And for states with higher electric car adoption (like here in California):
Electric cars are heavy. Really heavy. People do not understand how heavy these cars are. A Tesla Model Y (the smallest one) weighs ~4,500 lbs, while a Model X weighs over 5,000 lbs. For comparison, my all steel body V8 powered 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 (with dimensions physically bigger than all Tesla models(*): 213 in long compared to the longest Tesla, the Model S at 196 in long) weighs just ~3,700 lbs. In a crash involving an electric car, all that kinetic energy has to go somewhere, and sadly that’s usually into the other non-electric car in the crash.
Additionally, people are too trusting of auto-pilot. The driver’s hands should never be allowed to come off the steering wheel unless they are repositioning their hand in a turn or for comfort, IMO. Turning on auto-pilot and trusting it enough to completely disengage from driving and do something else (like taking a nap or reading a book) is like trusting ChatGPT to give you factually correct information: its possible but pretty unlikely its going to be 100%.
(*) EDIT: Technically, this is wrong as I forgot the Model 3, which is 184 inches. However, the Model 3 weighs about the same or more than the Galaxie at ~3,600 lbs to ~4,000 lbs. The point is just to communicate how heavy these cars are.
Edit: I may have misread that you meant the smallest Tesla, not the smallest Model Y. You’re wrong if you meant Tesla, but if you meant Model Y that was my bad.
I don’t count the Roadster because A) there are not enough of them to be statistically relevant to this discussion, and B) its just a modified Lotus Elise.
I did totally forget about the Model 3. It does have a length that is smaller at ~185 inches, but the weight is about the same if not heavier as my Galaxie, ranging between ~3,600lbs to ~4,000 lbs.
Also, I should add the Cybertruck at ~6,700 lbs in its normal trim with the Cyberbeast being a staggering 6,900 lbs. It is about 10 inches longer than my Galaxie, but it is literally almost twice the weight. Absolute chonker.
Regardless, my point was just in pointing out how ridiculously heavy they are.
And for states with higher electric car adoption (like here in California):
Electric cars are heavy. Really heavy. People do not understand how heavy these cars are. A Tesla Model Y (the smallest one) weighs ~4,500 lbs, while a Model X weighs over 5,000 lbs. For comparison, my all steel body V8 powered 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 (with dimensions physically bigger than all Tesla models(*): 213 in long compared to the longest Tesla, the Model S at 196 in long) weighs just ~3,700 lbs. In a crash involving an electric car, all that kinetic energy has to go somewhere, and sadly that’s usually into the other non-electric car in the crash.
Additionally, people are too trusting of auto-pilot. The driver’s hands should never be allowed to come off the steering wheel unless they are repositioning their hand in a turn or for comfort, IMO. Turning on auto-pilot and trusting it enough to completely disengage from driving and do something else (like taking a nap or reading a book) is like trusting ChatGPT to give you factually correct information: its possible but pretty unlikely its going to be 100%.
(*) EDIT: Technically, this is wrong as I forgot the Model 3, which is 184 inches. However, the Model 3 weighs about the same or more than the Galaxie at ~3,600 lbs to ~4,000 lbs. The point is just to communicate how heavy these cars are.
Edit: I may have misread that you meant the smallest Tesla, not the smallest Model Y. You’re wrong if you meant Tesla, but if you meant Model Y that was my bad.
I don’t count the Roadster because A) there are not enough of them to be statistically relevant to this discussion, and B) its just a modified Lotus Elise.
I did totally forget about the Model 3. It does have a length that is smaller at ~185 inches, but the weight is about the same if not heavier as my Galaxie, ranging between ~3,600lbs to ~4,000 lbs.
Also, I should add the Cybertruck at ~6,700 lbs in its normal trim with the Cyberbeast being a staggering 6,900 lbs. It is about 10 inches longer than my Galaxie, but it is literally almost twice the weight. Absolute chonker.
Regardless, my point was just in pointing out how ridiculously heavy they are.