Transportation
Wanted: A Little Electric Car That Won’t Crumple in a Collision
The Germans – of course – are working on it.
If you’re in the market for a car in a crowded inner city, you inevitably have to chose between two mutually exclusive options. You can get a tiny car, good for parallel parking in enviable tight spots, or you can get something with a bigger frame but worse gas mileage that’s less likely to consume you in a collision. You cannot, as a general rule, get both.
When it comes to electric cars, the choice is even rougher: The heavier and safer they get, the less range their batteries have. And so one of the challenges for engineers going forward is how to make electric cars both light, safe and wide-ranging for urban living (yes, yes, we know some people think urban living should require no car at all).