Proposed restrictions on the use of heavy-duty trucks on city roads could also affect electric vehicles.
The District of Columbia may soon require owners of vehicles weighing more than 6,000 pounds to pay a $500 annual registration fee, about seven times the fee for a typical sedan, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
The proposal is primarily aimed at heavy-duty pickup trucks and other large internal combustion vehicles, but it could also affect electric vehicles, with battery packs often adding weight compared to internal combustion vehicles of this size. equivalent.
2022 GMC Hummer EV
Mary Cheh, a DC board member who developed the proposal, said in an interview with Bloomberg that trams will be subject to the same sliding registration fee, but with a £1,000 credit to avoid discouraging electric vehicle adoption.
But even that doesn’t help all EVs. The battery pack of the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup truck weighs 3,000 pounds, or a third of its roughly 9,000-pound curb weight. It shows how weight-based rules can impact safety and effectiveness considerations.
Current and weight-based footprint fuel economy rules based on perceived relationships between size, weight and safety — this puts some regulation in the hands of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
2022 GMC Hummer EV
Not everyone agrees However, lighter cars will reduce safety. EVs and hybrids are required to comply EPA’s Quiet Vehicle Rule intended to warn pedestrians. It is unreasonable for heavy-duty pickup trucks to be driven in urban areas because the sound of their engines would be an adequate warning to road users.
We don’t need as many vehicles as the 9,000-pound Hummer EV, but it challenge the validity of those associations—Like that Hummer EVs and giant SUVs are essentially as eco-friendly as smaller gas cars.
Another aspect is the additional damage these vehicles do to the streets—basis for much debate around whether road taxes should be higher for the heaviest private vehicles. It promotes long-term from a wide range of US business interests to federal gas tax increase—Though with pump prices soaring, that might be a moot point right now.
