When the school-run SUV is longer than a tank

From the BMW X7 to the Cadillac Escalade ESV, today's family SUVs stretch longer than several light tanks of the 1930s and 1940s. A look at the numbers.

The line «this SUV is like a tank» is usually a joke, but for some models the comparison is no longer just figurative. Modern crossovers and SUVs have grown so much that, in length, they now outpace part of the armored vehicles of the 20th century.

The current Mercedes-Benz GLE reaches 4.954 m, and the BMW X7 measures 5.181 m. Both are longer than the German light tank Panzer II of World War II: depending on the version, it ranged from roughly 4.64 to 4.81 m. The four-door Ford Ranger, at 5.37 m, goes even further — though strictly speaking it is a pickup, not a classic SUV.

On another level entirely sits the Cadillac Escalade. The long ESV version stretches to 5.766 m, stands almost two meters tall and is about 2.06 m wide. By body length, excluding the gun, such a vehicle is comparable to several Soviet tanks of the late 1930s, including the A-20 and A-32, and outsizes the American light M24 Chaffee with its 5.03 m hull.

Today's main battle tanks, of course, play in a different league. The M1A2 Abrams reaches 9.77 m with the gun forward, and the Leopard 2 is close in size. Still, the comparison is telling: family cars used for grocery runs and holiday trips have crept up in dimensions to machinery designed for crews and armor.

The growth of the SUV explains a lot: cramped parking spots, heavy doors, high fuel consumption, expensive tires, and the feeling that an ordinary city car suddenly looks too small next to a «family» giant.