‘Old parking garage not designed for heavy electric cars’

Maybe you recognize it: in an older parking garage it is sometimes quite fitting and measuring to put a modern car in its place. You can tell that a parking garage is still designed for the size of cars from longer ago. However, during its construction, not only the size of cars from the past has been taken into account, but sometimes also their weight. That was also considerably lower on average. The latter can pose a problem, especially now that there are more and more electric cars that weigh above average, the BPA warns, according to The Daily Mail.

The BPA states that the majority of multi-storey car parks in the UK were still designed for the UK’s 1970s car fleet. In doing so, the BPA refers to the Ford Cortina (known to us as the Ford Taunus), a hugely popular middle class that weighed less than a ton on average. Parking garages from that time would therefore not be designed for the higher average weight of modern cars and with the rise of electric cars, the average weight will only increase further. “If cars are heavier than what the car park is designed for, the effects could be catastrophic. We haven’t had any incidents yet, but I expect that’s only a matter of time,” said a BPA engineer.

According to the BPA, British car parks have now been warned of the potential dangers and it is important that older car parks are checked for their maximum load. That would already be complied with. There is also criticism. This is how the CEO of New AutoMotive, an organization that is committed to modern and more environmentally friendly mobility, makes himself heard. He says the BPA’s warning is “bizarre and misleading,” and the organization fails to identify conventionally powered large SUVs as part of the potential problem.

Through: AD.nl.