It correlates to the amount of energy needed to move it, generally with the size of the vehicle, and highly with the particulate pollution from brakes and tyres (yes I'm aware of regenerative braking), as well as the amount of wear and tear on the roads and infrastructure, etc.
European cities were never built for large vehicles, we should be going towards smaller vehicles, a Fiat 500 EV would be well within the limits described (at only 980 kg) even without the extra weight allowed by EVs.
Even if one argues an EV is good for the environment... they could still be better for the environment by being smaller and weighing less as it would take less energy to move them.
But looking at things like the Mercedes EQS SUV (3,375 kg), I drove behind one of these at the weekend and it is huge, it was scary seeing it pass a cyclist on a narrow London street. Living in a dense capital city, I would love if London followed suit here.
Not only the energy though. "Tire emissions" are a serious problem and it's competing with ICE emissions. EV's are considerably heavier so they produce lots of fine particles from the tires.
Maybe in the North America they're not that important since other cars are as heavy (SUVs and Trucks). But in Europe, EV's are by far the heaviest of the regular use vehicles.
While I agree entirely I just wanna correct you for a bit:
The Gross Vehicle Weight (GVWR)refers to the maximum weight a vehicle is designed to carry including the net weight of the vehicle with accessories, plus the weight of passengers, fuel, and cargo, which is indeed a hefty 3375 kg.
The Weight Unladen (EU) is still a ridiculous 2810 kg for the EQS SUV 580 4matic
No it isn't. Even the most simple look into EV database would have shown that this is flat out wrong. There are heavy and big vehicles in there using very little energy and small ones using a lot.
So what should be taxed is the actual efficiency - either per individual vehicle which would also incentivise reasonable driving (could be easily done by either submitting two numbers, similar to what is already submitted to insurance) - or by using the test ratings which is a good approximation.
Why not? Isn't it immensely good thing to guide manufacturers to make lighter and smaller EVs? Less resources and less energy spend. After all the goal is to lower emissions so attacking on all areas should be the way to go. You want an EV, you must accept that it is smaller and lighter than other options.
2T is a lot for EVs! Take Tesla for example: all their 4 cars 3 are huge and the only one who is just barely below the limit is larger than the vast majority of cars on the road: the 3 often doesn't fit on parking spots neatly and has trouble with narrower streets.
buro9|2 years ago
It correlates to the amount of energy needed to move it, generally with the size of the vehicle, and highly with the particulate pollution from brakes and tyres (yes I'm aware of regenerative braking), as well as the amount of wear and tear on the roads and infrastructure, etc.
European cities were never built for large vehicles, we should be going towards smaller vehicles, a Fiat 500 EV would be well within the limits described (at only 980 kg) even without the extra weight allowed by EVs.
Even if one argues an EV is good for the environment... they could still be better for the environment by being smaller and weighing less as it would take less energy to move them.
But looking at things like the Mercedes EQS SUV (3,375 kg), I drove behind one of these at the weekend and it is huge, it was scary seeing it pass a cyclist on a narrow London street. Living in a dense capital city, I would love if London followed suit here.
neoberg|2 years ago
hetspookjee|2 years ago
The Gross Vehicle Weight (GVWR)refers to the maximum weight a vehicle is designed to carry including the net weight of the vehicle with accessories, plus the weight of passengers, fuel, and cargo, which is indeed a hefty 3375 kg.
The Weight Unladen (EU) is still a ridiculous 2810 kg for the EQS SUV 580 4matic
quonn|2 years ago
No it isn't. Even the most simple look into EV database would have shown that this is flat out wrong. There are heavy and big vehicles in there using very little energy and small ones using a lot.
So what should be taxed is the actual efficiency - either per individual vehicle which would also incentivise reasonable driving (could be easily done by either submitting two numbers, similar to what is already submitted to insurance) - or by using the test ratings which is a good approximation.
Ekaros|2 years ago
lagadu|2 years ago
Muromec|2 years ago
Rygian|2 years ago
olabyne|2 years ago
In Europe there is decent EVs with a 1.4-1.5T weight (Zoe/208/fiat)
quonn|2 years ago