The question seems surprising, and yet it is taken seriously. According to the British Parking Association, many underground car parks might not support the heavy weight of electric cars.
It is above all the oldest infrastructures, those dating from the 1970s, which would be concerned. At that time, an average family car weighed around 1,000 kg. Today, a city car such as a Peugeot e-208 filter with the 1,500 kg and a Tesla Model S exceeds 2,100 kg. The reason ? The battery, which alone weighs down a car by several hundred kilos.
It is the proliferation of these models in underground car parks that the British Parking Association fears. With several hundred places on several floors, the structure of the whole would undergo greater constraints. The association indicates that safety margins are taken into account in the design of these car parks, but the oldest represent a real danger.
Limited access to underground car parks?
What would be the solution then? Reinforcing the underground car parks would require far too great a financial effort. The idea would then be to limit their access to electric vehicles. In addition to gradually banning the most polluting cars in city centers, parking with a non-polluting model might become increasingly critical…
