The electric car park in your jacket pocket

Scientists have built an electric ‘car’ so small that 250,000 could be parked bumper to bumper across the tip of a ballpoint pen.

The tiny vehicle is built at a molecular scale with four paddle-like wheels that rotate when they receive a small electrical current.

The project represents the cutting edge of nanotechnology ,but an application for such a tiny vehicle is some way off.

Real-world ‘micro’ electric cars

Concept cars have a reputation for being little more than headline-grabbing flights of fancy, the tiny electric city cars currently being shown by major manufacturers offer a tantalizing glimpse of near-future urban runabouts. Cars as small as the Nissan Pivo 3 EV and Daihatsu Pico are rarely seen on British roads outside major cities, but ‘kei’ cars are a common sight in Japan.

Electric kei cars

Kei cars are vehicles restricted in their size, engine displacement and power in order to bypass tax and insurance regulations and, in some areas, the requirement that parking is available before the vehicle is acquired. These regulations gave birth to the Kei car class and we are unlikely to see similar cars here unless car manufacturers have their hands are forced in the same way; despite Britain’s love affair with the mini and the rising popularity of smaller vehicles, high-spec micro remain thin on the ground.

World’s smallest electric cars	Tiny EVs
A possible electric city car successor to the Nissan Leaf, the Pivo 3 EV combines a practical 2-metre turning circle with concept car wish list items such as a smart phone-controlled automated valet parking.
Daihatsu Pico concept EV reduces its diminutive proportions even further by seating its passenger directly behind the driver and displays its speed on its exterior bodywork for all to see