Japan to expand electric car categories

Japan’s Transport Ministry has decided to group electric cars into a larger number of classes by motor capacity, a step intended to keep automakers from installing powerful motors in small bodies lacking the strength to withstand the vehicles’ performance. Under current law, conventional gasoline-powered passenger cars are grouped into four classes by engine displacement and body size. Electric vehicles are shoehorned into just two: those with motor outputs of up to 0.6kw and everything else. (June 24, 2010)