<story><title>Thor Electric Truck Will Probably Beat Tesla’s to Market</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-13/this-electric-truck-will-probably-beat-tesla-s-to-market</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>xpda</author><text>The Tesla Model S weighs significantly less than most pickups and large SUVs on the road today. Tesla&amp;#x27;s heaviest, the Model X, is significantly lighter than the GMC Yukon, for example.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see the logic in this argument. Electric vehicles are not going to destroy the roads.</text></item><item><author>ProfessorLayton</author><text>Semis are incredibly damaging to roads, they cause 1,400x more wear than cars! [1]&lt;p&gt;It seems that with current battery technology, electric semis&amp;#x27; average weight is going to increase drastically, even if they remain within the allowable GVW limit. For example, a Model S weighs more than a Honda Pilot, due to the 1,200lb battery [2]! . Without the diesel tax, we&amp;#x27;re going to have to figure out another way to pay for road usage.&lt;p&gt;Right now semis are heavily subsidized by everyone else (They&amp;#x27;re certainly not paying 1,400x more in fuel tax). And I suppose it would be unfair to continue to subsidize diesel, and not electric. However, as our infrastructure decays we&amp;#x27;re going to have to figure this out.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lrrb.org&amp;#x2F;pdf&amp;#x2F;201432.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lrrb.org&amp;#x2F;pdf&amp;#x2F;201432.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.roperld.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;teslamodels.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.roperld.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;teslamodels.htm&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aggie</author><text>Road maintenance is funded primarily through taxation of gas and diesel [1]. As electric vehicles don&amp;#x27;t use either, they do not pay a proportional share of the cost to maintain roads. The fuel tax has been an elegant funding solution because it scales both with mileage and vehicle weight (as heavier vehicles use more fuel).&lt;p&gt;Further, electric vehicles weigh more than comparable gas or diesel vehicles, making the ratio of road wear to tax contribution even more disparate.&lt;p&gt;Even if you agree electric vehicles are good for society overall, we will need to find a new way to fund road maintenance.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;pii&amp;#x2F;S0967070X16301482&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;pii&amp;#x2F;S0967070X16...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Thor Electric Truck Will Probably Beat Tesla’s to Market</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-13/this-electric-truck-will-probably-beat-tesla-s-to-market</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>xpda</author><text>The Tesla Model S weighs significantly less than most pickups and large SUVs on the road today. Tesla&amp;#x27;s heaviest, the Model X, is significantly lighter than the GMC Yukon, for example.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see the logic in this argument. Electric vehicles are not going to destroy the roads.</text></item><item><author>ProfessorLayton</author><text>Semis are incredibly damaging to roads, they cause 1,400x more wear than cars! [1]&lt;p&gt;It seems that with current battery technology, electric semis&amp;#x27; average weight is going to increase drastically, even if they remain within the allowable GVW limit. For example, a Model S weighs more than a Honda Pilot, due to the 1,200lb battery [2]! . Without the diesel tax, we&amp;#x27;re going to have to figure out another way to pay for road usage.&lt;p&gt;Right now semis are heavily subsidized by everyone else (They&amp;#x27;re certainly not paying 1,400x more in fuel tax). And I suppose it would be unfair to continue to subsidize diesel, and not electric. However, as our infrastructure decays we&amp;#x27;re going to have to figure this out.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lrrb.org&amp;#x2F;pdf&amp;#x2F;201432.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lrrb.org&amp;#x2F;pdf&amp;#x2F;201432.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.roperld.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;teslamodels.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.roperld.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;teslamodels.htm&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ProfessorLayton</author><text>A fully specced Model X weighs 5,531 lbs vs a fully specced Yukon at 5743 lbs, hardly significant, but thats beside the point.&lt;p&gt;I was specifically referencing semis, where an incredible amount of road damage comes from, and the need for new road funding to account for the transition from diesel taxes.&lt;p&gt;The logic is that road damage does not scale linearly with vehicle weight, and with current battery tech, an electric semi will need to complete more trips for the same amount of cargo due to the battery&amp;#x27;s weight eating into the load capacity.</text></comment>