Cars have long been sold on the promise of speed and power. But the latest EVs are capable of performance never before seen in mass-market automobiles.
Photographer: Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
Extreme Acceleration Is the New Traffic Safety Frontier
The electric vehicle revolution has also helped deliver a new golden age of automotive horsepower — and safety regulators aren’t ready for it.
You’re walking up Second Avenue. The red hand at 125th Street has started flashing. But like any reasonably fit New Yorker walking at a brisk New York City pace, you step off the curb; with the cross traffic stopped on the far side of the intersection and not crowding against the crosswalk you’re in, you figure you’ll have bit of time after the light changes before a car can reach you.
Then the opposing light turns green and the motivated driver of an electric vehicle takes off, whipping past you at a lethal speed. A bit breathless, you’ve luckily made it to the curb.