As EV sales surge and cars get heavier, parking garages have to

Driving is changing. Today, hybrids and pure electric vehicles are a common sight around the world, and the overall size and heft of cars — whether they’re fully electric or use internal combustion engines — is increasing.

From the accessibility of EV charging points to noise levels, new designs and technologies have already created a range of issues that will need to be addressed in the years ahead.  

Parking garages (known as multistory car parks in the U.K.) are one area where the proliferation of EVs and bigger vehicles is expected to have a major impact.

Earlier this year, the London-based Institution of Structural Engineers published updated design guidance for car parks.

The wide-ranging document covers all structures where cars can be parked — including those on multiple levels, underground or within residential and office buildings — and how they are designed, built and maintained. The guidance has been written for all stakeholders involved in car park design.

One potential issue relates to the load of what we drive. According to the institution, the average vehicle’s weight has increased from 1.5 metric tons in 1974 to nearly 2 metric tons in 2023.

In a statement, it said the reason behind the weight increase was “due to electric and hybrid batteries and the size of cars increasing.”

“This extra load and the changing fire safety requirements are all considerations not just for new car parks, but for existing structures too,” it added.

Speaking to CNBC, Chris Whapples, a fellow of the institution and contributor to the guidance as an author and overseeing consultant, said some of the market’s top-end executive cars and long-range SUVs were now coming in at over three metric tons.

When the guidance was released in June, there was much focus on the potential collapse of some car parks under the weight of heavier vehicles.

“It is something we have to consider, but we mustn’t be too alarmist about it,” Whapples told CNBC.

“The thing to bear in mind is that the ones that cause the damage, if you like, are the heavy vehicles — not the vehicles that are heavier than they were 40 years ago but still within the capacity of the design for car parks,” he went on to explain.

The latter type of vehicles are still in the majority, he said. Nevertheless, the trend for bigger vehicles shows no sign of letting up.  

“We’re seeing increasing numbers now of SUVs, large executive cars — both fossil-fueled and battery ones — and pickup trucks, which are immensely heavy.”

The cumulative load of these vehicles in parking garages could present some challenges in certain circumstances. 

“If one pickup is significantly overloaded and that car park is weak, that’s a potential disaster…