Heavy batteries in electric vehicles could put multi-storey car parks at risk of collapse, according to experts.
Chris Whapples, a structural engineer and parking consultant, said that there was “definitely potential” for older car parks “in poor condition to collapse”.
Electric vehicle batteries weigh about 500kg, meaning that electric cars tend to weigh significantly more than the equivalent petrol or diesel car.
For example, the Volkswagen ID.3 weighs an average 1,830kg, compared with the Volkswagen Golf, which weighs 1,388kg.
Whapples told The Daily Telegraph that car park operators might need to limit weight and reassess their infrastructure to account for the increased mass of electric vehicles.
Mr Whapples contributes to the industry textbook Recommendations for the Inspection, Maintenance and Management of Car Park Structures, which dictates design requirements for car parks. The first edition was published in 1976, when the bestselling car was the family saloon Mk 3 Ford Cortina, which weighed about 980kg.
Many multistorey car parks in the UK were built in the 1960s and 1970s — before the first edition’s publication. Today, the best-selling electric family saloon is the Tesla Model 3, which weighs about 1,800kg.