Aug 13 2016

The move is an important one, as side mirrors are responsible for a great deal of air drag at high speeds — their removal will allow for the easy reduction of drag coefficients, and thus greatly improved fuel (or battery-charge) economy.

In other words, the removal of side mirrors (legal as of June 17th in Japan) will allow for cheaper electric vehicles (EVs) with improved single-charge ranges.

With the approval in Japan of mirrorless cars, we’ll know soon enough which is closer to the truth…. If there really are issues with the switch to video feeds and away from physical mirrors, it should become apparent fairly quickly. Personally, though, I’m skeptical that there’ll be any major issues with the transition.

Expectations are that the European Union may legalize mirrorless vehicles later this year, and that the US and China may do so in, or after, 2018