alt Hacker NewsMaybe roads would last longer if we weren't all being forced to buy super heavy SUVs just so automakers can skirt emissions and fuel economy requirements.
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I've heard that cars have negligible impact on roads. 99% damage comes from heavy haul trucks, especially those who violate weight restrictions.
By the way, I've never seen SCALES OPEN sign for the trucks, it's always SCALES CLOSED, or maybe I'm just extremely unlucky.
I don’t think SUV vs car makes a meaningful difference when e.g. delivery vans and garbage trucks exist.
A lot of EVs are heavier than SUVs... but don't let facts get in the way of your crusade.
> Maybe roads would last longer if we weren't all being forced to buy super heavy SUVs
Maybe not.
Due to battery weight, EVs are super heavy even if they aren't SUVs, so are delivery trucks without which an urban community cannot and will not exist. Urban roads should be able to handle the weight even if everyone converted to EVs.
People in cities generally want deliveries of goods, which requires heavy trucks.
Typical meme. Passenger vehicles of any type cause negligible road wear. The weight of a sedan (say, 4000lbs) versus a light truck (say, 6000lbs) is just not significant, further the ground pressure will be close due to tire sizing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_pressure)
Road wear is a power law, and heavy trucks cause the wear https://blog.ucs.org/dave-cooke/trucks-cause-the-lions-share...
"Forced"???
People buy SUV's because they want to avoid being injured in crashes (at the detriment of the other driver)
For people that don't watch the video (I don't even know if this is in the video): road wear is a function of axle weight to the fourth power. [0]
That means a 6,000lb escalade creates 3x the road wear than a 4,500 wagoneer from 1990.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law