Are EVs really heavier than ICE, and does it matter?

One of the anti-EV talking points is “but they’re so heavy, they’ll collapse all the carparks” and other nonsense. Let’s take a look at the reality.

Are battery electric vehicles (BEV) really heavier than ICE?

The first point to make about vehicle weights is that comparisons between any two vehicles is very difficult, and this is not limited to EVs. For an ‘unladen’ weight you have several definitions such as tare, kerb and MIRO and within that, different definitions of each. It’s rarely clear which definition is being used by a given carmaker either. And then there’s variation between models; petrols are typically lighter than diesels, manuals lighter than automatics, AWD heavier than 2WD, and the more luxury features the greater the weight. I’ve measured 200kg between base and luxo models. So, saying “x car is lighter than y car” may, or may not be right.

Anyway, yes, BEVs are generally heavier than ICE cars – looking at the 2025 Kona it’s 1427 to 1795kg, 25% more weight. Hyundai list the lightest and heaviest weights for a given car spec, so if I take the heaviest petrol Kona and compare to the lightest EV it’s 16%, the other way around it’s 31% heavier for the EV. Easy to twist stats isn’t it? The F-150 is around 3000kg as a BEV with extended range battery, 2500kg as ICE, 2800kg with standard battery as BEV.

But there’s more. The Kona is a shared platform – it has ICE and BEV options, so that’d make it an ideal comparison, no? Sort of. The problem with shared platforms is they’re not optimised for BEV, unlike say a Tesla, which is and therefore is potentially lighter, in some cases lighter than an ICE.

BEVs tend to have more weight variation between specs as they often come with different sized batteries and you’re looking at 5-6kg per kWh, so another 30kWh+ is around 180kg, noting that extra weight typically requires heavier duty suspension and other components, weight begets weight. And an AWD model adds another motor which according to Telsa’s specs adds 70kg as an example.

I could go on, but do you see the problem with a simplistic specific example of “x car lighter than y” ?

The pro-EV people counter the weight argument, as they should, but in my view they counter argument used is fundamentally wrong. As per their usual methods they tend to omit or deny facts which don’t suit the narrative and say BEVs are lighter or same weight as ICE, when on average, they’re clearly not – they do this by comparing incomparable cars, not being specific about which years/models (cars typically get heavier year-on-year, BEV or not), cherry-picking the ones that are close like Y and X3, and even confusing GVM and tare although I think that’s ignorance not malice. As I’ve just explained, comparing car weights is really difficult.

A common example cited is Tesla vs BMW. I just checked and Tesla’s website has the Y at 1992kg, and BMW say a petrol X3 is 1930kg both for 2025…so actually the BMW is lighter, assuming they both define ‘weight’ the same way but honestly, ~70kg at 2 tonnes is nothing, it’s a pointless difference. We could look at the diesel X3 which is 2030kg…you get the idea.

What about equivalence? The Y would out-accelerate the X3, so should I go for the most powerful X3 which is heavier? Fine, in which case how do I specify a Y to have the same range as an X3? Impossible. Do we add spare tyres to be equivalent? Do both have heated seats? Fill the ICE with fuel, if the ‘weight’ doesn’t already include it? And so on.

I think the correct response is “yes BEVs are a little heavier on average, but it doesn’t matter” because it doesn’t matter, and then you avoid a spec war as well as handily acknowledging reality. Carparks are not going to collapse because of extra EV weight, they’re well and truly engineered for that and more. It is true the heavier the vehicle, the greater the road damage, but then we need to look at that in entirety across the entire road fleet not just EVs – by the way, the major reason cars are bigger and heavier is safety not rampant consumerism. The extra weight of EVs doesn’t affect handling as it’s low and central. EVs have much reduced brake wear thanks to regen even though they’re heavier, and tyre particulates in EV vs ICE is virtually the same.

And most importantly, the net effect on the environment and our health is positive despite the weight. BEV weight is really not a problem we need to be concerned about, and I think it’s better to explain why that is and at least pay lip service to reality along the way. Of course, rabid anti-EV nutters won’t listen, but it’s not them you’re trying to reach.