I know it’s not exactly news to state that electric cars are heavy. Really heavy. Batteries are heavy things, and it makes you realize just how spoiled we are when it comes to fossil fuels. Think about it: liquid gasoline has about 100 times the energy density of a lithium-ion battery, and as that gasoline is used, the weight – about eight pounds per gallon – goes away. Not so with an EV battery, which weighs as much full as empty. Gasoline was such a huge springboard for humanity and automotive development, being energy dense enough to deal with wildly inefficient engines and crude overall design and still work. So, thank you, gasoline!
Lithium batteries are incredible technology, but if they have an Achille’s heel, it’s their weight. Well, and how slow they can be to charge. And the danger of thermal runaway. But that’s it! They’re still amazing. Amazing and heavy.
This heaviness isn’t really obvious, either; there’s a lot of modern EVs that aren’t that big, size-wise, but are actually quite dense, and if you actually look at the numbers, they’re, you know, big. But to really viscerally appreciate just how heavy this whole crop of modern EVs are, I think you need some kind of familiar comparison. And I don’t mean using a bunch of units of weight that somehow we’re expected to know, like 75 spiral-sliced hams or a six dozen full water cooler bottles – I mean comparing these new EVs to older combustion cars.
Especially smaller EVs, because the comparisons are even more dramatic. So, with that in mind, I’ve selected five small-to-midsize EVs and compared them with big-ass land yachts or vans that they, visually improbably, outweigh. And then I compared one full-size electric SUV to a modern small camper, just for fun.
Here, be wowed!
It’s weird to realize this, right? That Fiat 500e weighs more than the Dodge minivan? It’s like half the size! That Toyota with the dumb name is heavier than a freaking Town Car? A Tesla Model 3 weighs more than a Cadillac Fleetwood Brough-motherfucking-ham! And the Hummer being heavier than a whole freaking motorhome, even though it lacks a toilet or kitchen or beds? Madness! All of physics as I’ve understood it feels upended!
How can this be? But it very much is. EVs may be the future, and that future is looking very, very heavy.
Those cars from the 70’s and 80’s were light in part due to all the things that weren’t standard back then. Many of these vehicles did not come with AT, AC, PDL, PW, CC, and you couldn’t get an Umpteen speaker audio system, Air Bags, ABS, Huge Tires and wheels.
Take a look at what happened to the Mustang over the years, weights are for base models.
1965 2562 lbs
1975 2795 lbs
1985 2705 lbs
1995 3280 lbs
2005 3351 lbs
2015 3469 lbs
2024 3579 lbs
Those cars from the 70’s and 80’s were light in part due to all the things that weren’t standard back then. Many of these vehicles did not come with AT, AC, PDL, PW, CC, and you couldn’t get an Umpteen speaker audio system, Air Bags, ABS, Huge Tires and wheels.
Take a look at what happened to the Mustang over the years, weights are for base models.
1965 2562 lbs
1975 2795 lbs
1985 2705 lbs
1995 3280 lbs
2005 3351 lbs
2015 3469 lbs
2024 3579 lbs
You used an S in the image and not a model 3. I am actually shocked by how light the Dodge Caravan was.
shit, i did. Let’s let it slide til tomorrow?
ok, I fixed it!
Me too. Like, somebody should race a Caravan at LeMans. Not LeMons, LeMans.
Meanwhile my perfectly lovely Volvo XC60 PHEV weighs 5800 effing Lbs. And it’s engineered to feel lighter than my old XC70, which I think weighed about 1000Lb less. Toecutter! Do something!
You used an S in the image and not a model 3. I am actually shocked by how light the Dodge Caravan was.
shit, i did. Let’s let it slide til tomorrow?
ok, I fixed it!
Me too. Like, somebody should race a Caravan at LeMans. Not LeMons, LeMans.
Meanwhile my perfectly lovely Volvo XC60 PHEV weighs 5800 effing Lbs. And it’s engineered to feel lighter than my old XC70, which I think weighed about 1000Lb less. Toecutter! Do something!
I’m surprised the ’84 Fleetwood weighed less than the smaller Panther body Town Car.
I’m surprised the ’84 Fleetwood weighed less than the smaller Panther body Town Car.
That Fiat and my CRZ with me in it weigh more than that Dodge, but I’m certain I’ll come out of a crash just fine in those little cars. In a 40 year old FCA product? Much less certain.
That Fiat and my CRZ with me in it weigh more than that Dodge, but I’m certain I’ll come out of a crash just fine in those little cars. In a 40 year old FCA product? Much less certain.
Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to drive EVs
Just let ‘em pick kit cars or drive them old trucks
Steer clear from them EVs ‘cause they weigh too damn much
Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to drive EVs
‘Cause they’re all overgrown and cost more than your home
And your kids won’t never learn how to clutch
Brilliant work.
Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to drive EVs
Just let ‘em pick kit cars or drive them old trucks
Steer clear from them EVs ‘cause they weigh too damn much
Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to drive EVs
‘Cause they’re all overgrown and cost more than your home
And your kids won’t never learn how to clutch
Brilliant work.
But they don’t feel as heavy as they are. My 2014 pathfinder feels heavier than my 2024 EV6. I just looked it up and my pathfinder is only 300 pounds less than my EV6. They are also about the same size.
I think it’s all the weight being lower. My comparisons are giant V8 Dodges so handling hasn’t been much of a consideration in my life.
But they don’t feel as heavy as they are. My 2014 pathfinder feels heavier than my 2024 EV6. I just looked it up and my pathfinder is only 300 pounds less than my EV6. They are also about the same size.
I think it’s all the weight being lower. My comparisons are giant V8 Dodges so handling hasn’t been much of a consideration in my life.
I had to take my big truck to get officially weighed. For no apparent reason, well, it is an even number, so memorable, my 1992 Ford F350 longbed dually crewcab weighs 6000 pounds.
I had to take my big truck to get officially weighed. For no apparent reason, well, it is an even number, so memorable, my 1992 Ford F350 longbed dually crewcab weighs 6000 pounds.
The big take-away I’m getting from this is how light an 80’s fullsize Cadillac was. Two tons seems rather light for what it was.
I think it is more a matter of shifting perspective with time. Automotive zeitgeist, and the drift thereof.
As I remember it in the late 70s when I subscribed to three auto mags at once and wolfed down all those stats tables in the reviews like they were cake — in very round terms an average car was 3000ish pounds plus or minus, a really light car was down close to 2000, and a massive boat like a Caddy was 4000.
There is some danger in an average car being 5000 pounds if the bridges and highways were built for 60% of that. I think there was some mention of this in the reporting here recently.
Since everyone is driving F150s and Suburbans, the average car might already be over 5000 lbs.
But bridges and highways weren’t built for 3000lb vehicles, and I’m not sure where you got that idea. They’re built to support commercial trucks 80,000lb and up.
They are built to support a mixed load, or probably a variety of loads from pure car to pure truck.
While a truck may be that heavy, it is spreading that load across 18 tires, each with very large contact patches, while taking up a length af maybe 60 feet (in which three cars might drive, since four would fit bumper-to-bumper). And if that 80k number is a max GVW, it is not an average weight. For example, I would expect a bridge leading out of a mine site that is always carrying max GVW trucks to be designed more heavily than a standard bridge.
If a bridge is designed accounting for both dynamic loads at speed and static dense stopped traffic and for certain mixes of x average truck weight and y average car weight, and y increases by 67%, it could create problems.
It was the longest regular production car on the market, a fact Cadillac proudly touted
The big take-away I’m getting from this is how light an 80’s fullsize Cadillac was. Two tons seems rather light for what it was.
I think it is more a matter of shifting perspective with time. Automotive zeitgeist, and the drift thereof.
As I remember it in the late 70s when I subscribed to three auto mags at once and wolfed down all those stats tables in the reviews like they were cake — in very round terms an average car was 3000ish pounds plus or minus, a really light car was down close to 2000, and a massive boat like a Caddy was 4000.
There is some danger in an average car being 5000 pounds if the bridges and highways were built for 60% of that. I think there was some mention of this in the reporting here recently.
Since everyone is driving F150s and Suburbans, the average car might already be over 5000 lbs.
But bridges and highways weren’t built for 3000lb vehicles, and I’m not sure where you got that idea. They’re built to support commercial trucks 80,000lb and up.
They are built to support a mixed load, or probably a variety of loads from pure car to pure truck.
While a truck may be that heavy, it is spreading that load across 18 tires, each with very large contact patches, while taking up a length af maybe 60 feet (in which three cars might drive, since four would fit bumper-to-bumper). And if that 80k number is a max GVW, it is not an average weight. For example, I would expect a bridge leading out of a mine site that is always carrying max GVW trucks to be designed more heavily than a standard bridge.
If a bridge is designed accounting for both dynamic loads at speed and static dense stopped traffic and for certain mixes of x average truck weight and y average car weight, and y increases by 67%, it could create problems.
It was the longest regular production car on the market, a fact Cadillac proudly touted
I would rather carry around an extra 1000lbs than dump 100lbs of gasoline into the car every week, though.
That’s why I retired my forester for an EV6. Last week was my first with the ev6 and it cost me 10$cnd in electricity, and the same distance with the forester would cost about 125$ish in gas.
Congrats, The EV6 looks great.
I would rather carry around an extra 1000lbs than dump 100lbs of gasoline into the car every week, though.
That’s why I retired my forester for an EV6. Last week was my first with the ev6 and it cost me 10$cnd in electricity, and the same distance with the forester would cost about 125$ish in gas.
Congrats, The EV6 looks great.
Yes, but those old cars folded up like a tin can in an accident. Part of the reason those old cars were so light, is safety wasn’t 3rd, it was 10th or 12th.
Yes. I drive a modern(ish) subcompact coupe, and it weighs essentially the same as the FIAT 500e electric coupe.
Safety was up to the driver to not crash.
Or be crashed upon
Wait? They considered safety? I thought that was swept under the rug?
Yes, but those old cars folded up like a tin can in an accident. Part of the reason those old cars were so light, is safety wasn’t 3rd, it was 10th or 12th.
Yes. I drive a modern(ish) subcompact coupe, and it weighs essentially the same as the FIAT 500e electric coupe.
Safety was up to the driver to not crash.
Or be crashed upon
Wait? They considered safety? I thought that was swept under the rug?
Holy hell, what were the Caravans made out of, toothpaste? Yes, nice cuboids are strong, but my 944 weighs more.
You could kick the side of a short wheelbase Caravan above the rear wheel well and the window would pop out from how much the side dented in.
It’s only 300lb heavier than my 89 mr2 s/c, which seems insane to me, given how how tiny the mr2 is in comparison to a Caravan.
I got rear ended by a Suburban while driving my ‘89 MR2. Only the bumper was damaged, not the underlying structure. Toyota built those cars tough!
Holy hell, what were the Caravans made out of, toothpaste? Yes, nice cuboids are strong, but my 944 weighs more.
You could kick the side of a short wheelbase Caravan above the rear wheel well and the window would pop out from how much the side dented in.
It’s only 300lb heavier than my 89 mr2 s/c, which seems insane to me, given how how tiny the mr2 is in comparison to a Caravan.
I got rear ended by a Suburban while driving my ‘89 MR2. Only the bumper was damaged, not the underlying structure. Toyota built those cars tough!
Damn overweight ugly behemoths…especially the pointless Hummer EV…I’d rather have the Clark or any of those old cars than new bland and boring cars especially dumb EV junk
“Cadillac Fleetwood Brough-motherfucking-ham!”
Spiral-sliced ham?!
An apples to apples comparison would have compared the Hummer EV against it’s ICE predecessor, the 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha, which weighs in at a relatively equally chunky 8200lb.
Damn overweight ugly behemoths…especially the pointless Hummer EV…I’d rather have the Clark or any of those old cars than new bland and boring cars especially dumb EV junk
“Cadillac Fleetwood Brough-motherfucking-ham!”
Spiral-sliced ham?!
An apples to apples comparison would have compared the Hummer EV against it’s ICE predecessor, the 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha, which weighs in at a relatively equally chunky 8200lb.
Now do this but with modern ICE cars. The results may surprise you.
one trick that bloggers hate 🙂
I would also like the survivability rate, in an accident between those comparable cars. I bet a 3k lbs ICE would fold the Caravan in half in an accident
The original Caravan was probably as deadly as a VW Microbus in a side-on collision.
The VW would be worse if its driver rear-ended someone, as a single sheet of metal and maybe a headlight were all that came between the driver and the car in front. (The bumper was about at the level of the driver’s feet.)
I did this with the Ioniq N, it outweighs my friend’s 2016 F150, supercrew shortbed, 4×4, V8. It literally weighs more than a modern Half ton truck.
I tried this. The results did not surprise me.