3 ms·
> Electric cars have as much wear-and-tear on roads as gas cars Sometimes even more. Of course that depends on exact car that is being compared, but as a rule
by aexaey 11y ago
> Electric cars have as much wear-and-tear on roads as gas cars
Sometimes even more. Of course that depends on exact car that is being compared, but as a rule of thumb, an all-electric vehicle would be significantly heavier due to battery weight, and as was pointed out:
> Road damage rises [...] to the fourth power of the axle weight [0].
Salient example is a Tesla model S, which have a curb weight of 2.1 metric tons in standard configuration [1], while comparable gasoline-powered sedan weights in at approximately 1.5 metric tons [2]. That means that applying formula above, "average", electric car causes 3.6 times more road wear than "average" CO2-belching one, just due to being 40% heavier while having same number of axles.
To make matters worse, many countries tax vehicles based on their weight (so to translate a fair share of road repair costs to the vehicle owner). And that makes subsidies (in the form of tax exemptions) to the electric vehicles even more important - otherwise electric cars would not be able to compete at all.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_axle_weight_rating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_axle_weight_rating
[1] http://www.teslamotors.com/support/model-s-specifications http://www.teslamotors.com/support/model-s-specifications
[2] http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/3series/sedan/2015/showroom/technical_data.html http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/3series/sedan/2015/sho...
- masklinn 11y ago> Salient example is a Tesla model S, which have a curb weight of 2.1 metric tons in standard configuration [1], while comparable gasoline-powered sedan weights in at approximately 1.5 metric tons [2]. That means that applying formula above, "average", electric car causes 3.6 times more road wear than "average" CO2-belching one, just due to being 40% heavier while having same number of axles. The comparison doesn't hold, the Model S is a full-sized sedan, the 3-series is a compact. The Model S is somewhere between the 5-Series and the 7-Series, closer to the 7-Series than the 5. Either way, both EV and ICE car road wear is completely dwarfed by trucks.
- aexaey 11y agoIt is a moot point. Having seen (but not driven) model S, I can't say it looks big enough to warrant comparison to a 7-series, and even then latter is 1800kg [0], so Model S is still 17% heavier or causing 1.85 times road wear. Point about trucks stands of course, as you've pointed in the other comment. 3-4 orders of magnitude more road wear - that's crazy! I wonder how does that translates to truck road taxes. [0] http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/7series/sedan/2015/showroom/technical_data.html http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/7series/sedan/2015/sho...
- mtgx 11y agoBut is the Californian tax based on how much "wear" cars do to the highways or also on the pollution they create?
- URSpider94 11y agoCurrently, neither. It's based strictly upon how much gasoline they consume, as are all highway taxes nationwide (since they are levied per gallon of diesel or gasoline).
- gohrt 11y agoroad wear and tear goes with the cube of vehicle weight. Large trucks cause 99% of road wear. Teslas will never be a siginificant factor.
- aexaey 11y ago* not cube (n^3), but fourth degree (n^4) * not of vehicle weight, but per-axis weight Trucks are still big "winners" though - see masklinn's calculations here.