Electric vehicles are not yet very popular with the American public, and now there is a whole new area of concern with them.
Originally published at WND News Center. Used with permission.
A warning has been posted about the additional weight that electric cars carry, and whether existing structural engineering standards are sufficient.
The concern is over the weight of vehicles in multi-story parking ramps.
A recent report at All Car News explained Chris Whapples, a member of the British Parking Association, wondered, “When you see the weight of electric cars coming out of the factory, you begin to wonder if the existing standards are adequate. We haven’t had an incident yet, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time. We encourage owners of older parking garages to check.”
The report explained, “Electric cars do not have a heavy gasoline or diesel engine ‘under the hood,’ but a compact, lightweight electric motor. But because of a hefty battery pack, EVs are often bulky. An electric car sometimes weighs as much as 500 pounds more than a similar model with a traditional powertrain.”
The BPA noted there are some 6,000 multi-story parking garages in the United Kingdom, most of which were built to standards when the most popular car in the U.K., during the 1970s, was a Ford Cortina Mk 3.
The report noted, “The differences between modern cars and the Ford Cortina of old are huge. The Cortina is a likeable but slow bolide, which, moreover, would not yet achieve a 1-star in a Euro NCAP crash test. But it is not heavy, and modern cars are. An average EV – such as a Tesla Model 3 (1,819 kg) – weighs almost twice as much as a Cortina (960 kg). Cars with regular powertrains have also gained considerably. A new Volkswagen Golf easily weighs 1,400 kilograms. Moreover, more and more people are opting for a large, heavy SUV. So it’s not just electric cars that the BPA should be concerned about.”
The problem would develop with large parking structures where hundreds, or even thousands of vehicles, would be at the same time.