Thru axles better support the vertical load of a wheel than a skewer and so are commonly used on e-bikes and mountain bikes. These bikes weigh 50% to 100% more than a road bike and a lot of this gain in weight is from using wider and much heavier wheels and tires. The thru axles on my e-bike are 12mm thick and ones on my mountain bikes are 15mm thick. No rocket science involved.