Automotive News recently bemoaned how heavier electric vehicles “are causing safety and pollution problems.” The news report by Richard Truett (2023) pointed to heavy battery packs as the main “culprit” but also weight gains caused by automated-driving features and all-wheel-drive systems.
Truitt paraphrased industry design expert Sandy Munro as stating that all of these factors did not leave much potential to reduce the weight of an EV’s body and powertrain (Truett, 2023).
Alas, Truitt either ignored or downplayed other obvious ways to cut poundage such as by reducing the size and power of vehicles as well as switching to more aerodynamic bodies that use lighter-weight materials. In addition, instead of stampeding toward “skateboard” platforms, automakers could plausibly experiment with lighter “unibody” structures adapted to EV powertrains.
Truitt’s story yet is another example of Automotive News’ tendency to avoid questioning the U.S. auto industry’s bias toward bigger, glitzier and more powerful vehicles.
Why did Automotive News ignore smaller EVs?
What’s particularly amusing is that Truitt had to engage in some fancy rhetorical dancing to avoid talking about ways to reduce weight that went beyond technological breakthroughs in battery-pack design. For example, his article focused on the heft of General Motors’ large trucks and sport-utility vehicles, which lug around upwards of 8,500 pounds.
Left unmentioned were small EVs such as the Chevrolet Bolt, which weighs roughly 3,600 pounds. That’s in the same ballpark as the somewhat larger Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4 in gas-powered form. Meanwhile, a Tesla Model Y is more akin in size to these SUVs but around 700 pounds heavier.
So all else being equal, EVs do have a weight penalty — but it can be at least partly worked around. Truitt acknowledges one way to do so, albeit gingerly. He mentioned that Ford shaved roughly 700 pounds from the F-150 when it switched to an aluminum body. As a result, the EV version of that truck tops out at under 6,900 pounds — around 1,600 pounds below a Chevrolet Silverado EV. This is a meaningful weight advantage.
Imagine a truck that isn’t a supersized brick on wheels
Perhaps Detroit needs to use the shift to EVs as a reason to rethink some of its design assumptions. For example, imagine if the Silverado were given a more aerodynamic shape . . . and shrunken to what used to be considered a full-sized truck 30 years ago.
Maybe most buyers would realize that they didn’t need a supersized truck. And maybe a goodly portion of them would even be willing to give up the brick-like styling if they understood how much an aerodynamic shape would save them money over the life of their truck.
Also see ‘Popularity of SUVs could offset climate advantages of EVs’
Truitt (2023) didn’t go there. Instead, he conflated the weight penalty of EVs with the auto industry’s shift shift away from smaller, lower-priced vehicles. He wrote that higher “EV weights are causing sticker prices to increase because automakers are using more raw materials in the larger tires and bigger brakes.”
Why then did GM decide to discontinue the Bolt in favor of larger and more expensive EVs such as the Equinox? It’s true that the automaker subsequently announced that a second-generation of the Bolt would return in 2025 (Miller, 2023). However, GM’s two-step dance hardly shows an unwavering dedication to serving the bottom end of the EV market. Might that be the bigger problem?
NOTES:
Product specifications are from manufacturer websites.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Miller, Caleb; 2023. “Chevrolet Bolt EV Isn’t Dead: It Will Return with GM’s Ultium Batteries.” Car and Driver. Posted July 25.
- Truitt, Richard; 2023. “Heavier EVs are causing safety and pollution problems.” Automotive News (subscription required). Posted Aug. 31.
Be the first to comment