<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/21/europe-ev-shrank-challenge-suv-smaller-china>
"The winding backstreets of London, Paris and Rome are a large part of their
charm. But they are also a problem for electric carmakers. For a long time,
squeezing big batteries into smaller, cheaper cars to fit European streets was
too much of a problem, so manufacturers focused on bloated SUVs instead.
But that is finally changing. Battery technology has improved and Europe’s
carmakers havecut manufacturing costs enough that they can now sell cars that
might have a chance of fitting down a medieval lane or two.
The new Renault Twingo E-Tech is a case in point. Driving the city car through
London attracts quizzical looks. Its bulbous headlights live up to the older
petrol version’s “frog” nickname, and this particular model has a “mango
yellow” paint job.
But small, European electric cars like this will be notable for more than their
looks if they can slow the trend towards ever-bigger lumps of metal – and help
fend off the challenge from Chinese rivals.
“The world is not going to be saved by big SUVs that are electric,” says
Renault’s chief design officer, Laurens van den Acker, who led development on
the Twingo. “The world is going to be saved by small electric cars. We need
more of them and not less. We need them to become as popular as other cars.”
Car companies are probably not the obvious candidates for saving the world, but
they do have a part to play in making vehicles that don’t pump several tonnes
of planet-heating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Road transport
currently accounts for about a fifth of EU emissions."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
