EVs are heavier than gas cars, but are they harder on roads?
Alberta wants EV owners to pull their own weight when it comes to paying for road maintenance – but battery-electric passenger vehicles, while considerably heavier than their gas-powered counterparts, are far from the heaviest vehicles on the road, experts said.
“For pavement, the biggest cause of damage is large transport trucks,” Kevin Heaslip, director of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Transportation Research, said in an email.
Alberta’s latest budget added a $200 annual tax for EV owners, which it said will cover extra wear and tear on the roads. The province said the fee is meant to mirror the amount of fuel tax paid annually by the typical Alberta driver.
EVs won’t cause roads to crumble faster, but our love of heavier cars is causing problems
So, how much heavier are EVs than similar gas-powered vehicles?
Last year, Heaslip told Politifact that EVs often weigh 30 per cent more than comparable gas-powered vehicles because of their batteries.