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Electric Vehicles Create New Problems for the Hudson Street Garage in Ridgewood

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photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, as if Ridgewood Hudson street garage does not already have a hole host of problems . Electric cars and gas-powered cars can vary in weight depending on the make and model, but generally speaking, electric cars are often heavier than gas-powered cars. This is because electric cars require heavy batteries to store the energy needed to power the vehicle, whereas gas-powered cars rely on a lighter fuel tank and combustion engine.

This makes electric cars roughly twice as heavy as standard models, and this could cause ‘catastrophic’ damage, according to the British Parking Association (BPA), which wants local authorities to conduct urgent structural surveys.

Most of the nation’s 6,000 multi-story and underground facilities were built according to guidance based on the weight of popular cars of 1976, including the Mk 3 Ford Cortina. But todays electric cars are far bulkier. For instance, the best-selling Tesla Model 3 weighs 2.2 tons fully loaded, making it more than 50 per cent heavier than a 1.4-tonne Cortina.

The extra weight of electric cars  creates risks to infrastructure like parking decks  and maybe bridges , existing standards may no longer be adequate and strengthening existing parking garages could prove prohibitively expensive.

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21 thoughts on “Electric Vehicles Create New Problems for the Hudson Street Garage in Ridgewood

  1. The gift that keeps on giving.

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  2. Don’t worry. Siobhan will handle it. Just ask her. She’s got a plan.

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  3. Temporary solution: No electric cars on any floor other than floor 1. Need better plan as time goes on though. All new vehicles purchased in NJ must be electric by 2035.

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    1. Ah, but chargers are on Floor 2. Doesn’t that floor have premium permit time and vehicle restrictions that would conflict with the desire to get the chargers used by the general public?

  4. This is simply nonsense. Not true in the least.

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    1. a$$kisser

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    2. stuck on stupid

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  5. Oh and how does the weight of your Suburban compare to a Cortina?

    1. Cortina?
      Cortina?
      Last made in 1982
      Never sold in the USA !

  6. The article refers to standards in the UK where smaller cars are more common and the standards are different. Here is an answer from an engineering forum about this topic:
    “To date, there have not been revisions to the design live load of 40 psf to accommodate the heavier electric vehicles. Most of the larger EV trucks are in the 6500-7000 pound range and equate to about 40-43 psf of loading over the 9×18 ft stall size. Assuming not every vehicle in a bay is a large EV truck and the load is balanced out by lighter vehicles, the 40 psf design should be adequate. However, this is something to monitor moving forward as the trend for electric vehicles will continue to increase.”

    I will point out that large suv’s are also quite heavy but doubtlessly that wouldn’t upset folks here.

    1. 100 percent true unlike the article

  7. I can’t believe no-one pointed out the problems with this garage when it was being initially planned? [I’m saying this while doing a big eye roll]

    1. No one cares about the problems, and G_d forbid anyone takes a defeatist /anti groupthink stance and mentions the potential in advance.

      No, after they arise, that’s the time they are taken seriously so the advocates can figure out who to blame.

  8. Siobhan will flip her hair repeatedly, push up her sleeves incessantly, and come up with a nonsensical solution

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  9. Every day , something else happens in the village.

    1. Life in a $hithole…

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  10. This was a big waste of money. This reminds me of the best 20 years first it was the money they spent in Village hall , 13 million. Then millions of dollars spent about the horse farm on Hillcrest. Then $15 million and counting at the stupid parking garage. And now millions more over 17 at the Siedler house. What’s next? Wow you will see. There’s an a lot of old ideas coming out of the planning board. Oh yes and I will give you a little bit at a time because if I give it to you all at once they’ll be up complete chaos inside the village hall. I will this if you can sell your house now and move get out in the next 2 to 5 years by your boy you have to move down south.

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    1. Can you use a spell check? Makes it hard to read. Try it, please.

  11. I like the garage. I am sure this weight of electrical cars will be an interesting engineering consideration for many things such as bridges and parking decks in the future. I am sure our parking garage is fine as it is and certainly not uniquely at risk from heavy cars. However, in Oslo where they have a very high percentage of electric cars this weight issue has not emerged. So it seems likely this is more of a non-problem red herring rather than a real problem.

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  12. To the member, but thumbs down are you kidding me. You must be living in your little bubble, open your eyes and ears, and go for a ride. You must be a newbie.

  13. More and more problems. Why in the past 4 years everything is going to shit . Who is in charge. Who is responsible. Because it’s not working. Poor decision making, and not enough oversight. Lazy people, and no accountability,

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