The nation’s structural engineers are discovering building design codes do not account for electric cars' additional weight, lower center of gravity, and extremely high-temperature fires. Should you lose sleep over electric vehicles?
Parking Structures
Building codes require buildings to support floor live loads (weight per square foot) for which they will be subject. For parking structures, the factored live load is 64 pounds per square foot (the strength of the structure), and the unfactored live load is 40 PSF (what the structure can withstand over time without damage).
The best-selling ICEV is the Toyota Camry at 29 psf, and the best-selling light truck is the Ford F150 at 40 psf; both vehicles are below the unfactored limit. However, the average EV light truck exceeds the unfactored limit, which will degrade the structural integrity of the parking structure. One model of EV light truck exceeds the factored limit, which is of great concern.
Older parking structures exposed to de-icing chemicals may have oxidized (rusted) their reinforcing steel or the pre-stressed or post-tensioned cables. Too much oxidation can decrease the weight the parking garage can support, resulting in a parking garage collapse.
Does this seem far-fetched? A FIREHOUSE article from June 20, 2023, “Challenges During Electric Vehicle Fires in Open & Closed Parking Garages. Douglas LeValley says fire departments must prepare for excessively high-temperature fires, risk of structural collapse, charging-station uncertainties, and water supply issues.”
ICEV fires can be slowed with fire-sprinkler systems until the fire department arrives to extinguish them. However, an EV fire can have a “runaway reaction” that is not slowed by fire sprinkler systems and cannot be extinguished with current firefighting equipment. These EV fires can be hot enough to decrease the steel reinforcing strength and compromise the structural integrity of the parking garage.
Don’t you think this can happen? On February 14, 2024, WPLG Local 10 reported “Authorities shut down a six-story parking garage in downtown Miami Wednesday after firefighters noticed possible structural issues as they responded to a blaze inside.”
Can’t Happen in Albuquerque? I understand an engineering team is conducting a structural investigation into a parking structure in Albuquerque that may have structural damage due to a fire and desalting chemicals. If our Mayor was looking out for our safety, he would let us know which parking structure is being investigated and the status of the investigation.
Highway Traffic Barriers
A recent Associated Press article published on the WtopNews website on Jan. 31, 2024, discussed the recent finding by the University of Nebraska and referenced tests performed at the Nebraska Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. They found that existing steel traffic barriers cannot stop electric vehicles with their heavy and close-to-the-ground batteries. The 2022 Rivian R1T they tested tore through the barrier unimpeded.
However, the Nebraska study did not analyze NM DOT’s cable vehicle barrier system, which we see on the medium of our interstate highways. If the Rivian R1T can tear through a steel barrier, will the cable cut through an EV? Will we see similar accident results that killed Jayne Mansfield when the car she was riding slid under a semi-truck?
What To Do?
We need Washington Democrats to stop the Electrical Vehicle mandates. This will allow the infrastructure to catch up. The electrical grid, generating capacity, and now our highways and parking structures need upgrades. Washington’s dreams are becoming our nightmares.
New Mexico’s cities must inspect every parking structure to ensure that hardworking people and their families are safe from collapsing in any parking structure.
New Mexico’s Department of Transportation needs to re-evaluate the vehicle guard rail and guard cable system and, if necessary, replace every guard rail and guard cable system.
We don’t want to pay for electric cars with our lives.
I have a civil engineering degree but am not a registered structural engineer. I know enough to understand and explain engineering technical papers. The two most informative articles that addressed my questions are: Structure Magazine, “Engineering Infrastructure to Support Societal Resiliency,” by James McDonald S.E, Joseph Moody S.E, Michael Perkins S.E, and Molly Pobiel PE, dated January 2024; and “Cash Tests Show Highway Guardrails Can’t Handle Heavy Electric Vehicles,” by Associated Press, dated Feb. 1, 2024.