It's Heavy! What can we do to loose some weight?

[magudaman]

Our car is one of the heaviest in it class. What can we do to shed some weight?!

Curb Weight (LBS)
Think City - 2881
Fiat electric - 2980
GM Spark - 2989
Nissian Leaf - 3291
Ford Focus EV - 3700

Well I am looking into going to a lithium replacement for the lead battery. Not carrying my 120v charger.

That gives me say 30lbs savings :roll: only 400 more to go.

Carbon fiber food saves about 17lbs
Carbon Fiber Rear hatch about guessing 40lbs savings
Rear seats removed 80lbs savings

 

[bb6lude]

Leave the trunk organizer behind to save a few pounds. Lighter rims (factory ones are usually heavier) and narrower tires.

Oh, hit the gym and go on a diet too :twisted:

Our car is one of the heaviest in it class. What can we do to shed some weight?!

 

[jmueller065]

All of those cars aside from the Leaf are significantly smaller than the FFE. In addition, the difference from the leaf is probably due to the additional coolant and piping from the TMS.

Ford's published curb weight is 3640--look you've saved 60 lbs already.

 

[v_traveller]

As long as we're comparing apples to oranges, why not look at larger vehicles in the BEV "class"?

Toyota RAV4 EV: 4032 lb
Tesla Model S: 4647.3 lb

 

[jmueller065]

Since I've been wanting to do this anyway and this thread did remind me: I took my FFE to my local friendly Cat Scale and, you know, got it weighed.

This is its weight (without me in it):

Look at that! Its actually 20 lbs lighter than the Ford spec!

A few things to note: Drive Axle in this context is the rear, steer is the front (think in terms of trucks). In addition: The FFE's weight never changes: the weight is the same if "empty" or fully charged (unlike an ICE which gets lighter as more gas is consumed).

 

[JTCalif]

within 1% of published: not bad!
I wonder what the spec. is, for a scale like that (and, could this be near the low end of its range?).
Removing that trunk divider helps slightly, and some loads fit more easily.
Decide if you want to skip the tire sealant goo, which can foul the pressure sensors; just call for help?

 

[jmueller065]

I wonder what the spec. is, for a scale like that (and, could this be near the low end of its range?).

I found a post on a forum that said "anything over 300# accurate to 20 lbs" but that was a forum posting so take it with a grain of salt.

There isn't anything on the catscale web site to indicate what their accuracy is (other than they are "certified"..to what standard?)
Well then there is this link which is very helpful:
http://fifthwheelst.com/commercial-truck-scales-vs-portable-scales-for-weighing-rvs.html

Looks like at around 2500 lbs the cat scale is accurate to +/- 20 lbs.