Is this concern about EVs merely theoretical or is it something that is warranted? The concern is about EVs and parking garages. Actually the concern is twofold.
The first concern has to do with the weight of EVs.
From just the news.com:
EVs elicit concerns because of just how heavy they are compared to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Many older parking garages were simply not built with the weights of modern cars in mind, let alone EVs. The lithium-ion batteries that power new EVs account for a large portion of the weight discrepancy with traditional cars. For example, according to automotive trade journal Jobber News, “An electric vehicle can weigh much more than its internal combustion engine counterpart (ICE) — the Ford F-150 Lightning can weigh 2,000-3,000 pounds more than the ICE version.”
The battery of an electric GMC Hummer weighs approximately 2,900 pounds, or about the same as an entire 2022 Honda Civic.
Experts in the U.K. have warned that parking garages “could be at risk of collapse as heavier electric vehicles put pressure on ageing infrastructure.”
“I don’t want to be too alarmist, but there definitely is the potential for some of the early car parks in poor condition to collapse,” Chris Whapples, a structural engineer and a consultant on parking garage regulation, told The Telegraph.
The second concern is over the fire hazard that EVs pose, especially when parked in commercial garages because of those buildings’ tight quarters and restricted access.
In June, Siemens AG released a White Paper reviewing fire safety protocols in parking garages housing electric vehicles. Smaller parking spaces, larger vehicles, and the increase of plastics in car design has led to greater risks from multi-vehicle fires in parking garages just with ICE vehicles, according to Siemens.
The Siemens report highlights two recent international garage fires—one in Liverpool, U.K. in 2017 and another at the Stavanger Airport in Norway in 2020—which both caused significant structural damage and loss of property. This danger could be amplified by electric vehicles.
Assuming that you were not injured or killed because of a fire or a collapse that destroyed your car that had been parked in a municipal garage, think of the paperwork fiasco that would ensue. Additionally of course all of your personal belongings that had been in that destroyed car would now be unretrievable.
So if you are forced to park in a commercial garage, perhaps the wise thing to do is to leave home a bit early so that you can locate the public garage that specifies, “No EVs allowed!”
10/24/23
californiacontrarian.com