EVs are heavier than gas cars, but are they harder on roads?

Alberta will be charging EV owners $200 a year harder on roads. Are EVs really so heavy that they’re chewing up roads? How much heavier are they? – Bruce, Lethbridge

For example, a 2024 Hyundai Kona weighs 1,385 kilograms , while a 2024 Kona Electric weighs 1,705 kilograms , or about 23 per cent more.“If you look at Alberta’s data on light-duty vehicle sales, it has moved from approximately 65 per cent sales in 2005 to 93 per cent at the end of 2023,” said Daniel Breton, chief executive officer of Electric Mobility Canada, a Montreal-based national non-profit that promotes EV ownership.

“The damage due to cars, for practical purposes, when we are designing pavements, is basically zero,” Karim Chatti, a civil engineer from Michigan State UniversityRevenue from the gas tax, which now stands at nine cents a litre, isn’t specifically earmarked for roads - it goes into Alberta’s general revenue, which funds roads and other programs, Alberta’s finance ministry said in an email.

But a one-size-fits-all EV tax treats a Nissan Leaf that’s driven 5,000 kilometres a year the same as an electric Hummer that’s driven 25,000 kilometres a year, Shaffer said.

Car Car Latest News, Car Car Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

City of Thunder Bay adds more EVs to its fleet as push toward electrification continuesOne of Thunder Bay's new F-150 Lighting electric pickup trucks is displayed at the city's transit garage on Thursday. The city has purchased two of the vehicles, which will be used to support transit operations.
Source: CBCTBay - 🏆 42. / 63 Read more »

EVs will be cheaper to produce than gas-powered vehicles by 2027, research showsBattery electric vehicles will be, on average, cheaper to produce than a comparable internal combustion engine by 2027 thanks to new manufacturing methods that are lowering production costs, market research firm Gartner said on Thursday.
Source: CTVNationalNews - 🏆 82. / 51 Read more »

The hype is gone from the electric-vehicle industry. EVs are becoming boring appliancesIf there is an iota of excitement left in the automotive industry, it is not in EVs, and certainly not in regular gasoline and diesel cars. It’s in another aging technology – hybrids
Source: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 Read more »