One of the automotive industry’s greatest hopes for the future is the electric vehicle. As more and more electric vehicles hit the road, the benefits add up: less dependence on fossil fuels; fewer greenhouse gas emissions; overall greener and more economical travel.

Electrifying transportation isn’t as simple as just flipping a switch, however. Designing an electric vehicle is a complex process that differs greatly from designing a traditional vehicle.

The engineers who were developing internal combustion engines had about a century to make the technology work perfectly, but the engineers who are working on the electrification only have a decade to design an electric vehicle that can match or exceed the performance of a traditional vehicle. Electric vehicle engineers must integrate both, the battery along with the electric drive, into the vehicle.