Comment by shagie | Hacker News Reader

Comment by shagie | Hacker News Reader

https://globalnews.ca/news/9668217/montreal-rosemont-la-peti...

> Whether electric, hybrid or internal combustion, parking a vehicle under 1,550 kilograms will cost $115 for the year. Vehicles with a mass between 1,250 kg and 1,424 kg will cost $145, 1,425 kg to 1,599 kg will be $175 and 1,600 kg and more will be $205.

(I think that 1550 is a typo and should be 1250 and is reflected in the table below)

    |      kg     |      lbs    |  fee  |
    |:-----------:|:-----------:|:-----:|
    |     < 1,250 |     < 2,755 | $115  |
    | 1,250-1,424 | 2,755-3,139 | $145  |
    | 1,425-1,599 | 3,140-3,525 | $175  |
    |     ≥ 1,600 |     ≥ 3,527 | $205  |

Some data points:

My old '96 geo metro (four door) was is 1,984 lbs

My '03 Honda civic was 2,500 lbs

I currently drive an '10 Honda insight which is listed as "2,723 to 2,727 lbs"

A 2023 Toyta Prius is 3,097 to 3,340 lbs

A Mazda CX-90 (SUV) is 4,709 to 4,899 lbs

The 2023 Ford F150 is 4,021 to 5,740 lbs

The Mitsubishi Mirage is one of the lightest cars on the market that is still in the practical category and has a curb weight of 2,084 to 2,117 lbs.

That’s a somewhat strange logic “cars keep getting bigger, losing us as many as 10,000 parking spots, so we’ll charge them by their weight”.

That effectively is an (small) incentive against going electric for car owners.

Aren’t length and width of car models as readily available as their weight? Or do they already have another tax based on car weight at borough level, making this simpler for them? Or is there a second argument this article doesn’t mention that heavier cars cause more road wear? I don’t see how that would be the case much for parked cars, though.

> My old '96 geo metro (four door) was is 1,984 lbs

I drove one of those, and there's no way they were typical American car in any way in any era, so I don't think it's a valid starting point for plotting a valid trend line. They were weird things. Mine had a 3-cylindar 55hp engine, and I'd joke there were lawnmowers that were more powerful.

The Geo Metro was at least common enough that people knew what they were, but they were certainly outliers.

But there were small cars, like the Nissan Sentra and friends.

> But there were small cars, like the Nissan Sentra and friends.

IIRC, a Sentra was Civic-sized. I drove a Civic before my Metro, and it was literally twice as powerful and much more fun to drive.

The Metro took smallness/cheapness/fuel efficiency to the maximum extreme (for the US at least). It was not fun to drive, and I was constantly reminded about how under-powered it was. IIRC, the thing struggled with hills and couldn't even make it to 80 or 85 on perfectly flat, level ground.

The problem with the Metro (and similar sized cars) is nobody wants to buy them new - the entire market is people who want a tiny used car.

Because if you have $10-15k for a Metro you just buy a used better car.

EVs can be heavy; if quick internet search figures are accurate it looks like all Teslas beyond the Roadster are in the top fee bracket -- from the Model 3 (3,500 to 4,000 lbs) to the Model X (5,200 to 5,400)

I believe that’s in large part to the battery, which weighs somewhere around 1,200-1,700lbs

The Hummer EV (why?) weighs 9,063 lbs.

But at least it's electric! And can do 0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

And over $120K, so parking fees are just a blip for it. When you price it in $/lb, it's not too bad.

Electric cars are quiet heavy.

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