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Comment by Grustaf | Hacker News Reader

Tesla is indeed a strange choice for a simile, considering that Tesla cars use prodigious amounts of energy compared to other electric cars, or other cars in general. I doubt they're even more environmentally friendly overall than a compact combustion engine car. Tesla made electric cool by building an over the top luxury car, what we really need is the opposite.

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There are some cars coming out next year that are more energy efficient than a Tesla, like the Hyundai Ioniq 6, but I don't know of any currently widely available vehicles that are.

By energy efficient do you mean kilowatt hours / kilometer (or equivalent units)? The standard range Model 3 – the most efficient one – is apparently 15/16 kWh per 100km, which is pretty much exactly the same as a VW ID3 (15.5 - 15.7 in Pro spec) and only a little less than a Hyundai Ioniq 5 (16.8).

Sitting on my hyundai kona ev. In 2833 kms, consumption was 13.5 kwh/100km

A tesla weighs 2-3 times more than a compact car, so that means it must be extremely efficient pound for pound. Nevertheless, I doubt many people, until recently, bought Tesla's because of (ostensible) environmental concerns.

How does your efficiency argument follow from merely weight?

If you can move a heavy object using less energy than others move a much lighter object, then it would seem that you are quite efficient. Unless we're talking about constant speed in a vacuum.

Yes, but where does the less energy argument or data come from?

From the comment I responded to

Every single Tesla owner I know bought it for environmental reasons.

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