Biden Is Ignoring the Menace of Mega-EVs

Last month, General Motors announced that it would stop producing the Chevy Bolt, an electric hatchback known for its low price (under $20,000, after federal incentives) and modest size (about 3,600 pounds, or roughly half a Rivian R1T truck). Although the Bolt has been GM’s most popular EV, the company is retooling its factory to build electric pickups instead. The new Equinox EV, which will be about 21 inches longer, 500 pounds heavier, and at least $3,000 more expensive than the Bolt, will become GM’s entry-level electric model.

Americans considering a new electric vehicle can choose from an unprecedented array of options, but most of them lie on the spectrum between big and gigantic. Among the SUVs and trucks dominating carmakers’ growing EV lineups are the Cadillac Lyric (which weighs about 5,900 pounds), the Chevy Silverado EV (more than 8,000 pounds), and the GMC Hummer EV (more than 9,000 pounds). “If someone wants a small EV, it will be very difficult” to find one, Carla Bailo, the former CEO of the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research, told me.

Policy makers have high expectations for electric vehicles, which could help to accelerate the transition to EVs, in the name of fighting climate change and . Yet the relentless enlargement of American EVs is an ominous development for road safety, because added weight and height make cars more dangerous for anyone walking, biking, or inside smaller vehicles. Deaths among both and recently in the U.S., and researchers have vehicle size to be a cause. Bigger cars pose greater danger because of their height, which and makes the vehicle more likely to strike a person’s torso instead of their legs, and because of their weight, which adds force in a crash and . Because of their large batteries, electric vehicles are than equivalent gas-powered models.