Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor95
Ok isn't good enough for many places in the country, including where I live. A consideration I make when purchasing a vehicle is how it will handle on snow packed roads. Many here don't think of that, and that results in missed work and car accidents.
The extra weight of EVs could be off set by good tires, but I'm just not sure what is available for those huge wheels Tesla has. An EV that has more rubber on the tires can certainly perform well. If a full size truck with 4x4 can handle well in the snow with A/T tires, an EV can too with good A/S tires.
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As I said, the existence of EVs doesn't preclude the small number of people that need/want more capable vehicles from owning them. Snow performance is #97 on the list of things preventing EVs from gaining widespread adoption.
Trucks are generally terrible in snow with the exception of benefiting from more ground clearance. In my mind, ground clearance, weight distribution, and AWD is about the only practical consideration with respect to snow/ice performance. As long as a vehicle isn't pushing snow with the bumper, winter rated tires, studs, or chains will get the vehicle through any reasonable conditions. I've driven them all in the mountains and am very familiar with capabilities. Trucks suck unless the bed is weighted to give them neutral handling characteristics, and even then the long wheelbase works against maneuverability. My Subaru was better in every way except for ground clearance.
The majority of the population sticks to maintained (plowed, salted, rocked) roads. Just about any EV will do fine if appropriate tires are chosen. Why someone would take a Leaf or i3 up a logging road in the mountains in winter is beyond me.
I loved the ground clearance and low range of the Jeep Liberty I briefly owned. I "needed" that capability only 1 time to go up a steep and bouldery hill to camp at the top. If I didn't have the Jeep, I could have camped at the designated campground below or hiked my stuff to the top. I made the same drive in a Subaru Legacy several times (and multiple attempts), which required a running start and flooring it in 1st gear while doing a lot of steering and accepting some rock impacts to the frame. I bet the Tesla X would go up it no problem.
... and a simple search on Tirerack shows there are winter tires available for the X 20" wheels.
Rather than hypothesize that EVs might be terrible or merely ok in snow, I'd look for evidence. Plenty of Youtube videos out there. I've seen the Model X in conditions more extreme than I would ever encounter on a trip.