factor for trucks. The whole EPA thing should consider how crappy your aerodynamics are when you lift a vehicle.
Then if it’s a truck, apply the footprint rule formula to calculate minimum MPG, based on 1970s formulas running at 45mph, easy peasy!