Science & technology| Wheels within wheels
Motors in the wheels take EVs further
Simpler to build, lighter and extra range
Finnish designed electric motorcycle Verge
Born to be...efficientPhotograph: Alamy
AT the Paris World Exhibition in 1900 Ferdinand Porsche, the eponymous founder of the German sports-car company, unveiled an electric vehicle (EV) with a radical design. Rather than a single motor located in its body, the car he displayed had them incorporated into its wheels.