Remember when 1500Kg was considered pudgy for a family car?

[Spiny Norman]

Because we're all meant to be driving massive EV SUVs  in the future, in a green, eco, environmentally friendly move  they've now upped the weight limit for a regular B class licence holder to 4250Kg for battery powered cars. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/driving-an-electric-or-hydrogen-powered-vehicle

Heaven help us. 

[beko1987]

Makes me feel less bad about owning a fake SUV now that isn't considered heavy or large by today's standards 😂

20 year old me would be disgusted with it but it's thanks to him we are where we are now so screw that guy

[Volksy]

I watched an article by The Drive on YouTube this morning regarding the weight of EVs and the fact they are capable of punching through Armco and concrete crash barriers. 

The main issue is not necessarily the weight, but where it is located, ie very low down.

My S class weighs 1630kg, a current model Golf weighs in at 1548kg, Tesla Model 3 is 1844kg, 

However a BMW iX SUV is 2659kg when fully specced. 

[GeordieInExile]

I think my Panda comes in at under a ton. 

My novel approach to crash protection is simple: I don't crash it. 

[MrGTI6]

Seems very odd that the weight restriction differs depending on what fuel the vehicle runs on.

That's about as logical as saying you can drive a 5000kg car, but only if it's yellow.

[D.E]

17 minutes ago, GeordieInExile said:

I think my Panda comes in at under a ton. 

My novel approach to crash protection is simple: I don't crash it. 

Yes, but others could still crash into you. And if they do, I'd rather they do not drive a 2700 kg BMW XM...

[Imhotep]

Here was me bitching about the Jaguar being 1800kg…

[chaseracer]

With me in it, the Dyane is about one kilo per cc.  Basically, I am my own airbag.

[hairnet]

52 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

With me in it, the Dyane is about one ton per cc.  Basically, I am my own airbag.

 

[HillmanImp]

2 hours ago, MrGTI6 said:

Seems very odd that the weight restriction differs depending on what fuel the vehicle runs on.

That's about as logical as saying you can drive a 5000kg car, but only if it's yellow.

Is it not to do with expected size?

Although that would mean the regs are a bit out of whack anyway concerning how much heavier shit is these days. 

[sheffcortinacentre]

My 02 falcon Ute weighs circa 1500kg ,mates 08ish Passat estate weighs  similar.

Cortinas weigh circa 1000kg the original KA not much less  & the light weight sports car MK2 mx5 weighs 1100kg.

Oh & my 82 F350 only weighed 2200kg!

[Spiny Norman]

The ever burgeoning weight of cars has been a pet hate of mine for the last 10 years. It started with the diseasel revolution which gave us superminis the weight of 80s executive cars, then the trend for SUVs which introduced us to the two ton family car, now EVs with their battery packs are adding another 500-1200Kg to that, and bear in mind, that's empty.
Stick 5 modern fatties and some luggage in a battery powered Range Rover or top line Merc and you can see why the old 3500Kg cut off was getting a bit tight. 

I'm at the stage now where I can only laugh at the notion that all this is saving the planet. 

[loserone]

I own both a 4x4 SUV and  an EV which each weigh 1500kg.  No they aren't as light on their feet as my 900kg van but they are perfectly fine.  

 

My 20 year old range rover is 2700 so that's already getting close to the limit with "five modern fatties and luggage".  They're fucking huge and have been a long time.  

[artdjones]

The Zodiac MK4 , which everyone would slag off for the next 25 years as being way too big, had a kerb weight of 1406kg in the top of the range Executive trim. A MK1 Granada was a bit under that weight, and a MK2 almost exactly the same. 

I've never been in a Zodiac, but the Granadas felt very smooth and substantial at those weights.

[Metal Guru]

I may have posted this before but it’s relevant here. 
In The Italian Job, the original Mini laden with gold would have still weighed ( have less mass for the pedants),  less than a current EV Bini.

[Asimo]

13 hours ago, Imhotep said:

Here was me bitching about the Jaguar being 1800kg…

Lightweight!

My Jaguar weighs 2,208kg  fully charged.

 

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

Lightweight!

My Jaguar weighs 2,208kg  fully charged.

 

How much of that is the electricity?

[MrGTI6]

10 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

How much of that is the electricity?

A shocking amount.

[chaseracer]

24 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

A shocking amount.

😁

[eddyramrod]

28 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

A shocking amount.

Well played sir.  I have to applaud that!

[Spiny Norman]

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

How much of that is the electricity?

I Googled that very thing and apparently there is  theoretically a minute difference in weight between a fully charged EV battery pack and an empty one, so a discharged EV is lighter than a fully charged one. 

Unless a pigeon has shat on the discharged one. 

[Metal Guru]

4 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

I Googled that very thing and apparently there is  theoretically a minute difference in weight between a fully charged EV battery pack and an empty one, so a discharged EV is lighter than a fully charged one. 

Unless a pigeon has shat on the discharged one. 

Using e=mc2, it’s about 4 micrograms for a 100kWh battery. About a few grains of sand, so one dead fly stuck to the windscreen is going to be about 2000x that.

[EyesWeldedShut]

22 hours ago, MrGTI6 said:

Seems very odd that the weight restriction differs depending on what fuel the vehicle runs on.

That's about as logical as saying you can drive a 5000kg car, but only if it's yellow.

Methinks some lobbying from the car manufacturers is involved? They’re finding it impossible to get a fully laden EV SUV  in under 3500 - so they have just pointed at the existing ‘upage’ on electric vans to 4250?

As an aside - will they reclass the MoTs?

 

[Metal Guru]

16 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Methinks some lobbying from the car manufacturers is involved? They’re finding it impossible to get a fully laden EV SUV  in under 3500 - so they have just pointed at the existing ‘upage’ on electric vans to 4250?

As an aside - will they reclass the MoTs?

 

Just stop fat people driving them.

[Brigsy]

I remember the days when yank v8 cars were classed as heavyweight.

Ill stick to my light'ish clio 2 diesel over any modern thats brimmed full of crap i dont need.

[Lacquer Peel]

My 2.5 diesel W124 weighs less than 1400kg, it's not a big vehicle by modern standards. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

I remember this ad as one that Citroen ran - 120 BHP per tonne was part of the tag line. I think they were around 700kg empty and 1050 (?) laden.
Not really big enough for a true family car but the only ad I can recall that touted power to weight?

[New POD]

4 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I remember this ad as one that Citroen ran - 120 BHP per tonne was part of the tag line. I think they were around 700kg empty and 1050 (?) laden.
Not really big enough for a true family car but the only ad I can recall that touted power to weight?

When my kids were 1 and 4 we had an AX1.4D and a metro 1275 sport as our family car.   Holidays were travelled to in the AX without hesitation.  Just have to pack light. 

[Spiny Norman]

11 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I remember this ad as one that Citroen ran - 120 BHP per tonne was part of the tag line. I think they were around 700kg empty and 1050 (?) laden.
Not really big enough for a true family car but the only ad I can recall that touted power to weight?

If people weren't stupid and greedy this is how car design could have gone in the last 20-30 years. Instead of loading them with useless shite we might have had properly lightweight, cleverly engineered cars with tiny little cat equipped petrol engines that sipped fuel like a moped while giving us all the performance we need. 
We were so close with cars like the AX and some of the mid 80s VTEC Hondas, but we fucked it up and now 4 ton SUVs are a thing.

[RayMK]

4 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

If people weren't stupid and greedy this is how car design could have gone in the last 20-30 years. Instead of loading them with useless shite we might have had properly lightweight, cleverly engineered cars with tiny little cat equipped petrol engines that sipped fuel like a moped while giving us all the performance we need. 
We were so close with cars like the AX and some of the mid 80s VTEC Hondas, but we fucked it up and now 4 ton SUVs are a thing.

Even in the land of the kei car, SUVs are becoming much more popular than they were 5 years ago.  They don't fit their cities, garages, public parking places or non-major roads. We have the same problem.