At last a proper EV fit for purpose

[ThePrisoner]

Is it true that size for size an EV weighs about half a ton more than a dinosaur powered car, as batteries weigh a lot more than an ICE?

 

[Redwurzel]

Off to the Boro game in my car

Fred Flintstone Car - Bing

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[Andy_W]

Andy - I don't know the Tesla model or the size of the tyres, because its a stranger's vehicle.

I started by asking hime was it worth paying extra for top brand tyres and he brought up about paying a lot for tyres for a Tesla. He told me EVs were heavier cars which put more pressure on the tyres.

My Falken front tyres last about 32k miles - I replaced them last in October 2019 - the rear tyres wear much less I have just replaced a pair that were bought in February 2018 about 46k miles with them. I would recommend them they are made by Sumitomo (400 year old Japanese Company - I was shocked they went back so far).

Ref tax collected from motorists as said before its going to be interesting where the tax will come from when ICE vehicles go. At present they provide tax @ around 60% of the price of unleaded opposed to 5% tax from electicity. Thats about £600 per car per year according to my fag packets estimates that's about £9bn? altghough the RAC have said £13bn. My guess is road pricing for all vehicles is a near certainity.

Yes, I didn't expect you would, didn't mean to come across like you would even ask that, I wouldn't Just sometimes people might mention "for his Model 3" or "for his "model s" etc.

Yeah EV's are heavier, for the same class of car, and you often get a bit more power/ speed. Something like an i4 weighs 2200kg, where a 430 grand coupe weighs about 1800 kg. Fair to assume the EV will be ~20-25% heavier, but that won't mean 20% more tyre wear, my bet it would be less than half that, so around 10%. One thing I've noticed on my cars is the tyres have basically been the same type/ spec, but you run at higher pressures. Same as you would with a road bike etc.

Yeah my cars have been mainly RWD so the backs wear out quicker, but nothing stopping you rotating them with the front, then you can swap all 4 at the same time just about, so you've got the same all over. It's not that important mind, but keeping the same tyres FL and FR or BL and BR is important, more so in a performance car, and equal wear is important too, especially when you start getting low.

I've had Falken I think, or it might have even been Falcon, god knows. I don't see the point in buying top end tyres, and would always go mid range, no matter what the car. Only time I wouldn't is if it was a prestige car, where the buyers might want expensive tyres, it wouldn't bother me too much as a buyer.

When nearly all the cars are EV, then all the tax will come from EV, but whilst in switchover it is always going to be incentivised. Remember with electricity that a lot more of that cost is in paying for the grid, and new infrastructure in the UK, it's keeping a lot of people in jobs, and generating a lot of PAYE. So it is still heavily talked about effectively. More so than paying for gas and oil, as once those payments have gone to qatar and saudi etc, nothing is coming back, or being invested here.

 

[Andy_W]

Is it true that size for size an EV weighs about half a ton more than a dinosaur powered car, as batteries weigh a lot more than an ICE?

It's about 15%-25% more typically, with a few years old battery tech.

The new batteries on the production line are much more energy-dense (same power, much less weight), and cars are becoming more and more efficient so the weight will come down to about the same I think.
The key now is getting a car with more energy-dense batteries and more efficiency, so it can get a range of 250 miles and be the same weight as a "normal" car. The model 3 is pretty much there on that already, but cheaper variants will come.

Mega 500 mile ranges are not important when the car can do 250 miles on a 50kW battery, and charge in 15 minutes (which the tech is there for now, just needs time to trickle down).

Mine can charge at 300kW an hour, but in reality, this would average at ~200kW, so if it had a 50kW battery that would be charged in 15 mins. Mines a big car though, and high performance, most don't need or want that.

Lots of 350kW and 200kW chargers in the pipeline, but to be honest I can't even remember when I last used a public charger, was probably back in June maybe.