Experts warn electric vehicle weight threatens road safety and infrastructure

submitted by SoCo from (washingtontimes.com)

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[–]hfxB0oyA 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Electric cars do weigh more than gas cars it's true, but this pearl clutching does seem conveniently timed.

For reference, a Tesla Model Y, which is their best selling vehicle, weighs 4,416 lbs. while a Ford F-150, America's most popular truck, weighs 4,900 to 5,770 pounds. The Toyota Rav4, America's most popular SUV, weighs 4,610 – 4,705 pounds.

There are roughly 83,200,000 pickup trucks and SUVs on American roads right now (about 33% of all vehicles). As of 2022, there were approximately 1.8 million electric vehicles on US roads.

So how come we never heard all this concern about vehicle weight for all the decades that pickups and SUVs were flying out of the dealerships?

[–]Musky 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

So how come we never heard all this concern about vehicle weight for all the decades that pickups and SUVs were flying out of the dealerships?

We do though, there have been at least two car garage collapses, one in Florida and one somewhere in Europe, that were blamed on the ever increasing weight of consumer vehicles.

EVs only add to the problem.

Although yes, some people just want to find something wrong with them.... they do have their pros and cons and some of the cons are rather impactful.

I think EVs are neat but I don't like them as a total replacement for IC engines.

[–]hfxB0oyA 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think EVs are neat but I don't like them as a total replacement for IC engines.

Agreed. They're not really practical in a Canadian winter.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

WTF are these facts doing here?

Also, Muricans are much fatter than then they were 10 years ago.

(excellent points)

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Uh huh. And commercial truck traffic on our nation's highways is featherweight compared to EV vehicles. No expert is required to acknowledge this as a shit post.

[–]Musky 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

And those commerical vehicles are brutal on the roads. Increasing consumer vehicle weight by 1000 lbs for the EV batteries adds to the wear and tear.

[–]hfxB0oyA 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, but... see my comment at the bottom of this thread.

[–]ActuallyNot 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, the comment about roads an bridges is pretty stupid. I mean there might be a few bridges that you only allow passenger vehicles on.

But the article in structure magazine looks at parking buildings, and you could have a sensible discussion about that.

Some of them at $0 cost if you consider them at the design stage:

  • Consider standard practise of distributing EV parking spaces to reduce load intensity.

[–]SoCo[S] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

Those EV's are crazy heavy. They cook breaks and tires off pretty quick too.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (9 children)

You're pushing Big Oil's misinformation propaganda. These assholes are making trillions by price gouging.

Roads and infrastructure are engineered for tolerances double that of the heaviest cars and trucks.

[–]Rah 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

Moo

[–]CheeseWizard 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Moo

[–]Jiminy 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Moo

[–]hfxB0oyA 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Good point. See my comment at the bottom of this thread.

[–]SoCo[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Oil producing is not even really a break even industry. Those pushing EV's and demonizing the lifeless corps they've left of affordable energy producers, like oil and gas producers trying to break even on their half century of investments, are the ones pushing the propaganda that anything that contradicts them is 'big oil propaganda'...while they inflict the largest wealth transfer in all of history, just before the collapse.

Yet , the naive people I know, who have bought into the EVs like suckers, have had very serious problems with weight, tires, breaks, and batteries.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Oil producing is not even really a break even industry.

This has got to be the least informed comment ever on Saidit, an impressive feat.

Simply search: oil companies profits

https://www.nrdc.org/bio/zanagee-artis/oil-industry-netted-billions-profits-despite-global-price-dip

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/exxon-chevron-shell-conocophillips-record-profits-earnings-oil-companies-most-profitable-year/

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/03/oil-companies-bring-in-200-billion-in-profits-in-2022.html

[–]Rah 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Moo

[–]SoCo[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

That is an short outlier of artificial increase, which is hard to consider. Yet, those companies likely have decades of losses and investment to recoup, which they expect a reasonable return on.

But that year of profit those articles mention are in 2022...after Biden ruined the worldwide economy, food supply, and energy supply. Then destroying the environment, by blowing out the ocean gas line. Not to mention starting a domino effect of geopolitical tension resulting in violence, in multiple serious instances.

That kind of word instability drives the cost of necessities like oil up, along with the others. The regulatory capture that is authoritarianism and war is the only solution to desperate economic down fall for the foolish.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Why are you making up lies to support the oil industry? What's in it for you?

The oil and gas industry have always been highly profitable. The past 10 years: https://www.statista.com/statistics/294614/revenue-of-the-gas-and-oil-industry-in-the-us/

You can probably find statistics for the past century of oil & gas profits, if you're curious. I'm surprised anyone would make up lies to support that industry, especially when we consider the destruction caused by it.

[–]Airbus320 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Hot garbage they are

[–]ActuallyNot 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The EV vs w-beam test: https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/nebraska-experts-weigh-highway-safety-and-electric-vehicles/

They'll certainly need to upgrade w-beam barrier to account for the heavier vehicle.

The vehicle itself looks pretty good. After not slowing down much as the w-beam fails, and hitting a concrete Jersey barrier at about 90°, at not much slower than 60mph. The cab held up well, and (assuming a sealbelt was used) it looks like the driver and passengers would open the doors, walk off and call their insurance company or an uber.

[–]ActuallyNot 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

The article in structure magazine lacks the fear-mongering tone of the washington times.

https://issuu.com/structuremag/docs/january_2024 (pp 36-39 by the printed page numbers, or pp38-41 by the electronic count)

They are more looking towards solutions than hyperventilation.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I wonder why it's not obvious to most Saiditors that this post is 100% Big Oil misinformation propaganda. Where built properly, roads and infrastructure account for extra tonnage for the heaviest vehicles, and by the time there are significant non-fossil-fuel vehicles on the road - perhaps c. 2030s, 40s, or 50s - there will have been updates to the infrastructure. My only question is regarding bridges, in times when massive electric commercial trucks might be numerous on some of those bridges. Some regulation might be necessary in that case.

[–]ID10T 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Sounds like you agree with the article even though you hate to admit it.

Why do liberals refuse to address the problems with EVs such as:

Additional weight causing additional road/parking structure damage.

Batteries made from materials mined with slave labor in ways that cause environmental damage.

Lack of planning to upgrade the electric grids to support EV charging.

Long charge times that are inconvenient, but also can put people in dangerous situations, stuck at a charge station for an extended period of time in an isolated area, which will be targeted by criminals.

Significantly higher repair costs, which in turn significantly increase insurance costs.

Fire hazard of damaged vehicles which makes it dangerous to store damaged vehicles at repair facilities, and requires a lot more space/real estate to store safely. Damaged EVs should be stored far apart from other vehicles and structures.

Precipitous depreciation.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

You overlook entirely the problems with fossil fuels, how much more costly those have been and will be, for everyone? This has nothing to do with liberals. Big Oil wants you to believe their lies. Don't. Look up fossil fuel costs to... everything.

[–]ID10T 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The costs are well known because we've been using fossil fuels for over a hundred years. You act brain dead.

[–]Bitch-Im-a-cow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

you obviously don't know or don't want to know anything about this subject

[–]ID10T 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Riiiiiiight

[–]IkeConn 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

My wife said his yesterday morning.

[–]binaryblob 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

EVs shouldn't carry large batteries, because that's pure waste. The power supply should just be built into the road infrastructure.

Sure, if you want to travel in the middle of nowhere, then you might want to have a big battery, but typically people don't want to travel in the middle of nowhere.

Still, EVs are inevitable.

It's just as stupid as saying "Water should be banned; drink Coca Cola instead".

[–]Jiminy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The batteries need to be big because as it is they run out too quick and take hours to charge unlike five minutes at a gas station. Battery technology has to improve but I think it will.

[–]carn0ld03 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Electric cars weight an additional 50% over their traditional standard Internal combustion engine counterparts. As a result, current infrastructure will have to be developed with that in mind. Right now this reads as a particularly serious point of concern for the multi-level parking garages that are in operation currently. They're going to have to up their rates in anticipation of further collapses.

[–]Jiminy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Car's weighing more is better for safety. Like why big trucks or SUVs are safer for the driver ( not who they hit tho). Of course it makes gas mileage worse or uses more electricity for EVs. But the weight itself isn't something to criticize EVs for. Cost is main problem.

[–]CheeseWizard 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The future is now old man!

Bam!

Now I can amass more damage with electric vehicles in GTA 7

[–]Brewdabier 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Model 3, the most affordable Tesla offering, is also the lightest vehicle in the lineup. Available across three trims, the Model 3 Standard Range Plus with a single motor is the lightest at 3862 pounds.

And the Small autos usually way around 2,500 pounds and large automobiles about 4,200 pounds. SUVs or trucks can range from 3,500 pounds to over 6,000 pounds.

How the F is a Ecar worse ?, compairing an Ecar to a same size gas car there about the same weight and keep in mind there's more vans, SUVs and trucks on the road that weigh far more than Teslas.

[–]twolanterns 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

funny because heavier they are the bigger the batteries and then the bigger the car needs to be and ....

As I figured, the technologies are far from mature and probably will be for a very long time'

politician tards who now push EV and of trashing the existing viable systems should be lambasted out of power