If I understand correctly, what that image is saying it doesn't matter what type of car you use still they're all space inefficient?

Yes. Similar images have been published over the years, all attempting to show how space inefficient cars are compared to other transit options. This particular one takes it a step further by calling out EVs as no better than ICEVs with regard to space consumption.

The solution is for most people to drive Miatas or Smart4Twos. I'm only half joking.

When I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, the family vehicle of choice for most of my friends and I was the "generic midsized family sedan" - Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, etc. Plus the Accords and Camrys of the late 80s and 90s was closer in size to a 2021 Civic than a 2021 Accord. I think we managed just fine, including taking extended multiday family road trips.

I don't have kids, but talking to my friends who do, it sounds like nowadays the minimum acceptable size to shuttle around a single child is a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander (or the current fad - Kia Telluride). I'm only half-joking.

Totally agree.

Part of the upsize, at least for families, is child car seats. They're enormous now, and children seem to stay in them longer (boosters and things). A co-worker had a mid-2000s Passat and you couldn't fit a baby seat in the back without forcing the passenger into an awkward upright seatback. I'm not sure what you do about that.

I'm in a relatively dense suburb outside DC and I just wish they'd spend a little more time/money on mixed transit options. We're like 80% there, but corners get cut and so bike lanes that dead-end, or sidewalks but not crosswalks, stuff like that.