In my experience it is that mom and dad both sometimes need to have all the kids and there is no good car swap in between. I drop the kids off for their before school jazz band practice, then my wife picks them up from their after school practice. I really want a tiny car that handles well, but that won't allow the above so I'm driving a SUV that is barely big enough and not fun at all.

My kids are soon to reach driving age and that means they can drive themselves - but only if I have another car.

I wish I lived where transit existed, but that is a different rant.

Oh god just reading the other responses to this thread I am glad I don't live in the car-dependent place (I did grow up in one though).

Me and the wife just got a baby and we were like "oh my god I am so glad I live walking distance to everything we need, including daycare and pediatrician". To be fair that is not the average where we live either, but kids are already taking themselves to places around 6 years old and most after-school activities are around the school.

In fact we were complaining that now that we have so little time available it is just so boring to _only_ be 3-5 blocks around our home and never go anywhere else. My wife sometimes just take the bus to go anywhere else to walk the baby rather than just doing it around our area.

I have 1 child and need a big car, such as Honda Pilot. We are active. We travel. My son plays sports. I need a 2 inch hitch for our heavy ebikes.

I also need 5k towing a few times a year.

I do have a 2nd economy car, and I like driving smaller cars anyway, but having one big car is nice.

not OP, but apparently all it takes is 2 kids that are independently into multiple sports + both parents being actively involved in the clubs/work schedules that allow us to regularly make every training session and game means we're regularly playing taxi for multiple families and having to split ourselves across locations when fixtures clash. Also all their kit just takes up a heap of space too. I wanted a sedan when we upgraded one of our cars late last year but it just wasn't going to work given all of the above.

I'm willing to bet they didn't mean to carry kids that don't fit in two SUVs. Probably meant that logistically, they need two SUVs available. If you aren't American—or are, but don't have kids—you might not be aware that even two kids past 10yo and a sedan is a pretty bad experience. And I'm saying this as someone who loves his sedan, hates large cars, passionately hates SUVs, and definitely never wanted one.

I have three kids under 10. None of them can legally ride in the front of my sedan. So they had to be in the back. Three of them in one bench seat. Physically possible, and we did it for a while, but it's just non-stop screaming and fights, and with very little space for all their after-school stuff. I threw out my back trying to make their sports and music stuff fit with my baby's stroller and diaper bag etc.

And this is the kicker if you aren't American: everything you do in life has to be done with a car, which means even at two kids, you might be transporting loads of gear every day.

I always thought, like my experience growing up, my kids should learn a musical instrument and play a sport. So if a kid picks cello and the sport is tennis, your entire trunk is filled now. And that's not even with a stroller for your third kid that is not self-ambulatory yet. Forget about a tire inflator, jumper cables, or any other standard stuff you should be carrying in your car at all times.

So with three kids (extremely common in the US), a sedan is practically unworkable. (Again, I'm saying this as someone who would only drive sedans my whole life if I could. I hate big cars and think they're a needless risk and expense for most people and wish we could heavily restrict their ownership.)

Now what if one parent is in charge of the morning stuff then works late, but the other parent is in charge of afternoon stuff because they get off work early.

Now you need an SUV for each parent just to manage three kids with a completely normal set of childhood activities.

I drive a ID.Buzz now, the LWB so it seats seven. Life is immeasurably easier. Perfect timing, too, with the gas price situation, and I keep the car at 80% charge every day, a few hours of charging off one 120V plug while I sleep, everything's gucci.

*edit* One thing I forgot to mention is that carpools to kid events are common here. So extra space to be able to drive one of your kid's friend to the after-game hangout is a of high value. Increases community, etc.