Automakers seem to be in agreement that the ‘skateboard’ location for heavy battery packs—low and wide beneath the passenger floor—is the ideal layout for electric vehicles. Decades from now that might not be the cars. Researchers in Sweden have examined the possibility of using the vehicle shell as a battery casing... Could carbon-fiber electric-vehicle bodies double as ‘mass-less’ batteries?
Automakers seem to be in agreement that the ‘skateboard’ location for heavy battery packs—low and wide beneath the passenger floor—is the ideal layout for electric vehicles. Decades from now that might not be the cars. Researchers in Sweden have examined the possibility of using the vehicle shell as a battery casing... 
This year's Frankfurt motor show was big, busy, and full of new concepts and production cars spanning the gamut from small electric cars to exotic supercars with prices in the millions. Every German maker showed one or more electric or electrified concepts, and renewed talk of driving on electricity could be heard in every presentation. But... 
It's now clear that much greater numbers of plug-in electric cars will be sold in coming years and decades than have found buyers to date. With battery costs falling faster than expected, and toughening regulations in China requiring higher volumes of electric cars, the onus is on the world's carmakers to step up and sell them at a profit. But how... 
Self-driving cars are a popular topic in both the auto industry and general media coverage these days, with several makers testing vehicles and promising fully autonomous cars at some future point. But when it comes to self-driving cars, different automakers may not be talking about the same thing. Some vehicles on sale today offer...