Subaru hatchbacks are great off road and have about the same capacity as most SUVs.

Even an older model SUV like a Honda CRV will take up a lot less space than its modern counterpart. Station wagons can be sexy too if that's your style.

While parent is extreme and minimizes that some people have legitimate needs... You do raise another interesting point... You have an SUV and a Fullsize Sedan. I'm sure you have your reasons but it's an amusing anecdote.

A station wagon is easier for moving animals, more space than a small SUV - it's lower to the ground (huge plus if you have to lift them in, easier for them if you are leading them up a portable ramp).

The trade off is you can't do soft sand, cross deeper streams etc, but IMO animals don't need to be released far off track, to me it's worth the trade off.

People driving heavy terrain in wilderness around here use small jeep like cars. Even US army used use them back in the day before monster trucks became a thing.
Edit: I meant small variants. Not the big size ones.

They are a lot more efficient in their class and might convince some ICE drivers to switch. Their range tends to be quite good. Unfortunately they have drawbacks:

• They require a very large battery. If you don't find >150kW chargers, you'll be waiting a long time
• More batteries per car = worse environmental impact from production
• Road degradation grows by the fourth power w.r.t. vehicle weight. The big batteries make electric SUVs very heavy
• SUVs are more dangerous for pedestrians due to their size
• In a crash SUVs deliver much more energy, killing more people.