Older multi-storey car parks need to be modified to cope with heavier electric vehicles or risk partial collapse, engineers have warned.
A review by the Institution of Structural Engineers said weight limits should be imposed or buildings strengthened to support the increasingly large and heavier electric cars that weigh on average more than two tonnes.
The guidance follows the collapse of a multi-storey car park in New York City in April, in which one person died and five were taken to hospital.
Chris Whapples, an IStructE fellow and overseeing consultant for the review, told the PA news agency: “Potentially if we just ignore this issue then we could have a partial collapse. It would not necessarily be a wholesale collapse — nobody wants that — but we want the public to have confidence in driving and in using car parks.
“I’m not trying to create any scaremongering, and I want to emphasise that not all 6,000 multi-storey car parks across the UK have to be closed.
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“It’s only the very old ones, built in the 60s and 70s, which are in a very poor state of repair and have weakened over time which will probably need to have some work done to them.
“It’s not the little city electric cars that are likely to be a problem or the average family saloon, but some of the top end electric vehicles like executive saloons or SUVs which are about three tonnes or over which could potentially be overloading some of these older multi-storey car parks.”
Over the past two years Mr Whapples has led a team of 10 engineers, commissioned by IStructE, to update design recommendations for multi-storey car parks. The review proposes that car park owners have their buildings inspected by engineering firms to see if they need to be strengthened.
If this is too expensive owners may have to impose a vehicle weight limit of up to two-and-a-half tonnes.
Asked how much a total redesign could cost car park owners, Mr Whapples said it was not possible to give a specific figure.
He said: “I can’t say much about the price, because the numbers would be subject to conjecture, and any strengthening procedures would have a price set against them bespoke to each car park.
“I think a lot of owners [of older car parks] will opt for imposing a weight limit rather than paying for strengthening measures.”
