The Power of "Simplicate" There are tremendous advantages in simplicating, rather than complicating.   By simplifying a vehicle, you reduce weight.  If you reduce weight, the brakes can be smaller and lighter, wheels and tires can be smaller and lighter, etc.  So the vehicle becomes lighter yet.   Suppose you further simplify by picking a reasonable top speed (rather than the 130 mph that even a plain-Jane Honda Accord is designed for.)  That makes a huge reduction in engine size possible.  With lower speed, brakes and suspension components can be smaller and lighter.  As the car becomes lighter, the need for power steering and power brakes disappears.  That, of course, saves more weight.   Less weight means an even smaller engine is required.    Suppose you reduce frontal area, and make the car more streamlined.  Even less power is required.   Pursue this kind of thinking far enough, and you end up with Zing!     Although the gasoline/ethanol engine in Zing! can produce 11 hp (itself a tiny amount in automotive terms) it actually operates at a constant 8 hp, where it is optimally efficient.  Need to accelerate quickly?  The combined 40 hp of the electric motors driving the front wheels can get you to 60 in 11 seconds.

Tandem Seating? Tandem seating has several advantages, the most obvious being that it's more fun to ride with your girlfriend's legs around you.  But right behind reason number one is this: the frontal area (and therefore aero drag) can be lower with tandem seating.  Lower drag means better MPG, (or less electricity consumed) and therefore less CO2 per mile. But the most important reason for your health and happiness is this:  Safety.  Our Side Impact Protection System offers far more crush space than on any car.  When a car hits Zing! from the side, the point of initial contact is about 18" from the driver’s shoulder, instead of the more typical 4".  The impact wings absorb the crash energy by deforming these crush zones before the guard beams (part of the frame in Zing!) are contacted.  In a conventional car, the door guard beams are contacted almost immediately, so no energy dissipation can occur.  The typical car is knocked out from under the occupant, who slams into the door with too-often lethal force.   All cars have crush zones front and rear.  Only Zing! has side crush zones -- and tandem seating enables these zones to be quite large, making them very effective.