Safety ratings

Efficiency is a many-splendored thing, and cutting vehicle weight has multiple beneficial effects. A lighter car requires less energy to move, meaning engine output can be lower. This, in turn, requires smaller, lighter powertrain components--which require less-beefy suspensions, further reducing weight. And so on. DON'T MISS: Surprise: Heavier, More Powerful Cars Get Worse Gas Mileage (Jul 2009) A recent article from IEEE Spectrum argues that vehicles still weigh far too much--and it analyzes vehicle-to-passenger weight ratios over history to make the case. A Ford Model T from 100 years ago...