Innovation-Nov-Dec-2023

FEATURE

THE IMPACT OF MORE EVs ON THE ROAD Electric vehicles are valuable in reducing GHG emissions and are being promoted aggressively. However, the increase in the heavier vehicles may have an impact on road infrastructure and parkades. DAVID WYLIE

I n about a decade, every new light-duty vehicle sold in BC is required to be zero emissions. That means BC’s transportation infrastructure has to keep up with an accelerated shift to cars, trucks, and SUVs that are, in many cases, substantially heavier due to the weight of their battery packs. BC is the first jurisdiction in the world to adopt a 100-percent, zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) law that requires 26 percent of light-duty vehicle sales to be ZEV by 2026; 90 percent by 2030; and 100 percent by 2035. (Transportation is the province’s largest single source of GHG emissions, accounting for about 40 percent, according to the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030.) Right now, EVs make up a small percentage of cars on the road, but their numbers are growing. They are the most significant alternative powertrain since combustion vehicles first hit the road in the early 20th century. Yet their collective weight is beginning to draw concern because they are hundreds—if not thousands of pounds—heavier than comparable gas models. Their impact on infrastructure varies. BC BRIDGES ABLE TO HANDLE EXTRA LOADS President and principal engineer at Basis Engineering in the Lower Mainland, Bruce Hamersley, P.Eng., has more than three decades

of experience working on bridges, as well as other large transportation infrastructure projects. He’s published and presented a number of papers on design and rehabilitation of major bridges and worked on prominent BC spans, often doing seismic work, including on the Pattullo Bridge (opened 1937), Lions Gate Bridge (1938), and the Oak Street Bridge (1957). Hamersley owns two electric vehicles, a Volkswagen e-Golf and a plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler. “I really like not going to the gas station very much,” he says. “I’m completely sold on the technology.” Hamersley isn’t worried about the state of BC’s bridges. He says infrastructure is made to accommodate big transport trucks, paving the way for weightier electric vehicles. Additionally, the BC Ministry of Transportation increased the design vehicle load from 62.5 tonnes to 80 tonnes in 2019. “The weight of vehicles that dominates the design and the stress in them is really that of heavier transport trucks,” he says. While it is possible that over time traffic jams of EVs could become an issue for urban bridges, even those built decades ago were engineered to accommodate heavy loads, and they undergo maintenance and retrofitting to keep up. Overall, they are able to support heavy loads through the evolution of code changes, testing of materials, and strength upgrades.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

INNOVATION