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Comment by ge0 | Hacker News Reader

The weird thing for me here is why it is relevant that it's an electric car, at the end of the day the failure was with the engineering of the suspension, nothing to do with the way that it is powered. This could have happened with any vehicle, this article seems to be click baiting on the fact that the model was an EV.

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Electric vehicles are very heavy, which means a lot of mechanical stress for the suspension. And any rate, if a particular EV model was what's affected, why not specify that?

I'm not sure about that, my electric vehicle weighs about a ton less than a Mustang.

Is it a skateboard? Mustangs aren't even 2 tons.

An ~1800-lb limit, to be a ton less than a mustang, doesn't give you much room to make a full-size vehicle. A prius is over 3,000 lbs.

Even if it is a skateboard, it is still heavier than a non-electric skateboard. As GP said, electric vehicles are very heavy. My electric bike weighs considerably more than non-electric bikes, our electric scooters weigh more than kick scooters, and parent is being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

Quibble: Electric vehicle weight is compared to the ICE alternatives. You’re comparing electric vehicles to things without motors at all

https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/mustang-curb-weights

2024 Mustang curb weight is 3588 - 3949 lbs.

So you're suggesting you drive an EV that weighs approximately 1588 - 1949 lbs. Which EV is that?

https://www.topspeed.com/lightest-electric-cars/

At least in the U.S., the lightest EV starts at 2952 lbs (Fiat 500e).

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/at-1627-pounds-the-va...

There is at least one EV that is light enough, though I suspect it is not your daily driver.

Not OP, but also not US.

The Dacia Spring is available around here (Berlin), and while it's a bit more than that mass, it's close enough to be "about" a ton lighter.

Looks like 2300 lbs but if you're comparing base trims that's 1200 lbs lighter than the base Mustang. A bit of a stretch for "about". And also a nonsensical comparison. Different purposes, different class of vehicle, different regulatory / safety requirements.

Then your electric car is exceptional. A mustang weighs about 3,600 pounds. Which is heavy to be sure.

But lighter than almost all electric cars. Certainly not a ton heavier.

Tesla model 3: 3900 pounds Tesla model S: 4700 pounds Chevy bolt: 3600 pounds Nissan Leaf: 3900 pounds Volkswagen ID4: 4600 pounds

EVs are heavy. I’d be interested in your 2600 pound EV.

2024 Toyota Camry - 3595lbs

So is the mustang heavy? Compared to what?

Mustang is a big heavy GT style car. It has heavy engines, a wide body, big tires, etc.

A 2-door mini cooper is 2600 pounds. A Nissan Versa is about the same.

For larger cars, the Elantra and Civic are both less than 3000 pounds.

A Mitsubishi I-MiEV at 2268 LB (3329 LB GVWR - 661 LB vehicle capacity weight) isn't a ton lighter than a Ford Mustang, but it's on the lighter side for an EV.

Source: my I-MiEV owner's manual

>> Electric vehicles are very heavy, which means a lot of mechanical stress for the suspension

Not necessarily - as an example:

Tesla Model 3 Standard: 3,862 lbs (1755 kg)

Tesla Model 3 Long Range: 4,034 lbs (1834 kg)

Tesla Model 3 Performance: 4,054 lbs (1843 kg)

BMW M3: 3,990 lbs (1814 kg)

These are effectively the same weight for comparably-positioned sports sedans.

This comparison is stupid. It is just 3 versions of one car and one version of another car.

The broad trend that electric cars are heavier and need to be designed differently than combustion cars is undeniable.

I'd still say that it's motor vehicles in general that are getting bigger and heavier. The unfair comparison (Mazda CX-9 SUV) has an ICE vehicle weighing in heavier, but even my small-by-modern-standards Mazda 3 Sport is <200kg from the base Tesla Model 3. Lighter, but not dramatically so. Same with the Ford Mustang fastback (~3600lbs), and the ragtop is even chunkier (at ~3700lbs).

EVs might have started heavier, but it's modern vehicles that are heavy more than EVs. Sure, you can point to the OEMs that brute-forced their way into the market (the Hummer springs to mind), but the truly preposterous are, fortunately, small in number.

>> This comparison is stupid. It is just 3 versions of one car and one version of another car.

Huh? Why is it a stupid comparison? It is comparing the Model 3 (very popular EV) against a similarly-positioned ICE vehicle. I showed three trims of the Model 3 in order to avoid people saying, "yeah, but you didn't post the weights of all the different versions..."

GP said simply "Electric vehicles are very heavy" - that means all EVs. Not some EVs. So showing a comparable pair of EV & ICE vehicles to disprove it is a completely reasonable comparison.

Because the M3 might be totally unrepresentative of ICE vehicles. It is silly to try to demonstrate a general trend with two examples.

It is also particularly disingenuous (although irrelevant) that you ignored the different 3er Variants.

I'm not trying to "demonstrate a general trend." I'm providing evidence to disprove a blanket statement. And from a logic point of view, showing a single counterexample disproves it.

Separately, the Model 3 Performance is most comparable to the M3. And they are virtually the same weight (as the data that I presented showed). So, not a disingenuous comparison. But thanks for the accusation :)

Same reason phone headlines always mention branding when they're iPhones: more people click on headlines like that. In this case one could argue that it's relevant because no ICE models had this flaw, but I'm not convinced this wasn't done to make money off the EV/anti-EV flame wars that are happening online every day.

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