There are multiple other factors that come into play.

A Highway designed for a 44tn artic would laugh off any SUV's axel load if properly maintained using that simplistic 4th power law.

This simplistic claim is being used as an "EV's are bad" argument.

share.google/3LbmeP2iGpnvNpOtZ

April 11, 2026 - 08:35 UTC

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Even just going by the 4th power law, that still means that the lifetime of a road is expressed pretty much exclusively in the number of HGVs that pass over it, BEVs don't factor in even if they weigh 3 tonnes.
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Most residential roads have few hgvs but many SUVs
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You can make EVs that aren’t enormous and huge
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The still weigh more than an equivalent IC vehicle - it's one of the consistent arguments for why they are "bad".
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Came here to say this.

I don't believe the increased damage to roads by heavy SUVs is anywhere near significant when compared to the damage from HGVs.

3 ton car, 2 axles, 1.5 ton/axle, ^4 gives ~5 DUs*
44 ton lorry, 5 axles, 9 ton/axle, ^4 gives ~6561 DUs

* made up "Damage Units"
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In small streets, turning makes a huge difference.

• people stop to turn, so they brake, so other vehicles brake.
• with power steering, drivers can turn the wheel easily without much vehicle movement, so they do. That shearing force against the surface is great for making potholes worse.
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I did a back of an envelope calculation and, by my reckoning, going from 1000kg to 1600kg empty (tare) average mass of an vehicle means three times the wear on the tarmac.
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That might be true for highways, which are built to withstand a continual pounding from heavy vehicles ... but for residential streets and country lanes where HGVs and large buses and coaches are rare, the rise in the number of heavy SUVs does make a material difference to wear and tear on the road.
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Lack of maintaining the road to the design standard is the dominant issue. Go and see any stretch of abandoned road and how quickly it deteriorates when not maintained despite zero traffic.
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Thanks for sharing that. I know not all EVs are bad but the rise in numbers of both ICE & e-SUVs is worrying for lots of reasons
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