PU_PA EV concept is cute, light, and deadly

Of all the wacky EV concepts we’ve seen lately, this is certainly one of them! PU_PA EV is a car developed by Teijin Ltd, a Japanese textile manufacturer that among other things recently teamed up with Mazda to produce Biofront bio-plastic. Meant to highlight the firm’s materials and technologies, the vehicle weighs less than half a ton (437kg, to be exact) and will shuttle you around at speeds of roughly 40 MPH for up to 60 miles on a single charge. Sadly, this bad boy isn’t street legal, for a number of good reasons: the windows (made from a heat-absorbing polycarbonate resin) have half the density of glass and are, in the words of one technician, “especially shatter-y” (OK, we made that word up). Additionally, the lights aren’t too terribly bright, and the thing isn’t equipped with airbags. Hopefully, the company will soon be called upon to supply materials for other, much less deadly vehicles at some point in the near future.