[hawkinspeter]

”Fat Squirrel 2″ by ahisgett is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

From: https://www.thedrive.com/news/heavy-evs-could-collapse-old-parking-garages-report

[quote]The British Parking Association (BPA) is preparing to release new guidance on the issue. Structural engineer Chris Whapples, who helped author the report, notes that the situation could be dire in some cases. “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,” said Whapples, adding “Operators need to be aware of electric vehicle weights, and get their car parks assessed from a strength point of view, and decide if they need to limit weight.”

…

If you drive a heavy EV, be sure to listen out for cracking and snapping sounds next time you’re pulling your behemoth into a decrepit multistory parking garage. If you own such a structure, consider having it thoroughly inspected by qualified civil engineers. Better to spend on maintenance now, rather than end up lamenting the collapse in front of news crews later.[/quote]

Topic

[simonmb]

Very much! The first vehicle

Very much! The first vehicle that moved slowly enough for me to draft on my 1976 Raleigh Hustler.

[OnYerBike]

I’m not disagreeing with any

I’m not disagreeing with any of that, or even the premise that EVs do pose a risk to parking garages. Just saying that it’s too early to attribute this particular incident to heavy EVs (or even heavier vehicles in general).

[hawkinspeter]

OnYerBike wrote:

To be fair, at this stage there is no evidence that the garage collapsed because it was overweight thanks to EVs. Parking garages have been collapsing since long before EVs were popular – this article reports “In 2015, at least six parking garages partially collapsed in the United States. More collapsed in 2016.” 

I wouldn’t expect the cause to be identified quickly and it could equally be due to poor building materials or sub-standard design etc. However, the increasing weight of vehicles is going to be a factor in at least some of these types of collapse.

[wycombewheeler]

OnYerBike wrote:

To be fair, at this stage there is no evidence that the garage collapsed because it was overweight thanks to EVs. Parking garages have been collapsing since long before EVs were popular – this article reports “In 2015, at least six parking garages partially collapsed in the United States. More collapsed in 2016.” 

true but I bet if you analysed the average weight of vehicles in the garage, and the average weight of vehicles when the garage was designed, you would see it is likely being subjected to greater loads than originally expected.

While it is highly unlikely the majority of these overweight vehicles were EVs, the fact remains that EV’s are heavier than fossil fuel cars.

[OnYerBike]

To be fair, at this stage

To be fair, at this stage there is no evidence that the garage collapsed because it was overweight thanks to EVs. Parking garages have been collapsing since long before EVs were popular – this article reports “In 2015, at least six parking garages partially collapsed in the United States. More collapsed in 2016.” 

[hawkinspeter]

Sadly this happened https:/
Sadly this happened https://www.cbsnews.com/news/parking-garage-collapse-new-york/

[giff77]

chrisonatrike wrote:

A new variant of “but my car won’t fit in the garage of the house I’ve bought so I HAVE to park it on the road”.

On a tangentially related e-vehicle note – anyone remember these things?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float

Dad used to drive one of these but was a bread van.  On several occasions the diesel van would be sent out to tow him back in as it did for other drivers. Here’s a pic of the fleet at the time. 

[hawkinspeter]

chrisonatrike wrote:

A new variant of “but my car won’t fit in the garage of the house I’ve bought so I HAVE to park it on the road”.

On a tangentially related e-vehicle note – anyone remember these things?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float

Hadn’t seen one of those for ages, but just the other day I was watching one on Hannah Fry’s The Secret Genius of Modern Life: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001f7y1/the-secret-genius-of-modern-life-series-1-4-electric-car

[perce]

The one in Father Ted was a

The one in Father Ted was a bit unstable.

[Rendel Harris]

Of course! Just about the

Of course! Just about the perfect “last few miles” delivery vehicle and in their way being revived by the new range of cargobike-based E-vans from Amazon etc. The only thing with the milk floats was they could be a bit unstable, a mate doing a round in the summer vacation managed to turn one on its side taking a roundabout at the bottom of a hill too fast, nobody hurt but one hell of a mess. 

[David9694]

new slant: side-view mirrors 

new slant: side-view mirrors 

https://www.thedrive.com/news/no-sideview-mirror-is-safe-around-these-narrowly-placed-bollards

Also: couldn’t resist Will it dog?

https://www.thedrive.com/car-reviews/2023-honda-hr-v-dog-review-features-price-options

[Bungle_52]

chrisonatrike wrote:

On a tangentially related e-vehicle note – anyone remember these things?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float

I do.  From this morning when it delivered our milk.

[chrisonabike]

A new variant of “but my car

A new variant of “but my car won’t fit in the garage of the house I’ve bought so I HAVE to park it on the road”.

On a tangentially related e-vehicle note – anyone remember these things?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float

[Author]

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