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Design Essay: Are smart roads just around the corner?

In order to remain relevant, the car must constantly evolve. But while almost all attention focuses on four wheels, the roads that facilitate an automobile's progress have remained relatively unaltered since Eisenhower formed the National Highway system in the 1950s. With environmental concerns getting ever higher on the agenda, there is an opportunity to think outside the (metal) box and rethink the road, making it as smart as the vehicles and devices that travel upon it.

Porsche Battery – a mere £1200

The rather expensive Porsche Lithium Ion Battery Car batteries have been roughly the same shape and size – and utilised basically the same lead-acid technology – for years. They’ve got better, as you no longer need to top them up with distilled water at regular intervals (I’m showing my age now), and they are less prone to going flat. But that probably has more to do with alternators replacing dynamos than the batteries themselves.

Volkswagen e-Golf stars at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

Volkswagen is joining the revolution here at Frankfurt 2013 with its new all-electric e-Golf. And far from being an impractical method of transport to appease eco hippies and excite forward-thinking car geeks, it’s actually perfectly practical. Electric cars are rapidly becoming an unstoppable silent force, so it’s time to embrace them.