Warning for EV drivers as electric cars cause twice as much damage as petrol vehicles

have DRIVERS was warned that electric cars could damage roads TWICE as much as petrol cars.

Smaller roads – like those in front of most UK homes – will collapse under the weight of heavier electric vehicles.

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Analysis has shown that an average electric car more than doubles the wear and tear on road surfaces, which could lead to an increase in potholes.

Britain is currently suffering from a pothole crisis – last year only half as many potholes were repaired as a decade ago.

And the AIA’s annual Alert Survey found it would now cost £12.6 billion to repair all the potholes on England’s local roads.

This comes after numerous experts raised concerns about the capacity of the current road infrastructure to handle the increase in electric vehicles.

Battery-powered vehicles can weigh up to a third more than petrol and diesel cars – and the number of electric cars on Britain’s roads has tripled to 900,000 since 2019.

According to the government’s most optimistic forecast, by 2035 four out of every five kilometers driven will account for electric vehicles.

An average electric car puts on the roads 2.24 times more than its petrol counterpart – and 1.95 times more than a diesel. The Telegraph reports.

And larger EVs, weighing over 2,000kg, cause the most damage as the roads wear out 2.32 times more.

Rick Green, chairman of the AIA, told the Telegraph: “Main roads are already rated for truck axle loads, so we don’t expect heavier electric cars to have any impact on road surfaces or structures.”

“However, there could be a greater impact on unclassified roads — the kind of roads that most of us live on and that make up the bulk of the local road network in terms of mileage.”

“Unclassified roads would not be designed to handle truck axle loads, so heavier EVs could exacerbate existing weaknesses, thereby accelerating the decline.”

The government also expects that the switch to electric cars will result in more traffic on the roads, as electric vehicles are cheaper to run than petrol and diesel vehicles.

Also, electric cars are more expensive to run than petrol cars, with charging at major public points rising to nearly £50.

Meanwhile, the price of petrol has dropped to around 144p a liter, meaning a typical engine will cost around £72 to fill up.

According to research, motorists could find it 50% more expensive to insure electric cars than petrol vehicles.

The most desirable electric vehicles could cost motorists around £650 a year in insurance costs, compared to £435 for a petrol engine.

This comes after EV drivers were warned they could soon face a costly “pothole tax”.

Britain’s largest pothole, deep enough to swallow a child, has also been discovered.