New vehicles are 400kg heavier than 7 years in the past – and SUVs are guilty
- Autocar has weighed vehicles it road tested between 2016-2023
- Average kerbweight has gone up for new cars from 1,553kg to 1,957kg
- Weight increase due to EVs and SUVs – as cars have got longer AND wider
New cars are much heavier in a far shorter timespan than ever before, data suggests.
Over the last seven years, Autocar has discovered the average weight of new models has risen by nearly 400kg – the equivalent to adding the bulk of a grand piano.
It says the increase in mass is primarily the result of a growing popularity for one particular type of vehicle in Britain…
The mean average kerbweight of new models has increased from 1,553kg to 1,947kg in the last seven years – that’s 394kg of additional bulk. And there’s a very good reason why. Pictured: a BMW X7
As well as getting heavier, new models like this Kia EV9 are much longer and wider than cars that preceded it. The average model sold in the UK is growing 1cm wider every two years, studies have found
Autocar analysed the weight of vehicles it road tested from 2016 to 2023 – the seven years representing the typical lifecycle a new car is on sale.
Over this period, the mean average kerbweight has risen from 1,553kg to 1,947kg.
The biggest factor tipping the scale is the increasing demand for big SUVs, which could overtake superminis to become the UK’s most popular body type in the next few years.
Sports utility vehicles in 2023 represented three in ten (30.4 per cent) of all new models registered in the UK.
A decade earlier in 2013, they accounted for just 11 per cent of the new vehicle market.
While SUVs are the primary reason for the additional bulk of new models, the magazine also points to heavy electric vehicles increasing the girth of the new car marketplace.
EVs tend to be heavier than petrol or diesel cars because they have large battery packs to power them.
In 2023, the average weight of an internal combustion engine car (ICE), was 150kg lower than the average EV from the same year. This excludes hybrid powertrains, which use power from batteries and fuel.
What’s the equivalent of 394kg? That’s like adding the bulk of a grand piano, which are typically between 300 and 600kg
The BMW i5 eDrive40 is also heavier than the mild hybrid 520i – 405kg heavier
Autocar found the Peugeot e-208 is 342kg heavier than a petrol 208, while a Kia Niro EV weighs 399kg more than the hybrid version
Comparatively, the electric versions of popular models tend to be significantly heavier than their combustion equivalents.
Autocar found the Peugeot e-208 is 342kg heavier than a petrol 208, while a Kia Niro EV weighs 399kg more than the hybrid variant.
The BMW i5 eDrive40 is also heavier than a mild hybrid 520i – 405kg fatter, in fact.
The recent surge in popularity for bigger, higher-riding SUVs has also added considerable weight to the roads.
Unsurprisingly, many SUVs driven in 2023 were found to be heavier than their saloon or hatchback counterparts.
The Skoda Kodiaq SUV weighs 1,751kg – 26kg more than a Skoda Superb saloon, while a 2.0-litre diesel Jaguar F-Pace SUV weighs 180kg more than a Jaguar XF saloon with the same engine.
The Asphalt Group – one of the UK’s largest road surface treatment companies – wants to put an end to speculation as to whether electric vehicles are the cause of an increase pothole plighting the nation’s roads
Are heavier cars a problem for our road infrastructure?
There’s been a lot of speculation of late as to whether heavier EVs are to blame for the dilapidating state of Britain’s roads.
Just last week, a leading road surface company joined forces with Bill Esterson, Shadow Road and Transport Minister to put an end to this speculation.
Taking a bold stance on the subject, Stephen Cooke, Asphalt Group MD, said: ‘Let’s be crystal clear, EVs are not the cause of the current state of the UK’s roads.’
The Asphalt Group says that the real reason for our pothole-filled roads is ‘a lack of investment in the solutions of the future, and a lack of awareness of what’s available’ – and the solution is not sticky plaster solutions of ‘filler and hope’.
Mr Esterton agreed saying that ‘rather than looking for conspiracy theories and scapegoats, we need a plan to fix the roads’.
Earlier this year, The Guardian pointed out that Edinburgh University’s 2022 research paper Hidden cost of road maintenance due to the increased weight of battery and hydrogen trucks and buses – a perspective, didn’t actually find fault with EVs.
It stated that any extra wear is ‘overwhelmingly caused by larger vehicles – buses, heavy goods vehicles’ and that road wear from cars and motorcycles ‘is so low that this is immaterial’.
Cars aren’t just getting heavier – they’re getting wider
In January, This is Money reported that new car models sold in the UK are growing 1cm wider every two years.
Green campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) found the average width of new vehciles (not including the wing mirrors) expanded by 2.5cm between 2017 (177.8cm) and 2023 (180.3cm).
Last year, the average width of a new car sold in Britain was 180.3cm with the wing mirrors folded – or 200cm with them out.
That’s wider than the average on-street parking bay in major cities like London, which are just 180cm across.
And the green campaign group went on to point the finger at ‘mega SUVs’ for bullying other road users – like cyclists – off the road because they are 200cm wide on average, or 220cm including their wing mirrors.
New cars are longer – which is an issue for parking
In recent years, the average length of new cars has grown exponentially due to a combination of modern car design and stricter safety standards which require larger crumple zones and more driver and passenger protective reinforcements.
While this is good for safety, it’s proving problematic for parking, with drivers of the biggest motors likely finding it very difficult to squeeze in bays in supermarkets and multi-storeys, which are often just 4.8 metres.
Seven out of the top 10 best-selling car brands in the UK last year produce at least one car that exceeds the length of a standard-size parking space in Britain.
And it was revealed earlier this year that five UK councils have already introduced length restrictions on vehicles parking in their bays, banning any vehicle that’s larger than their maximum dimensions.
Popular models including the Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW X7 and Tesla Model S are longer than some – if not all – of these council car parks.
While cars are expected to continue to get bigger, most authorities have no intention of increasing the size of their parking spaces.
Nine in 10 councils contacted by Autocar said they have no existing plans in place to change the dimensions of their parking bays.
The British Parking Association’s minimum recommended dimensions for spaces – 4.8 metres long and 2.4 metres wide – have remained unchanged since the 1970s.
