The United States is already a global leader in traffic-related fatalities, with a thirty-percent jump in the last decade. That’s in contrast to every other developed country, which saw a decline.
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The electric Ford Lightning, for example, is a whopping 6,500 pounds. The Hummer EV is even heavier, clocking in at 9,000 pounds. Its battery alone weighs more than a Honda Civic. Experts have pointed out the significant safety ramifications of this transition for a while, but it’s still not clear that we’ve prepared the regulatory and policy landscape for such a transition.
Even if you don’t want a giant, extremely heavy EV, the tendency to purchase such vehicles creates an arm race for everyone interested in protecting their family on the road. That in turn causes a shift away from smaller EVs in a bid to feed the elemental materials needed for ever larger EV batteries.
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“Norway, a pioneer in EV use, is considering a weight-based tax to steer buyers away from the fattest EVs (the Norwegian government recently eliminated EV purchase incentives). France already has one on SUVs. Buyers of new diesel and gasoline vehicles must pay a tax of €10 ($14.58) a kilo (2.2 pounds) above 1.8 tons. The weight threshold is to be reduced. EVs are exempt, but as those vehicles become heavier and more popular, it seems they will get swept into the weight-based tax net.”
A smattering of localities have tried to prepare for the threat. DC, for example, has imposed a creative vehicle registration fee schedule that has heavy EV truck and SUV owners paying higher registration fees than lighter EV sedans. But it’s an outlier.
Neat. Now do the extremely heavy, large, not-EVs.
Even a fully loaded F-450 doesnt match the 9,000 pound behometh that is the electric hummer. And most truck drivers use the F-150(or brand equal), which maxes out at 5757 pounds. (Min is 4070) Still absurdly heavy, but much lighter than the Hummer.
Edmunds lists the 450 at 8587 pounds.
https://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-450-super-duty/2020/features-specs/
F 250 super duty’s curb weight is 6718 pounds.
https://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-250-super-duty/2022/features-specs/
8587 isn’t quite 9000 lbs. Close, but no cigar. And the 450 is a ridiculous truck (which I just love tbh), but even in Texas, almost no one drives them. Biggest you usually see are 350s, or at least in my experience. And the 150 is just every where.
F450s are everywhere you just don’t know they are F450s. Things like dump trucks, tow trucks, ambulances, box trucks, etc are built on top of the F450.
Now I’m wondering if Ford just sells bare bones F-450s, or if there’s just piles of F-450 chassis out there.
I mean used casually, but you’re right.
Interesting what I don’t see in this article. There’s a lot of different drivers for costs of car infrastructure maintenance. But one of the most important drivers is weight. It causes more stress on the road surface and decreases that lifespan.
I agree with the article, just weird that they left out the most compelling argument for a weight tax on ALL vehicles.
I mean, there basically is, but it’s usually just factored it into something like gas taxes instead of having a specific line item for it. Since EVs don’t pay that tax, there needs to be a separate one somewhere.
That’s definitely true. It’s also a concern for a lot of infrastructure like parking garages and bridges.
I suspect it’s left out because the site focuses on tech, but I’ve seen a few articles looking at that this year. I think some states already do licenses based on weight, though arguably it’s not enough.
Apparently, there’s some loopholes that manufacturer’s are using to justify increasing weights (eg. this ), and a similar taxbreak from some recent legislation for cars over 6k lbs.
Something important to consider with regards to weight and road damage, damage is proportional to weight to the fourth power. A little extra weight means a lot more wear. This is also why we should be shipping most things by train, as trucks are absolutely annihilating the roads.
Yep. No one wants ro talk about a real weight tax, because if they charged trucks their proportional share, shipping costs would go through the roof.
They should also raise the gas tax so it’s cheaper to own an EV.
Make evs expensive, sure, but make gas more expensive.
Can we instead remove oil subsidies?
Same thing in the end.
… but why not both?
Because it’s easier to sell ending oil subsidies rather than raising gas taxes. Ending corporate subsidies has broad support among Americans.