Then there are the risks to small cars and pedestrians from being hit by fast-accelerating electric SUVs or pickup trucks — these often have elevated front-ends that make it hard to see small children. Heavier vehicles also cause more road and tyre wear, leading to fine particle pollution.
Hence, the dramatic improvements in battery energy density over the past decade have so far mostly gone towards boosting vehicle range and power, not reducing battery size and weight. One option is to tax heavy electric vehicles, helping offset an expected tax revenue shortfall from lower consumption of petrol and diesel. A less blunt approach would be implementing fleet-efficiency standards for electric vehicles, similar to the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules. This would address often wide gaps in energy efficiency.