The fuel tanks of 4*4 cars are larger than these of sedan cars.
BBC News: New research shows that human "mini-brains" develop more slowly than those of other primates.
The Guardian: Prehistoric women's arms 'stronger than those of today's elite rowers'.
The Guardian: Chelsea fans live further from their club's stadium and go to home matches less than those of any other London Premier League club.
I cannot understand why BBC News used "those" in this context. First, "these" is more formal than "those", and second, human are primates so we are not comparing between very different things, and this is even clearer in the other examples. However, an Ngram search suggests that "those" should be used in this context for some reason.
Is it wrong to use "these" in this context?