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Comment by radium3d | Hacker News Reader

I think you're missing the efficiency aspect. Gasoline carries a much larger amount of energy so having a far more energy efficient, say in my example 26mpg going to 130+mpg saves a lot in energy cost as well.

We do not ride for free. We pay an extra ~$100 a year (formula based on cost of car. I think it should be based on the weight of the vehicle personally. My Model 3 SR+ doesn't weigh any more than a regular gasoline car) for registration here in California which covers the road maintenance so no need to worry there.

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How does $100 even compare? Currently in California there is a 79.6 cent tax(18.4 federal + 61.2 state) on a gallon of gasoline (I googled and it came up with a price of $3.36 per gallon. That boils down to a ~24% tax on gasoline. So for spending $416 dollars on gas, you'd be paying $100 of tax. I don't think paying $100 is even remotely enough to make up for the missing revenue.

Further, a fixed fee penalizes people that drive a lot exactly as much as people that barely drive whereas a tax on the consumed quantity, gas or electricity, takes into account how much a person is using the road infrastructure.

Not all of the tax money on gasoline goes directly to road maintenance I would guess, it also goes to environmental cleanup projects I believe. Also, remember that EV's are not as heavy in all cases. My 3 SR+ weighs just 3627 lb

Also note that here in CA if the car costs more the registration fee for the EV is more than $100 so I think that helps make up for the difference as well.

Fair enough. But that revenue would still be missing if everybody would switch to EV and it will have to be made up by taxing electricity used for charging car batteries.

Also, a Toyota Corolla for example only weighs 2,910 to 3,150 lbs according to google.

> Also, a Toyota Corolla for example only weighs 2,910 to 3,150 lbs according to google.

In terms of size, the Model 3 is closer aligned to a Camry than a Corolla. The Camry is ~3300-3600 lbs.

> My Model 3 SR+ doesn't weigh any more than a regular gasoline car.

It absolutely does. The Honda Civic hatchback has 3. cubic feet more cargo room than the Tesla 3 with the seats down (including the frunk) and weighs 600 lb less.

You're not comparing apples to apples between a Model 3 and a Civic. A better comparison is a Model 3 and a BMW 3 series. The former in LR RWD trim weighs in at 3,800 lbs with the latter 328i at 3600 lbs.

It’s a fair comparison; a Civic hatchback isn’t non-comparable for any reason that’s related to its weight.

For any like-for-like car, an electric car is significantly heavier. Look at, e.g. the gasoline Kia Soul (2,800 lb) vs the EV Kia Soul (3,700 lb).

You're looking at non EV specific designed cars. The Kia Soul is a conversion. Look into the Model 3, Model Y, VW ID3, VW ID4, Ford Mustang Mach E or the Chevy Bolt.

I mean, my original comparison was between a Model 3 and Civic, and the complaint was that it wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, so I gave an apples-to-apples comparison instead with the same vehicle in gasoline and electric configurations.

None of the cars you listed are under 3,500 lb, meanwhile, many compact gasoline cars are under 3,000 lb, with subcompacts under 2,500 lb. Batteries are heavy.

They aren't as heavy as most might think is my point.

The average midsize car is 3361 lbs and the model 3 SR+ is 3600 lbs so 239 lbs is the difference between the two for an extremely good EV. It is very good to spread this information.

I don’t think a restriction to midsized cars is fair, since you can’t get an electric car that weighs less than the 3,500 lb range. It’s impossible for me to go out and buy an electric car that isn’t a heavy car.

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