What’s Next: Electric Taxis to Test in Tokyo

Anyone who’s been to Tokyo is immediately struck by two things. First, the living spaces in Japan’s capital make the Big Apple’s cramped domiciles look like a suite at the Trump Tower, and second, the city is at the cutting edge of technology. So while it’s not surprising that the city will be a test bed for electric taxi cabs, I was struck by how simply the city’s largest cab company and its partner, Better Place, are choosing to handle the problem of limited range. Instead of pouring tons of money into the research and development of a long-range cell, the pair is aiming to make a battery which can be swapped out quickly at stations around the city, so that a fresh charge would take about as long as filling a conventional gas tank. Pretty cool idea, huh? More over at Wired.