Are EVs too heavy for aging parking garages?

Electric vehicles might be too heavy for some parking garages that were built with smaller, lighter cars in mind, a report from the British Parking Association warns.

Many multistory garages across the United Kingdom were built in the 1960s and ’70s and could be too weak to bear the added weight that EVs have, according to the report. Battery packs weighing thousands of pounds can make EVs significantly heavier than gasoline-powered vehicles, especially the small cars that have long been commonplace in the U.K.

A Tesla Model S weighs nearly 5,000 pounds, while a GMC Hummer EV pickup tops 9,000 pounds. For comparison, a 1970 Ford Escort weighs less than 2,000 pounds.

“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,” structural engineer Chris Whapples told The Telegraph. “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.”

Weight isn’t the only concern EVs have raised for parking garage operators. After General Motors recalled the Chevrolet Bolt for a defect that caused a small number of battery fires, some garages put up signs prohibiting Bolts.