Why lighter? Because electric motors are 3-5 times lighter than combustion engines, just need a simple fixed speed gearbox and can do away with all the stuff needed to clean the exhaust and transport mechanical power from motor to wheels.
For cars it is impossible to make generic calculations but for semi trucks the weight advantage of a properly designed electric drivetrain could be over 3000 kg. (See our article about that here: researchgate.net/publication/33…
And for those of you claiming @elonmusk is often optimistic I would say that regarding technologies like this he has be right on the money but maybe a bit optimistic regarding the timelines. So it could be 5-6 years but I would also expect them around 2025.
This should surprise no one by the way. Batteries have been getting lighter continuously and battery prof. Peter Notten estimates that batteries have been getting 50% lighter every 10 years in the last decades. So this would actually be a slight slowing of the trend.
Conclusion: my research and this tweet lead me to restate my prediction that in 2025, electric vehicles will actually be lighter than combustion vehicles.
So starting 2025 or so we can start to complain about how combustion cars are so heavy compared to electric ones.
So starting 2025 or so we can start to complain about how combustion cars are so heavy compared to electric ones.
