• pHr34kY@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    One elephant in the room is the fact that electric vehicles can wear out tyres up to 50% faster than their conventional counterparts, due to being heavier.

    There is a very long list of problems with cars that get worse with weight. Yet, people insist on driving land-blimps.

    It increases every single consumable in the car. Fuel, brakes, tyres, filters, oil, fluids, bearings, driveshafts, suspension… everything. It also puts additional wear on the roads they drive on, with an exponential relationship.

    It also makes them far more dangerous. Worse cornering and braking, and an exponentially greater impact force when they hit something.

    • Rossphorus@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Nitpick: The relationship between vehicle weight and road damage is a quartic (e.g. x to the power of 4), not an exponential

    • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      I used to be a vol firefighter. If it’s a heavy EV vs a regular weight car the EV will cause more damage and increase the risk of death/entrapment compared to normal crashes. You can’t cut open elecric cars like normal ones to rescue people or you’ll get electrocuted so that slows everything down.

      There are response guides tesla puts out on their site to help us prepare for what a scene involving a tesla would entail. If I remember right like 8,000 gallons of water to keep the battery stable. Our tanker holds 2k. How many highways have hydrants? None that I can think of.

      So we’re talking about deadlier crashes while also having to arrange water resources like we would for a structure fire. For any significant crash involving EVs

      I want to like electric vehicles but it seems like all it’s going to do is make firefighters’ lives hell for the next few decades

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        Wow the water thing seems nuts. I just had a look at one of the guides. Do not submerge, but use large amounts of water to cool the battery compartment.

      • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        There are response guides tesla puts out on their site to help us prepare for what a scene involving a tesla would entail. If I remember right like 8,000 gallons of water to keep the battery stable.

        Keep in mind they make those numbers based off liability, not science. Those guides are meant to legally cover Tesla’s ass, not provide actual useful information.