EVs Are Too Heavy for Current Road Weight Limits, Car Haulers Say

thedrive.com

8 points·hindsightbias··4 comments

They just need to update their pricing model, charge by the pound not by the car. If you charge by the pound it doesn't matter how much each car weighs.

No they aren't. How many they want to cram on the truck is. This is wear and tear our roads and bridges do not need.

If the same number of EVs have to end up shipping via the same roads, the wear and tear on the roads is not necessarily less for seven trucks @80000 vs six trucks @88000. Remember a good amount (~32000) is the truck and trailer. Or even 42x cars driving themselves.

An 80,000 (current max normal weight) truck is actually sometimes less contact pressure than heavier cars - 18 very large tires vs. 4 small ones.

Not to mention the fuel. That's why many western US (and Australian) states allow > 80000 trucks - it can be a win-win. Economical sometimes => ecological.

If I recall correctly road wear is quadratic with respect to weight. Two cars wear the road less than one double weight car. This makes sense when you think about it. In the two car case the weight is divided over eight wheels. In the one car case it is divided over four wheels.

The same logic holds for truck weight of course.

No clue on the fuel use to be honest. I can see it being worse for two cars vs one double weight car due to air resistance.

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