Weight of electric vehicles could cause 'catastrophic' damage

[pellinore]

Multi-storey and underground car parks could collapse under the weight of electric vehicles, engineers have warned.

Electric cars, which are roughly twice as heavy as standard models, could cause ‘catastrophic’ damage, according to the British Parking Association (BPA), which wants local authorities to conduct urgent structural surveys.

Most of the nation’s 6,000 multi-storey and underground facilities were built according to guidance based on the weight of popular cars of 1976, including the Mk 3 Ford Cortina. 

But the electric cars currently on the UK market are far bulkier. For instance, the best-selling Tesla Model 3 weighs 2.2 tons fully loaded, making it more than 50 per cent heavier than a 1.4-tonne Cortina.

Weight of electric vehicles could cause 'catastrophic' damage and 'lead to car parks collapsing': Engineers warn Britain's parking facilities were not designed for hulking battery cars (msn.com)

Edited December 19, 2022 by pellinore

[itsnotoutthere]

[Ozymandias]

Plus, there's the fact that they cause greater wear to the road surface as a result of their increased mass. Maybe they should be taxed at a higher rate to compensate, after all that is why vehicles are taxed in the first place.

[itsnotoutthere]

And another aspect of electric vehicles that I believe hasn't been fully thought out :-

 

During an electric vehicle fire, over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans. For the fire services this means that responders must wear full PPE with respiratory equipment when dealing with any sort of vehicle fire. However, members of the public or individuals from other public services remain vulnerable.

Fire services basically have two main options, let the fire burn out or extinguish it.

The obvious choice seems to be to extinguish the fire, however many EV manufacturers actually advise for a controlled burn. This is where the fire services allow the vehicle to burn out while they focus on protecting the surrounding area.

Letting a fire burn out is not an ideal solution as it can impact on surrounding environment, property and people. Also, it can mean closing a road for up to eight hours significantly disrupting communities and businesses, which may rule it out as an option.    

Putting out an EV fire demands large amounts of water, around 1,125 litres a minute. This is water that can become contaminated with soot and chemicals and run off into public drainage systems.

Once the fire has been extinguished, the problem remains that electric vehicle fires can reignite hours, days or even weeks after the initial event, and they can do so many times, making disposal and storage of a fire-damaged vehicle a challenge.

https://www.ife.org.uk/IFE-Blog/tackling-fires-in-electric-vehicles-

Could make car ferry trips a lot more exciting.

Edited December 19, 2022 by itsnotoutthere

[pellinore]

1 hour ago, Ozymandias said:

Plus, there's the fact that they cause greater wear to the road surface as a result of their increased mass. Maybe they should be taxed at a higher rate to compensate, after all that is why vehicles are taxed in the first place.

They are just now being taxed for the first time. The road tax is slated to go up to replace duty lost with IC vehicles. The latest figures show EVs are slightly more expensive to run at present than IC vehicles.

[pellinore]

47 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

And another aspect of electric vehicles that I believe hasn't been fully thought out :-

 

During an electric vehicle fire, over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans. For the fire services this means that responders must wear full PPE with respiratory equipment when dealing with any sort of vehicle fire. However, members of the public or individuals from other public services remain vulnerable.

Fire services basically have two main options, let the fire burn out or extinguish it.

The obvious choice seems to be to extinguish the fire, however many EV manufacturers actually advise for a controlled burn. This is where the fire services allow the vehicle to burn out while they focus on protecting the surrounding area.

Letting a fire burn out is not an ideal solution as it can impact on surrounding environment, property and people. Also, it can mean closing a road for up to eight hours significantly disrupting communities and businesses, which may rule it out as an option.    

Putting out an EV fire demands large amounts of water, around 1,125 litres a minute. This is water that can become contaminated with soot and chemicals and run off into public drainage systems.

Once the fire has been extinguished, the problem remains that electric vehicle fires can reignite hours, days or even weeks after the initial event, and they can do so many times, making disposal and storage of a fire-damaged vehicle a challenge.

https://www.ife.org.uk/IFE-Blog/tackling-fires-in-electric-vehicles-

Could make car ferry trips a lot more exciting.

Lots of things haven't been thought out. I was talking to someone in the trade about EVs a few days ago. These are some of his points:

There is no standard for charging cables, so like phones, each company has it's own type at present.

The National Grid (the UK electric supply) was designed 100 years ago, it hasn't the capacity to allow the population to all switch to EVs. It can't even accept the current supplied by domestic solar panels at present as it gets overloaded.

There will never be enough fast charge points, so people will be unable to top up during long journeys.

The government has already noted that EV charge points can discharge EVs if current is needed elsewhere in the country- EVs will be acting as stand-by batteries. Tough luck if you need to charge your car when the grid is at peak demand.

Smart meters in peoples homes will allow companies to regulate the amount of electricity people can have- again, tough luck if your home charger is switched off by them.

I think that the UK and other countries are relying on 3 things: 1. some magical new technology (like we were supposed to have on our borders to check imports/exports post Brexit),2. and that most people will have to resort to car sharing due to the cost: sharing trips to work and shopping, and lastly,3. new uber-style MPV taxis, so we will not need cars (we'll just order one for a trip to the supermarket, and it will do a round trip picking people up til its full, like buses do at present).

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by pellinore

[+Desertrat56]

How much more than a gasoline engine car does an electric car weigh?    

[itsnotoutthere]

20 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

How much more than a gasoline engine car does an electric car weigh?    

Roughly a quarter heavier than a comparable petrol car.

[+Desertrat56]

23 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Roughly a quarter heavier than a comparable petrol car.

And how much heavier is an electric car than a lorrie pulling loaded trailer(s)?   It doesn't sound like a problem to me, since I know a semi truck or a (5 ton or 2 1/2 ton) truck out weighs an electric car and they use the same roads.   This is a made up issue.   Maybe the parking garages is an issue, but the roads are not.  

[itsnotoutthere]

3 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

And how much heavier is an electric car than a lorrie pulling loaded trailer(s)?   It doesn't sound like a problem to me, since I know a semi truck or a (5 ton or 2 1/2 ton) truck out weighs an electric car and they use the same roads.   This is a made up issue.   Maybe the parking garages is an issue, but the roads are not.  

US roads are made for heavier cars anyway, British roads are forever being repaired.

[+Desertrat56]

1 minute ago, itsnotoutthere said:

US roads are made for heavier cars anyway, British roads are forever being repaired.

Depends on what state you are in here, some states are constantly repairing the roads, some, like Texas and Kansas use better materials (Kansas has to because of the weather).

[L.A.T.1961]

14 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

And how much heavier is an electric car than a lorrie pulling loaded trailer(s)?   It doesn't sound like a problem to me, since I know a semi truck or a (5 ton or 2 1/2 ton) truck out weighs an electric car and they use the same roads.   This is a made up issue.   Maybe the parking garages is an issue, but the roads are not.  

Trucks get around the issue of more weight by using more axle's to spread the load along the trailer or vehicle bed, and or putting more than two wheels on an axle. This reduces the footprint weight on the road and reduces wear.

Although trucks are still thought to be the biggest cause of road maintenance problems as vibration caused by bigger loads can also cause damage.