> The damages are proportional to the root of the weight
No, road damage is proportional to the 4th power of axle weight. So a car that's 50% heavier will do 5x the damage to the road. (Assuming the same number of axles.)
No, road damage is proportional to the 4th power of axle weight. So a car that's 50% heavier will do 5x the damage to the road. (Assuming the same number of axles.)
Loaded semis weigh 20-40x a car. That's 160,000x the damage.
And as the author points out - it's not going to change much whether the semi is gas or electric.
It's the load of the truck that matters.
Another factor that I haven't seen addressed is that Passenger vehicles are much more apt to dive on the brakes to stop. My observation is that roads fail first where people are slamming on the brakes.
It's possible you're getting deceived here, because the highest wear road surfaces are made from more durable material, and areas where drivers might need to slam on the brakes often have high friction surfaces, which are more wear-prone.
So the industrial area where dozens of fully laden 18-wheelers are making sharp turns every day gets paved in the most durable concrete mix possible, the school zone pedestrian crossing approach gets a high-grip sandpaper-like surface, and a few months later it looks like the school zone is getting a lot more wear.
Edit : cool link below, but includes the disclaimer
“The accuracy of the law of the fourth power is disputed among experts, since the test results depend on many other factors, such as climatic conditions, in addition to the factors mentioned above.”